Posted on Friday 27th June 2025
Jude Cartwright
A 21-year-old from Tamworth is calling on young people across the county to explore their options if they are struggling with their GCSE exams.
After months of being out of work after leaving school, Jude Cartwright is now a bricklayer after making contact with Chameleon School of Construction in Burton upon Trent.
Jude is part of Staffordshire County Council’s ‘Give your future a chance’ campaign, to encourage young people at risk of dropping out to discover that there is life after school, for everyone.
He is now encouraging young people like him to apply to college as soon as possible so they can get the best options, instead of waiting for results day.
With no qualifications, Jude started a Level 1 course at Chameleon. Now, just three years later, he is looking to eventually take over the family bricklaying business.
Jude said:
I never did well at school, and when I left, I didn’t do anything for a while. But then I contacted Chameleon and now everything is totally different. I’m treated like an adult and I love the work and the environment.
I’d tell anyone that doesn’t know what they want to do, or isn’t expecting good grades at school, to not give up. There is something for everyone, and there’s help to find out what that is. You need to give yourself a chance, and the best way to do that is to apply to colleges now for the best options – don’t wait until Results Day or September.”
Chameleon also offers study programmes for learners to retake their maths or English GCSEs alongside their construction course, but teaches it in a way that is directly applicable to construction.
Chameleon’s Centre Manager, Teresa Swift, said:
At Chameleon, we teach in smaller groups, no one judges each other and we’re all a family. And where learners need help to retake those core maths and English GCSEs, we teach them in such a way as it makes sense to the job they’re learning to do. It means they’ll get the qualification and can apply it to real life.”
Martin Murray, Staffordshire County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills, said:
Having young people who are not in employment, education or training in Staffordshire is a real waste of talent. This campaign is all about supporting Staffordshire’s young people to realise that there is life after school if an academic route is not for them.
There are hundreds of vocational courses taught in smaller groups in colleges, where real life skills for real jobs take centre stage. Everyone needs to stay in some sort of learning until they’re 18, but there really is something for everyone, no matter the experiences they had in learning before.”
Help is available at any time from the county council’s Careers Participation Service’s dedicated helpline on 01785 854125 for anyone worried about their future and wants to work out their options .