Last night I visited a local college with my eldest son to investigate where he goes & what he does after next summer & the completion of his GCSE courses. It has been 7 years since I left teaching & I was amazed at how many different courses were on offer at the college! An interesting area my son had not considered before was BTEC Level 3 courses which would give him the both the academic challenge & the practical aspect he enjoys in his physics & maths lessons. I was very impressed with the course coverage & the practical opportunities this would provide him with - from designing, building & equiping a weather balloon to record data from the local area to doing the same for a submersible craft to be tested in the Lake District!
I have included links to a useful site which may help students find out about these courses in their chosen area. There is also a link to modern apprenticeships which were also something we looked at during our visit.
I certainly don't envy him having such a wide variety of courses to have to choose from!
Modern Apprenticeships information