SIX TIPS FOR FUTUREPROOFING

YOUR TEENAGER’S EDUCATION

1 DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Chinese-style “social credit scores” are coming, in one form or another. They could influence your child’s ability to book a hotel room or secure a mortgage. So think carefully now about your child’s digital footprint. Once it’s out there, it’s out there forever.

2 ACCEPT THE NEW IN EDUCATION

Even if you went to a top university, your child’s best route to happiness and a good job may lie in an apprenticeship. Be flexible about routes from education into work.

3 FIND THE TAILORED WAY

From medicine to education, personalisation will be the keyword of the future. Don’t say, “She hates maths”, say “She hates learning maths like this”. Increasingly, apps and online platforms will offer tailored solutions.

4 QUALITY NOT QUANTITY

Exams have got harder. That rigour is useful, but many schools insist children do too many. Consider insisting your school does fewer, and spend the extra time on building social capital — say, by getting children to read about current events, debate them among themselves and with invited guests. It’s exams plus social capital that will secure those jobs requiring the highest cognitive skills.

5 DEMAND DIGITAL

Ask your school how they are developing your child’s digital skills. The future will be about working with computers.

6 HIT THE SWEET SPOT

Future-proofed careers will marry human creativity and computing power, like graphic designers and architects. Harness your imagination, then use tech to express it.