First Move: questions parents ask

Key facts

• First Move is a three-day, non-residential career exploration programme by Mereka for school leavers aged 17 to 19.^[1]
• The first cohort is planned for Sunday 20 to Tuesday 22 December 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, after SPM papers end on 17 December. The venue address is still to be confirmed.^[1][2]
• The booking terms are still a draft: on 23 October 2026 the refund rules were proposed and waiting for approval, and the tax treatment was still to be confirmed. The apply page showed RM1,500 per learner.^[1][3]
• Partner-funded places are available for students from lower-income families. Places are limited, and applying does not guarantee one.^[4]
• What you see of your child's work depends on three things: the programme's rules, your child's sharing choices and safety exceptions. AI never scores or labels them.^[5][6][7]

These are the questions parents ask us most, answered from the First Move site and the library's checked guides as they stood on 23 October 2026. Where something is not settled, the answer says so: confirmed means the site states it as a rule, proposed means it is waiting for approval, and being built means it is planned but not yet available. For the full picture, read What First Move is, and what it is not.

Before you pay: a checklist

Open the booking terms(opens in a new tab) on the day you pay, and check each line against them.

1. Are the terms still a draft? On 23 October 2026 the page was marked "Draft": the refund rules were proposed, and the organiser's legal entity name, company registration number and the tax treatment were "to be confirmed". The terms say the page will be updated, with the date, before the rules take effect.^[1]
2. What is the final price? The full price in ringgit, including any tax, is shown on the apply page before you pay, and nothing is added after checkout.^[1]
3. Are you paying a deposit? Proposed: a RM300 deposit, with the balance due by 6 December 2026. A place held with a deposit is not a fully paid place.^[1]
4. Do you know where and when to collect your child? The venue address and the collection arrangements are sent before the programme starts.^[1]
5. Have your safety questions been answered? Use the five questions under "How is my child kept safe?" below.
6. Have you and your child read the privacy notice? For a child under 18, a parent or guardian must agree to the booking and to the privacy notice(opens in a new tab).^[6]

If cost is the barrier, apply for a funded place(opens in a new tab) before you pay.

The three days

What will my child actually do each day?

Day 1 is about them and the map: values, interests and strengths with real examples, the eight career areas, and research into routes after SPM using sources they check themselves.^[8] Day 2 is hands-on: two 90-minute job tasters led by practitioners, eight 12-minute small-group conversations with a practitioner from each career area, and the AI task X-ray, where they tag each task in a job as left alone, augmented, automated or created by AI.^[8] Day 3 is decisions: a month on a first salary (deductions, rent, transport, a buy-now-pay-later offer and an emergency), two routes compared with dated sources, a one-to-one plan review with a facilitator, and the family share-out.^[8] The full timetable is on the programme page(opens in a new tab).

My child has no idea what they want to do. Is it still for them?

Yes. It is for school leavers aged 17 to 19, and they do not need to know what they want to do; working that out is the point.^[1][5] They leave with two options worth investigating and three dated next steps, not a final answer.^[8]

When and where is it, and what do we arrange?

Status: dates planned, times proposed, venue to be confirmed. It is planned for Sunday 20, Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 December 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, about 09:00 to 17:00, and the terms say the times may change.^[1] Supervised arrival opens at 08:30, and the joining instructions, venue address and collection arrangements come before the programme starts.^[5] It is non-residential, and travel and accommodation are not included.^[1]

Can I come?

Yes, twice: a 45-minute opening at 09:00 on Day 1 and a 60-minute share-out at 16:00 on Day 3, where your child presents their plan to you.^[5][8] Day 3 is a Tuesday. If you cannot make it, a trusted adult can come instead or you can join privately by video, and your child keeps their place.^[5] The site does not yet say how a trusted adult is authorised, so if someone else will attend or collect your child, ask the team how to name them in writing.

Safety and the people

How is my child kept safe?

