Sport HNC/HNC vs Unrelated A-levels

No. It’s the only sport choice anyone offers up though! It’s not as if everyone can get there.

It was a suggestion for him to look at, it's not like I have dragged him out of his home and told him he must attend.

Is he actually interested in the academic side of the course or does he just want to be able to ride his bike a lot?

Because if he just wants to ride his bike a lot then it might be better (and probably cheaper!) to just agree to fund a year out post A levels where he lives somewhere with really good trails and rides full time.

Sorry to post yet again! The thing with the DiSE course is that you are nominated by your sports national governing body - in your case, British Cycling. So securing that nomination gives you a sense of where your child is at on the elite pathway (which sounds pretentious but which all sports governing bodies have and are hugely important in progressing to any kind of paid career).

Agree with this too. My very academic DD took it and really enjoyed at GCSE. Appreciate hard sometimes for our young people to push back against peer views.

It may well be different for different sports.

For my DD, attendance at a DiSE affiliated sixth form is by far and away the most common route to playing her sport at the elite level for 16-18yr olds in UK. It allows her to play the sport at highest level and best prepares her for next steps, especially sports scholarships to US universities.

So again, the DiSE qualification itself is secondary (especially as my DD sounds similar to your son in having anchieved all 8s and 9s in her GCSEs so was always going to do A levels). Our feeling was that if she was going to be doing 20hrs per week of her sport (which is what the DiSE affiliated school offers) alongside 3 A levels then she may as well get a qualification worth some additional UCAS points, as well as something to write in her PS.

However, I appreciate that you are saying your DS’s focus is on the practical race skills. Presumably this is a specialist institution that is focused on cycling skills?

Ah OK. Well that's a shame. It's not a doss of course. My very academic DS2 took it for GCSE and A level alongside maths and biology. But it's hard to get past a peer aspect like that for sure.

@HeartVHeed

link to British Cycling’s DiSE programme here. If he can get selected on this he can do this alongside A levels so no need to choose one or the other.

https://www.Britishcycling.org.uk/coaching/article/DiSE

as I said, my DD is doing this for a different sport and just started y12 so all a bit new to us but I love that it runs alongside A levels or Btecs or other vocational course. Funded by Sport England.

There's always the option of armed forces careers and competing for the respective teams etc?

Have you looked into where offers the Diploma in Sporting Excellence for British Cycling? My DD is doing this for another sport and it is taken alongside 3 Alevels (or Btecs).

You have to be nominated by your national governing body for your sport and attend an accredited school/college. It is specifically designed for elite sports students to help them become professional sports people but done alongside a levels/Btecs so the athletes have alternatives if things don’t work out (which obv for many is the case).

I can’t attach a link but just google cycling and DiSE and it will come up.

That's a good way of looking at it OP. I initially took it to be a sport you cannot start until age 15 (like American football). I agree with @TizerorFizz if he has had three years to get good, he should be better than finishing mid-table if he’s going to turn pro. I hope that doesn't sound harsh.

I think the maxim “You can do anything as long as you work hard enough” is dangerous. I recall an 8yo I knew who was an OK footballer, but very far from the best even on his little schoolboy team. He told me he was going to be a footballer when he grew up. No chance. No chance at all. I am sure that now he has long recognised that – but truly, there are some things that are beyond us. I could improve my singing voice or my piano playing with a lot of practice – but I will never be a concert pianist nor a professional opera singer.

I also think @Mumofteenandtween makes a good point about financial rewards. A colleague played a not especially niche sport to a very high level and has competed for their country at international events. But they still had to fund loads of things like flights, equipment, kit themselves.

I know a bit about athletics and often see athletes who are genuinely promising. By that I mean that even without lots of training and coaching, they can run faster, jump higher, throw further than any of their peers. But even then, only a tiny fraction of the very best will make it to the highest level, for whatever reason – injury, lack of work, lack of innate talent, not got the right attitude, not got the parental support, just not in the right place at the right time.

I’m not saying your son should not try. And I really really hope he can continue to enjoy taking part in sport. But I would definitely advise accessing as much training and competition as you can in the next 10 months – including driving him all over the place as much as you need to, so you can make a realistic assessment of your lad’s potential. And I would prime him to expect to be taking A-levels this time next year. It's a shame he didn't take GCSE PE tbh - was it not offered by his school?

Btw – yes maths A level is more or less a must if you take physics; many schools will not allow physics without maths.

I agree. However the top few in a sport might be ok if it’s a well supported sport with a coaching set up. Otherwise I think it’s a huge risk when you don’t have much of a track record to judge!

Who knows? Probably not. There are a lot of people who want to make it in every sport for each one who does.

But my point is that before you decide to chase a rainbow it is important to check that the pot of gold is actually a pot of gold and not a pot of random coppers.

I think that most people would be shocked at how little money even those who are technically highly successful at their sport are able to earn.

And this isn’t about living without a sports car. This is about being able to travel to the top level events that mean that you can maintain your international ranking.

@Mumofteenandtween Is no 10 in the uk likely here? Or no 100?

@sashh This question is A levels or hnc! Uni is very different and everyone immediately says Loughborough. What if he gets lower grades than Loughborough want?

One question I would ask is “what if it all goes right?”

By this I mean - how does it work for the No 1 in the world, the No 10 in the world, the No 1 in the U.K. Are they able to pay for all their travelling costs and still come out with a genuine living from the sport?

I say this as the close family member of a Commonwealth Games medalist in a minority sport (nothing to do with cycling) who basically couldn’t.

Whatever sport he is in to, I'm guessing cycling, he should have a look at Loughborough uni. They have excellent sport facilities and can be flexible with study if their students are competing.

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/sport/performance-sport/

Is this the college? BASE Mountain Biking | Borders College

Note that it's not free if you don't live in Scotland (which I assume you aren't as you're talking about A levels as the alternative). And he might not even get in if he's only middle of the pack at the moment.

I'd be inclined to say stick with the A levels but facilitate more weekend trips to the better biking areas so he can practice.

Maybe not maths though with a 7 at GCSE.

I think the DC wants to move from early days with virtually no experience to getting paid. I remember Chris Hoy had to be taken to Manchester by his dad to compete as they didn’t have a velodrome in Scotland at the time. So you have to put in the graft as well as him. It’s what parents do if they mean what they say. I think you do need to look at the regional set up but finishing mid div isn’t really pulling up trees. Yes, others have more experience but is the course going to improve him that much? I would keep it as a hobby but you have told DS if he works at something he will be supported. Usually Dc work out they are not gifted enough to make a career of it.

Is his type of mountain biking one that has an NSR? Did he get a slot for 2024? (My kids do a different type of cycling so I’m not very good on mountain biking.)

I’d be very nervous about encouraging a child who is not strong enough for NSR (if it exists) to throw all their chips into cycling.