THAT Alice Cooper moment that all school children dream of will finally arrive for around 30,000 teenagers this week and next, when School's Out Completely.
After the celebrations are over though, harsh reality will set in. With unemployment at a 12-year high, there has rarely been a more difficult time to be looking for work.
For any hope of escaping the family nest some time soon, getting on top of
your finances from the outset is vital. Four out of ten under-25s are either still living at home, or planning to return, because they are drowning in debt, according to last week's survey from technology firm 1st - The Exchange.
Edinburgh's youngsters are the most indebted of all. Not only are eight out of ten in debt, compared with 64 per cent in London, 44 per cent in Glasgow and 37 per cent in Aberdeen, but they have bigger debts as well. The average young adult in Edinburgh owes £6,042, compared with £5,139 in London, £4,170 in Glasgow and £3,422 in Aberdeen.
So, Scotland on Sunday has drawn up a ten-point plan to get you safely through those first few months of "no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks" and into a new world of independence.
1 First step to a pay packet If you are not planning to go to college in the autumn then you should scour your local newspaper for situations vacant and make an urgent call should to your local Jobcentre Plus.
It is advisable to take any job you can get, even if it is not exactly what you are looking for, as employers highly value evidence that you can get and hold down a job, even if the experience is not relevant. Keep looking for what you want, and the experience you gain in the meantime will help you get the right job once it comes along.
The Government has guaranteed all 18- 24 year-olds either a job or training, which the Jobcentre will arrange if you are still unemployed after a year. Essentially, at first they offer to help find a job, at six months, you get more help and then the guarantee kicks in after a year.
Unfortunately, no such pledges have been made to 16-year-old school leavers, as it is Government policy to encourage them to stay in education.
2 Claim job-seeking benefits School leavers who have not yet enrolled on a college course can claim jobseekers allowance of £50.95 weekly, provided they are genuinely looking for a job. However, it can only be claimed by under-18s in the case of extreme hardship.
Once you have enrolled on a college course, you cannot claim the benefit until graduation – students cannot sign on during the holidays.
3 Get a fair wage When you are offered a job, don't be exploited. You are entitled to the minimum hourly wage: £3.53 for those aged 16 and 17, £4.77 for 18-21 year-olds , and £5.73 for those aged 22 and over.
4 Be prepared on day oneWhen you start a job you must give your employer your National Insurance number. Shortly before their 16th birthday, most people are sent an NI card showing their number. This is an important document as it's the key to your employment, tax, benefits and pensions records for the rest of your life and should be kept safely.
If you lose your NI card, you can apply for a new one via a form from your local tax office or jobcentre, but they will only replace it once. After that you must trace your number via old wage slips, or at a jobcentre.
5 Understand your pay packetYou will have to pay both tax and National Insurance when you begin work, and these deductions will be recorded on a wage slip when you get your first pay packet.
6 Get organisedIt is important to keep your wage slips safely in a file along with any other documents you are given relating to your job. It will be important if you come to claim a tax rebate or benefits at a later stage.
7 Working out NIEveryone who earns more than £110 weekly pays National Insurance. You get to keep the first £110, but you lose 11 per cent, or 11p in every pound, of anything you earn above that , up to £844 weekly. NI then drops to 1 per cent.
8 Get to grips with tax Tax looks scary, but the basic income tax you will pay when you leave school is quite straightforward. Essentially, you can earn £6,475 tax-free in the current tax year before you pay any tax. Above this, your earnings will be hit by a 20 per cent tax charge.
You do not get to earn £6,475 in one lump before tax kicks in though. The £6,475 – called a personal allowance – is divided up over the year, so you receive a proportion of your personal allowance each week or month, and you pay tax on weekly or monthly earnings above this.
When you work a whole year, this operates smoothly. However, if you start work during the tax year (which runs from April 6 to April 5), you may end up not getting the right personal allowance allocated.
If you start work in September, for example, your employer may deduct the usual monthly personal allowance of £539 (one-twelfth of £6,475) instead of £925 (one-seventh of £6,475) which would have been the correct amount, and allows for the fact that you are starting work half-way through the tax year.
This is sometimes called 'emergency tax' and for this reason it is vital keep an eye on your deductions to ensure you are not being over taxed.
If you paying too much, speak to your wages department and ask for them to make an adjustment, or write to your local tax office and ask for a rebate. The matter should be rectified in any event at the end of the tax year.
9 How students can avoid tax If you are planning to go off to college, and your annual earnings should not exceed the personal allowance of £6,475, then you can avoid paying any tax by asking your employer for and filling in a form P38S Student Employees. However you will still have to pay National Insurance on weekly earnings of more than £110. This cannot be reclaimed.
10 Never pay tax on savings You may not be earning much at first, but still begin to save for holidays, or when you can finally leave mum and dad behind. Always put your money in a tax-free Individual Savings Account, which will allow you to escape tax on the interest.
Daddy's girl is a chip off the old blockDOTING dad Tom Kelly knows he is going to miss his 17-year-old daughter Juliet when she heads to Aberdeen University in September. He opted to step off the treadmill to spend more time with her when he sold his IT company about six years ago.
Since then Tom, of Edinburgh, has worked from home, running his own property business and an internet golf company.
He said: "I've always been interested in property, then five years ago I bought a million golf tees from China and sold them on ebay. They went so quickly that I set up a golf website and now have about 30,000 customers.
"But the property and golf lets me work from home so I can do the school runs. The most important thing in my life is being able to attend the kids' sports events and watch them grow up."
Juliet, who breaks up from school on Friday, is partly following in her father's footsteps, studying property at Aberdeen, and is thinking of becoming a surveyor, having enjoyed work experience at three Edinburgh property solicitors.
Fortunately, she will be able to raise some cash towards her studies, having worked at New Look since last November, which she hopes to continue throughout the summer. She may even be able to transfer to the store in Aberdeen.
Juliet is staying on top of her finances though. She said: "My National Insurance card came through when I was 16, so I had that to hand over when I began work. The tax has been more difficult. I was being taxed when I started, and we have partly sorted that out. But I have still overpaid and am due some more back."