Confirmed on the site: sessions run at a supervised venue with trained facilitators, in small pods of nine, and every practitioner session happens at the venue, in groups, with facilitators present.^[5] All adults who work with learners follow Mereka's safeguarding rules, and any concern goes to the safeguarding lead at [email protected].^[1] Staff may record a safeguarding concern, and only the safeguarding lead and admins can see those records.^[6] If anyone puts others at risk, they may be asked to leave, and the guardian of anyone under 18 is contacted.^[1]

The site does not yet publish the details below. Before you pay, ask the team for a written answer to each:

1. Vetting: what background checks every adult who works with learners has had, and who checked them.
2. Ratio: how many trained adults are with each pod of nine, and in the room overall.
3. First aid: who is trained in first aid on each day, and what happens in a medical emergency, including how you are told.
4. Collection: who may collect a child under 18, and what happens if nobody arrives on time.
5. Complaints: how to raise a concern or complaint, who handles it and how quickly. The terms say only to write to [email protected], and that Mereka will reply and try to put it right.^[1]

Who are the facilitators and practitioners?

Facilitators are Mereka's trained team: they run each pod and the one-to-one plan review on Day 3, and you meet them at the Day 1 opening.^[5][8] Practitioners are working adults, one from each of the eight career areas for the conversations, and they lead the job tasters.^[8] They see only what they need to run a session, such as your child's first name and chosen career paths.^[6] The site does not name them yet; the vetting question above applies to both groups.

Data, privacy and AI

What information do you collect, and who sees it?

When you apply, Mereka collects your child's name, email, phone, age, school, SPM year and state, their chosen career paths and what they are curious about, plus a parent or guardian's contact details. Stripe handles card and bank details.^[6] Dietary and access needs and the emergency contact are deleted 30 days after the cohort's last day, and Mereka never sells personal data.^[6]

The privacy notice says you can ask to see the data Mereka holds, correct it, withdraw consent or limit how it is used, by emailing from the address you used, and that Mereka replies within 21 days.^[6] The same 21 days appears in the Personal Data Protection Act 2010, as the deadline for a data access request (a request to see your data) and for a correction request; in both cases the organisation can take up to 14 more days if it tells you in writing why. The Act sets no such period for withdrawing consent: processing must stop once the written notice is received.^[9] Your child can also delete their Explorers account themselves, in the app or on the website. The details are in the privacy notice(opens in a new tab).^[6]

Who sees what: at 17, and at 18 or 19?

Three different things decide what you see. Programme rules apply to every family. Your child's sharing choices decide what reaches you beyond logistics. Safety exceptions let the team act without waiting for an invitation. This table uses only what the site's own pages say.

In short: before 18 you agree to your child taking part and you are copied on booking emails, but their thinking reaches you only through what they choose to share, at the share-out and in published Future Map sections. From 18 they also decide whether you follow at all. The public pages do not say who can end a family link for a learner under 18; ask the team if that matters to your family.

What is the AI discovery interview, and can my child skip it?

Status: not open yet. The privacy notice says the interview stays closed until its data-keeping periods are approved. The proposal is to delete the written transcript 90 days after the cohort's last day, unless your child deletes it sooner.^[6]

When it opens, it is an optional 10 to 15 minute conversation before Day 1, by voice or typing, in English, Bahasa Malaysia or a mix. It is not a test.^[7] Your child can fill in a form that no AI reads or writes instead, and saying no does not change their place.^[7]

In voice mode, the audio streams from your child's browser straight to OpenAI, which runs the interviewer for Mereka, and Explorers does not record or save it. Because speech reaches OpenAI as it is spoken, Mereka cannot remove personal details from it first. The notice also says OpenAI keeps requests to its API for up to 30 days to detect abuse, longer only where the law requires, and processes them outside Malaysia, including in the United States.^[6] If your child chooses the interview, a verified linked parent gets a short notice saying so, without their answers.^[7]

Does AI score my child or decide anything?

No. AI at First Move never gives a score or grade, labels personality, predicts a career, makes decisions for your child, or asks for IC numbers, addresses, religion, health or family income.^[7] If your child's cohort uses AI suggestions and your child agrees, it can suggest at most two directions, and each stays a draft until they decide. No AI account is needed.^[7]

Will photos of my child be used?

Only with consent. Photos, video and stories are optional and separate from joining, and saying no never affects a place or funding.^[1][6]

Cost, funded places and refunds

How much does it cost, and what is included?

