As a ham who got licensed at 12 here in the states, I'd encourage you to fight the social element and give it a go... I had mixed feelings about it but it ended

As a ham who got licensed at 12 here in the states, I'd encourage you to fight the social element and give it a go... I had mixed feelings about it but it ended up being interesting to learn everything in a classroom style setting. The hobby itself is huge, from talking locally, digital modes that are available under the signal to noise ratio (basically talking to people under the static around the world) and being in the UK, you could use the geostationary satellite and talk to anyone from UK to south africa, brazil and the middle east with very little effort. (https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/) Check out https://www.essexham.co.uk/ https://www.essexham.co.uk/ they're pretty 'modern' as I understand it and could point you in the direction of a more local test session. I've actually been tempted to spend a few weeks visiting a friend there and take the UK foundation course just to get my UK license for the added challenge ;) I used my US license over in Amsterdam when I was there over the summer.