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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Original poster

DD wants to drop an A Level as she is overwhelmed, won't consider Btec

82 replies

micellargin · 05/09/2019 18:52

She just scraped the GCSE entry requirements for her school's 6th form, which was 5 grade 5's. She is not naturally academic and this was a huge effort for her, however she was determined to get in to the 6th form to be with her friends. We ended up paying for tutors etc just to get her those grades, aside from the grade 5's she has a mix of 4's and 3's.

I've always felt vocational would suit her much better, she is absolutely brilliant with people and can be extremely proactive in certain situations. Not academic but absolutely excels in other ways. She has done work experience in a care home and they were so so impressed with her and stated she knew what to do and all of the procedures without even being told. She also enjoyed it as she does want to go into a health and social care sector (right now she is interested in learning disability nursing).

But she has always had her heart set on the school 6th form and A Levels as her route to uni and of course it's her choice. Teacher's etc at school did try and push her towards vocational and away from A Level which aways upset her. However 2 days into Sixth form and she is struggling massively, there has been little to no transition from GCSE to A Level content and she feels completely out of her depth and has no idea what her teachers are talking about. We've had panic attacks and tears, and she is worried as her friends seem to be coping. And teacher's also told her the first few days are the easy part and it's going to get a whole lot worse. She's announced today that she's dropping her maths A Level and just doing her other 2.

I wish she would go to college and do a Btec health and social, she would do so well in that and it's equivilant to 3 A levels and apparently unis prefer vocational training for nursing, but she won't entertain the idea. I think it stems from the fact the her school (an extremely high ranking comp in a very wealthy area, 20% of students picking up 8-9's in at least 5 GCSE's) has lots of very academic students and her friends are in this group, some of them are being pushed for Oxbridge. I think she feels as though she needs to keep up with them but deep down I believe she knows vocational would suit her better. It's just a case of getting her to realize it's in no way inferior.

Is anyone else's DC in a similar position? I know I can't force her to do anything and I'm not going to try but I'm just wondering how you would deal with such a situation? I have tried to say to her that she is more than capable of scoring top grades in Btec, and that will look so much better on a uni application than 2 scraped passes in A Level, but she will not have it. Persoanlly I think she's going to come to this conclusion herself sooner or later, but I don't want her to change her mind half way through the year for obvious reasons.

OP posts:
Propertyfaux · 05/09/2019 21:19

I would also say with maths at GCSE DS1 maths class was top set and were already doing advanced work and took an extra exam. Your DD might be struggling because the others in the class may have already experienced the subject matter.

Propertyfaux · 05/09/2019 21:09

I do think she may need to find out the hard way, I am concerned on what her A levels are for there being such a jump in two days. DS1 felt overwhelmed at A levels the first term. If she is determined to stay, is there any A levels with a coursework element to take some pressure off final exams that she could change to. Worse case scenario she loses one year and starts again next year on the BTEC. Has she looked at social sciences instead of nursing lots of pathways into working with people. Friends child’s going to university with CCC and one A level was photography (difficult but spaced out so less exam pressure). She maybe better seeing if there are any chances of changing subjects that require no previous GCSE. I think your sixth form hasn’t helped. DS1 did Math and the required grade was 7 and he struggled in the first term.

Comefromaway · 05/09/2019 19:44

Only doing 2 A levels will severely restrict choices of university. She may get onto a foundation degree but to be honest, unless there were extenuating circumstances as to why she got Grades 4/5 she will struggle to get decent A level grades. Grnersllyvits accepted the most common grade to achieve at A level is a grade lower than that achieved at GCSE so she’s potentially looking at D grades. Most schools I know ask for a minimum GCSE Grade 6 in subjects to be taken at A Level & Grade 7 in maths.

My Ds would struggle massively st A level but he is luckily convinced the Btec Route is the best.

daisypond · 05/09/2019 19:34

Is there a minimum standard she will need to obtain by the summer/Christmas? My dd’s school had one, and those that didn’t achieve it had to leave school mid way through. It will vary from school to school. They often ended up going to college and doing Btecs a year later. Many did extremely well and ended up at top ten universities.

lumpy76 · 05/09/2019 19:15

I'd push the btec and as pp says the prize of what she wants to do afterwards! Eldest DD has just finished A's and has 3 friends who whilst having done As and one a mix of btec and an a level are all basically repeating the past 2 years doing only Btecs because the Btec is actually what they need to go on into the field I which they wish to work! I also know that struggling through A levels is hell and the jump now is enormous and all about memorising! If I were a student now I'd definitely do a btec and I was a very capable student and got 4 A levels with As and Bs

mathsquestions · 05/09/2019 19:09

As @daisypond says - she should keep her eye on the prize. Maybe call a few universities and ask what percentage of the coming year intake has a btec and what grades?

daisypond · 05/09/2019 19:03

Can you suggest she keeps her eye on the prize- a nursing degree course with a good job at the end of it? I know people who went to Oxford who struggled to get jobs after their degree and two who went there retrained to become nurses and midwives. Vocational courses are the way to go in the current climate. Look at the entry requirements together and show her that Btec courses are fine/ preferred? Could she do them at her school or will she need to move to a college? She needs to do what is right for her.