BTECs Your views

I hope so to! Your DD sounds like she knows what she enjoys and would like to do in her future. Choosing a path that will give her options in this field sounds like a no-brainer to me. The opportunity to meet like minded people is invaluable in that sort of field. I wish her success

I think they are more challenging! My son has several friends who are doing A levels who are expected to do untimetabled additional work outside of their A level lessons and aren't - a level of independent learning comes after GCSE and not everyone is ready for it. My sons course is broken down into modules that cover different topics within the overall heading of Engineering, broadly covering maths, physics and practical engineering. There are practical assessments, written coursework, experiments, drawing - all of which are assessed within each topic, they are marked and create his final grade at the end of the year with no exam. They are varied which keeps up the interest and gives him a broad base in his overall subject allowing him to choose a speciality at a later stage. He has to be consistent throughout the year, no slacking off at all or he'll fail a module and it will affect his final grade. If you are considering a specific type of BTEC that would suggest that you have a more 'practical' mindset and are probably going to want to continue down the same route to Uni so these courses give a good base for those type of degrees. Employers also want practical skills these days, things are changing. My son earnt himself a Saturday job purely because of the BTEC he is studying. I've also found from a personal point of view that I had forgotten that when I transitioned from GCSE to A Level that was when my friends started to take different paths that were a good fit for them. As for being brave I'd rather have a son who is enjoying his learning, getting new skills and experiences in a subject he enjoys than a son who is being forced to take subjects just because they are A Levels that don't suit him at all. If that's brave - then good on him - bring it on!!

A BTEC in what? I used to teach on a BTEC h&sc in FE. Happy to answer questions.

My son is currently doing a BTEC in Engineering and is loving it. He has always excelled at classwork and struggled with the pressure of exams. It is hard work and he has had to be consistent from the start, there is no slacking with a BTEC as every lesson and assessment counts towards your final grade. I am really happy though because he is happy, I would recommend it.

Check out Salford. My son did the Popular Music and Recording degree there and it was the making of him. He did A levels but would probably have suited a BTEC in Music if there'd been one available. He went on to the NFTS to do an MA in Composing and now works in that field. Every one of his friends at Salford now works in music in one way or another, which I think is a great sign.

Thanks for that, I'd not heard of ACM before and had forgotten ICMP.

Can I ask what kind of places she is looking at as they may be suitable for ds to consider too. We know a lot about Musical theatre and classical music but the tech/production/composition/pop side of things are a bit new to us.

It was fantastic, best show I've seen yet (and believe me I've seen a lot!)

Has she any idea what kind of thing she wants to move onto. Perhaps go backwards and look at potential degree and diploma courses and see what their entry requirements are.

I've been researching places like LIPA and BIMM for ds if he goes the composition/music technology/arranging (most likely) route or actor singer courses such as Hammond, GSA, Trinity Laban if he goes the MT route.

Dh trained at a classical conservatoire and dd is training as a dancer/musical theatre performer so very different routes.

I’m almost certain that’s what my son is going to do. The Btec will suit his talents and aspirations more than A Level music and will prepare him for the degree courses in that area.

Dh teaches on a professional musical theatre degree. Many of the graduates from last year are now working in the industry, and at least half if not more of his students came from a Btec route.