Status: shown, not final. On 23 October 2026 the apply page showed RM1,500 per learner for the December cohort. The booking terms say the full price, including any tax, is shown before you pay and nothing is added after checkout, but the tax treatment is still "to be confirmed by finance".^[3][1] The booking includes two job tasters, eight practitioner conversations, the first-salary simulation, a reviewed plan, lunch and two breaks each day, materials, a participation certificate, the parent sessions and a 30-day check-in.^[1] There is no buy-now-pay-later or interest-bearing instalment option.^[1]

Is there help with the fee?

Yes. Partner-funded places are for students from lower-income families, and a funded learner has the same seat as everyone else, with no visible difference in the room.^[4] Places are limited, two people from the team review each application, and applying does not guarantee a place.^[4] The form asks for a household income band (or "Prefer not to say") and no documents.^[4] Apply on the funded places page(opens in a new tab).

What if we need to cancel?

Status: proposed, waiting for approval. The terms say these rules do not limit your rights under Malaysian consumer law, and that the page will be updated, with the date, before they take effect.^[1] As proposed: a full refund up to 20 November 2026, 75% from 21 November to 5 December, 50% from 6 to 12 December, and normally none after that, with a substitute learner, a medical or hardship review or a usable credit considered.^[1] If Mereka cancels or makes a change you do not accept, you get a full refund, and you can pass the place to another eligible learner once, free, until 13 December 2026. For a sponsor-funded place, no cash is refunded to the learner.^[1]

After the three days

What happens after the three days?

Confirmed in the booking terms: a 30-day check-in.^[1] Your child's plan ends with three dated actions for the next 90 days, and the programme page describes check-ins at 30 and 90 days.^[8] Being built: Explorers portal and app access for 90 days after the programme is part of Mereka's programme design but is not finished, and the booking terms do not list it as included.^[10][1] Count on what the terms list.

Will First Move help my child get into university?

Not directly, and we make no claim that it does. First Move is not a promise of a university place, a scholarship or a job.^[1] For public universities, polytechnics and community colleges, a UPU offer depends on several things at once. The 2026 UPU FAQ says applicants are ranked by a merit mark (90% academic, 10% co-curricular), and that a place also depends on meeting the programme's general and special entry requirements (syarat am and syarat khas), passing an interview or test where the programme requires one, the places available and the order of your choices.^[11] UPU is open to Malaysian citizens with a MyKad, and in 2026 KPT also offered places through special routes for groups including OKU (disabled) applicants, Orang Asli and B40 candidates.^[11][12] First Move changes none of this. What your child practises there, comparing routes, requirements and costs with dated sources, is the same work they will need when they choose and order their UPU choices.

Is the certificate a qualification?

No. The booking includes a participation certificate, and First Move is not an accredited qualification.^[1]

Supporting your child

How do I help without deciding for them?

Be clear about money, honest about your values and useful with information: dates, requirements and costs. Ask open questions such as "What would you need to know to rule this out?", and listen more than you talk. The library guide Supporting your child's post-SPM decision has questions to use and mistakes to avoid.

When do the real application deadlines start?

Earlier than many families expect. In the last cycle, UPU applications opened on 29 January 2026, before SPM results on 31 March 2026.^[11][13] For the 2025/2026 intake, Matrikulasi phase 1 opened on 1 December 2024, while students were still sitting SPM, and applying was free.^[14] The 2027 dates are not announced yet; the month-by-month costs and funding guide tells you when to look.

What this means for your child

• They can come without a career answer, and leave with two options and three dated steps rather than a verdict.
• Before 18 you consent and are copied on booking emails, but their thinking reaches you only through what they choose to share. The app shows logistics plus any Future Map sections they publish; their private work stays private.
• AI is optional, never scores them and never decides for them, and the interview stays closed until its data rules are approved.
• The price, refund rules, venue address and after-programme access are not final. Decide on what the booking terms say on the day you pay, not on this page.

Your next step

1. On the day you pay, work through the "Before you pay" checklist with the booking terms(opens in a new tab) and the privacy notice(opens in a new tab) open.
2. Take the five safety questions to an online parent info session(opens in a new tab), or email them to [email protected] and ask for written answers.