School pupils across Orkney will have received provisional SQA results for their assessments earlier this week, and if your results are not what you expected, don’t panic you still have options – and there are experts on hand to help you navigate the next part of your journey.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) are extending their results support this year and Careers Advisers are now waiting to answer calls and provide support to young people, their parents and carers.
 
If you, or your child, needs some help with provisional results they can call the SDS Helpline on 0800 917 8000, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.  This number will be open until Monday 9 August to discuss provisional results and what they mean.
 
Further support will be available from Tuesday 10 August in relation to course vacancies, clearing, advice about apprenticeships, jobs, volunteering and staying on at school.  Keep an eye out for more information nearer the time.
 
If you would rather speak to someone familiar, you can also contact Careers Advisers from the local SDS team in Kirkwall.  You can get in touch with them by calling (01856) 872 460 or emailing kirkwall@sds.co.uk.  You can also find them on Facebook @SDS Orkney.
 
You can find further advice on My World of Work.

Young people across Orkney who need help applying for jobs, apprenticeships or college courses can access support from a new programme created by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Orkney and Skills Development Scotland (SDS).

​The ‘Planning for the Future’ career management programme is free and includes resources that young people can use if they need help writing a CV, applying for a college course, apprenticeship or job or preparing for an interview.

​Are you currently considering your next steps into education, employment or training but need some extra help?  Developing the Young Workforce Orkney and Skills Development Scotland have developed an online careers event to help you make decisions about your future.
 
The ‘Your Next Steps’ careers event provides information and advice on Work, Support and, Education and Training.  You will find a mix of videos, presentations and links to other websites to help you take your next step.

​An online game which has been designed to help close the skills gap in the engineering sector has been launched and is now available to play.
 
Enginuity and the Prince’s Trust have created Skills Miner, an online game that can identify people who have what it takes to power the nation’s economic recovery when the lockdown is lifted.

Following a successful event last year, NHS Orkney in partnership with Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Orkney, held a ‘Day in the Life’ event at The Balfour on Friday 15 November. These events help young people learn more about the range of health and social care careers that are available with NHS Orkney.​

The ‘Day in the Life’ event was open to interested pupils from S3-S6 at secondary schools throughout Orkney.