xcriteria:

I dropped out of school halfway 11th grade. I was miserable in school, I had terrible grades, and I didn't really participate in any meaningful way. I learned about the GED from a friend, and I presented a plan to my parents where I'd drop out, take the GED and SAT tests, and enroll in a local college the next fall. They agreed, and I got the GED and enrolled in college -- a full year earlier than I would have if I'd graduated on time.

I'm very glad I dropped out, and I wish I'd known about the GED and dropped out earlier. But you should definitely have a plan.

What state are you in? The rules for getting a GED vary by state, but in almost every state you should be able to take it at your age. The GED, if you're not familiar with it, is a diploma that is in many ways, including by employers and colleges, considered equivalent to a high school diploma. See this page.

I took the GED without studying, and got high scores, and I know several people who also passed with little or no studying. You could get a GED study book, with sample versions of the test, and take one to see how you do. There are classes you can take to prepare you for the test, or you could develop your own self-study plan.

Have you thought about college? Do you know what you might study? Or do you know what kind of work you'd like to do? A lot of questions like these are basically the same whether you drop out or graduate, so it's a good idea to think about them anyway. One advantage of dropping out is getting free time to explore your interests, learn on your own, maybe work some, and figure things out.

A major question, too, is what your parents are like, what they think of dropping out, etc. Their support would help a lot. Also, you might want to talk to your guidance counselor at school, who is probably the person who would help you initiate the dropping-out process anyway.

In my case, my parents were supportive once I presented a solid plan. And I did follow through on the plan, and I did well in college the first year. Then, I transferred and eventually droped out. Subsequently I've enrolled in and dropped out of college several times. College was way nicer for me than high school, and you might find that you can stand it. I eventually became less satisfied with the structure.

xcriteria:

The GED is just in North America. I don't know if there's a similar option in Europe.

One other option is to do homeschooling. This is a legal option (at least in the US) where parents typically teach their kids at home. However, it doesn't have to be the parents doing the teaching. In most U.S. states, parents just have to file a notice with the school, and the "student" might have to take some standardized tests yearly or something.

However, I don't think this is generally done in Europe. Check out this page for info on the Netherlands... it looks like it's almost impossible. But it does say "Part-time attendance allowed for 16 to 18 year olds (an approved combination of study and employment)."

(HSLDA is a good resource for info on homeschooling laws in general.)

Another option is talk to your teachers and explain your problem. It might be possible to do more advanced work sooner, and maybe graduate sooner. I don't know anything about how schools work in Europe, but sometimes in the U.S. people can have an "Individualized Education Plan" where it's somewhat customized.

Mom

Just something I found on an unschooling website. Thought it might be helpful-- The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Llewellyn has some great ideas :)

Internships & Apprenticeships Excerpted from "The Teenage Liberation Handbook" Reprinted by permission of the author from "The Teenage Liberation Handbook" All rights reserved. © 1998 Grace Llewellyn

If you know what kind of work you want to do, move toward it in the most direct way possible...

John Holt, Teach Your Own

…Apprenticeships and internships are based on the concept of mutual benefit.

The apprentice or intern gives labor in exchange for the chance to learn about a certain kind of work. The labor itself may seem repetitive or boring to someone experienced in the field, but should be interesting and challenging to the newcomer. By the same token, the "master" or supervisor should not have to take a lot of time to stop and explain how to do things, because the apprentice will learn mainly by watching and doing . Sometimes the apprentice or intern is also paid in money. Sometimes the apprentice or intern pays. Often, no money is exchanged.

What's the difference between internships and apprenticeships?

Internships often involve office or administrative work, while apprenticeships usually focus on learning specific skills in a craft or trade. But many people use the terms interchangeably.

Apprenticeships can take place in any field, from chemistry research to interior decorating. They’ve been around for millennia, though in recent decades they’ve been somewhat forgotten in the U.S. or at least restricted to certain trades. But homeschoolers have rediscovered them as a superb learning arrangement, and more recently, some schoolpeople have even started to set up apprenticeships for school students.

In some countries, apprenticeships have always been the way that people learned certain types of work, but these fields are often stigmatized as the fate of people not brainy enough to become doctors or ambassadors or such. I’m excited that unschoolers are reinventing apprenticeships for their own purposes ¾ not only completing long-term apprenticeships to become electricians or midwives, but also arranging short or long term situations that may have nothing to do with their career goals or that involve an academic field rather than a "trade." Unschoolers apprentice themselves for a week or five years, to chemists and museum creators and windmill repairpeople and poets. So, if you live in an area where people define apprenticeships or internships imaginatively, don’t let them limit you ¾ dream up the best situation for you and for a skilled adult you admire, and then explain you dream and suggest a trial period.

