As the summer holidays come to a close 16-year-olds everywhere are looking ahead to the next chapter.

Students in Kirklees got some of the best GCSE results in the country and most will be starting colleges, apprenticeships or traineeships when term starts.

But what happens if you didn't get the GCSE grades you needed or you don't have anything lined up?

In 2013 the government announced that everyone had to stay in some form of education or training until the age of 18 - be it part-time or full-time.

So can you get into trouble with the law?

Here, we unpick the reality behind the rule and reveal what is likely to happen if you have found yourself leaving education before the government says you can.

What are the options after your GCSEs?

The government's September Guarantee says that all 16 and 17-year-olds are entitled to a suitable place in education or training regardless of their qualifications.

Your local authority - for example, Kirklees Council - is responsible for ensuring there is an option for everyone.

This means even if you don't get the grades to get into college - or don't want to go to college - you can still carry on in education.

Apprenticeships allow you to study part-time while learning a trade but these too usually require at least a pass in English Language and Maths at GCSE.

What happens if you don't pass your English and Maths GCSEs?

If you don't have those qualifications you can still get on to a traineeship.

You just have to keep re-sitting your English and Maths GCSEs alongside your traineeship until you pass them or until you turn 18.

After 18 you are no longer legally obliged to keep trying but it may pose a problem in future as most employers require at least a pass in those two subjects as a minimum.

What happens if you don't do have any further education lined up?

If you don't take any of the three options you are considered a person not in education, employment or training (NEET).

The number of people who are NEET at 16 is small. At the end of 2016 - when the latest data was recorded - there were just 180 in Kirklees. That was around 3.7% of the 16-year-old population at the time.

Local authorities, like Kirklees Council, are responsible for identifying and supporting 16-17 year olds who are NEET.

Proportion of Kirklees 16 and 17-year-olds NEET in 2016

ONS

Can you get into legal trouble? Can parents get fined?

Technically you are breaking the law.

Will anything happen because of it? No.

The government don't want to punish young people for not finding further education. Similarly, they don't want to fine parents who are probably going to be supporting those young people financially.

When the government raised the school leaving age to 18 in 2013 they issued advice to parents that read: "The law has changed but there will be no action taken against any young people who don’t participate.

"We want to encourage your child to participate because of the benefits it will bring."

Can you still claim benefits?

Usually people aged 16 or 17 can't claim jobseekers allowance (JSA) because they are still in some form of education or training and their parents can claim child benefits instead.

An exception to this is if the teenager is self-sufficient and not supported by any family.

In that case the requirement to be in education or training until 18 is considered less important than helping somebody who needs it.

Similarly parents would not have their child benefits cut if their 16-year-old was NEET.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed: "We see education as separate and secondary to looking after somebody."