Organizations that offer internships

Thousands of organizations offer positions in fields including communications, arts, human services, public affairs, science and industry. You might work on costume and scene construction with a ballet company, conduct a research project for the Peace Corps, do camera work or lighting for TV stations, write and conduct surveys for a newspaper, or do office work for a publisher. Some internships offer stipends. Many provide room and board, free classes, college credit, and help with finding employment. If you want to apply for a particular position, do keep this in mind:

Some programs are rather rigid, others are flexible enough that you can adapt them to fit your particular interests Some internships are in high demand, and difficult to get. You will compete for them with other people, most older than you.

Many internships will be officially off-limits until you are eighteen or so, though others are open to high school and even middle school age people. Furthermore, almost all organizations are open to ‘independent" inquiries. In other words, they will consider ignoring normal requirements, creating special positions for people who wouldn’t fit into their usual slots. And anyway, persevering unschoolers often find that age requirements are not written in stone Check with businesses, non-profits, and other organizations near you, or go to the library for a reference book such as Internships: on-the-job training opportunities for college students and adults, America’s Top Internships, Peterson’s Internships, or Student Advantage Guide: The Internship Bible.

If you use one of these reference books, remember that the less famous organizations will be easier to break into. A small toen newspaper, for instance, won’t have as many applications as The Washington Post.

Your library may also have specialized internship guides, like Ronald W. Fry’s Internships: The Travel and Hospitality Industries, or the National Directory of Arts Internships, or the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta’s Internship Directory, which lists over five hundred summer jobs and internships at botanical gardens and other horticultural institutions.

How you can arrange and design you own apprenticeship or internship

You may need perseverance, but all you really have to do is decide what kind of a position you want, and then talk to everyone in your area who works in that field until you find someone who like you will take you on for at least a trial period.

A very helpful book is The Question is College, by Herbert Kohl. It discusses apprenticeships as an alternative to college, but is relevant for people of any age.

Of course, you can approach strangers too. After all, apprenticeships and internships help everyone involved. You learn by watching people, who know what they are doing and by actually doing many of the same things they do. They get free or inexpensive help, as well as the joy and pride that comes from sharing what they love with an excited newcomer. Chances are, if you phone all the dog trainers in the yellow pages, at least one will let you try a one-day experiment, and that may lead into a week-long volunteer job, and then a three-month apprenticeship. Don’t give up after one "no-thank-you."

Be sure to talk about your ideas and goals thoroughly enough that both parties have similar experiences. Write them down. I you envision three hours on weekday mornings of laying out newspaper copy, but Mr. Mendoza sees you sweeping floors and running errands, it won’t work. Discover that before you commit yourself.

What are the cheapest solutions in the UK?

Kirby

I'm not sure about the status of homeschooling in England but I am sure you can do it. I do not know the specifics of your situation, but I know that I would learn far than what I get from school, cheaper too. My school board spends nearly $8900 CAD per student (about £3900). I could buy better textbooks than I get from school for less than what they spend per year on me. It's just crazy how much governments spend on education.

Tutoring is expensive and in most cases the education you get is better but stills functions like school, e.g. homework. You should look up "unschooling" on the 'net. If you don't know what unschooling is, it's a form of homeschooling that revolts against the typical form of homeschooling that is just school at home. Instead unschoolers smash the idea of "real" learning happening only in schools.

wsgosset

You probably don't need any special licensed teacher; in the United States you wouldn't. Your parent could be your teacher, or just your "teacher."

About the cost: You can get a lot of material online for free. You can also buy physical books that are both better and less expensive than your schoolbooks. The main part of the cost is the time that your parents may have to spend with you if they actually teach you. There's not much they (or anybody really) can actually teach you that you can not more easily learn from a book. There are some parts where a teacher would be helpful, mostly in guiding you in what to learn and in what order and maybe in starting you off. Fortunately, there are entire courses available online. If this isn't enough, you can email professors and post on forums.

xcriteria

Check out, for example, this site.

Related Links

Ami's Anti-School Zone - Has a section on how to quit school without freaking out your parents.