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Original poster

Sport HNC/HNC vs Unrelated A-levels

36 replies

HeartVHeed · 17/09/2023 21:36

Looking for advice from the wise MN on a heart vs head quandary.

DS yr11 will be sitting GCSEs in 2024 and is predicted 7-9s across the board.

He is considering 2 options:

  1. School Sixth Form doing A-levels in Business Studies, Physics and Maths. Predicted 9, 8/9 and 7 respectively at GCSE.

BUT he is adamant that he doesn't want to go to university and has absolutely no idea what career might interest him that he could use these a-levels for. He would be choosing them based on subjects he enjoys doing.

When asked what he wants to do "career wise" he says he wants to be a professional at a sport he currently participates in and has started competing in this year.

Which leads me to option 2.

  1. RPA/HNC/HND Sports Development Coaching. A particular College offers this qualification alongside practical coaching in his sport. The course is aimed specifically at those competing at national level and wanting to progress to international/professional level.

It's 3 days at college + 2 days practical and after 3 years he would have a HND alongside a coaching qualification in the sport and another qualification related to it.

BUT the college is 2 hours away from us and does not have its own accommodation so we would have to find (private?) student accommodation for him. Cost isn't an issue but he would only be be 16+9 months at enrolment.

My HEAD says we should be encouraging him to stay on at school. What I thought I wanted to do at 16 bore no resemblance to what I ended up doing as a career, so he should keep his options open.

The a-levels he is thinking about would open up more doors into careers that are well paid (engineering, AI, robotics, etc etc).

We could afford to pay for him to have the coaching element of the college course at weekends etc so he'd still be getting the development in his sport.

Not doing a-levels in those subjects with those predicted grades somehow feels "a waste".

My heart says encourage him to follow his heart.

I've always said that people should do a job they love and feel passionate about. Life is about living not working to pay bills.

I want him to travel and see the world, and this sport could be a great opportunity IF it turned out he was good at it.

But what if he isn't?

What if he doesn't make it as a professional?

What else could he do with a HND in Sports Development? The options seem fairly limited, none of which in all honesty I could see him liking.

Sensible me says a-levels, get a decent paying job and do the sport as a self funded amateur.

But I also wanted him to live his life to the max!

OP posts:
Original poster
HeartVHeed · 18/09/2023 00:09

Racing starts age 13 but there weren't any the year he turned 13 due to covid.

The year he turned 14 we spent having him coached and taking him out as much as possible as we didn't feel he had enough experience to race yet (due to covid restrictions for the previous 18-24 months).

This year he raced some introductory/entry level competitions (on the advice of his coach) to get him used to the set up and how races/events work.

He did ok, middle of the field in his category. Those above him live where the races were though and their social media profiles are basically them riding those trails week in week out. DS has only ridden them once or twice, some he's never ridden before the race weekend.

2024 he will be racing in two different "full" series so we'll get a better idea of how good (or not!) he is.

OP posts:
Ellmau · 18/09/2023 00:04

Even if he is international level at the sport and can make a living out of it, no sports careers last forever. He needs a fallback option.

Are you able to share the sport?

TizerorFizz · 17/09/2023 23:42

How many students realistically earn money professionally from this course?Who employs them and where? I think I would want a proper critique of his ability. What competitions is he doing and with what results? COVID’s been gone for over a year now.

Original poster
HeartVHeed · 17/09/2023 23:14

To be clear, he doesn't want to do the course to get into coaching - he wants to race at professional level, this is what the specific course is aimed at helping them get to.

OP posts:
Original poster
HeartVHeed · 17/09/2023 23:09

It's a 3 year course starting with NPA in year 1, HNC year 2 and HND year 3.

So yes, most of them do it straight from GCSE/SCQ5.

He can't do a-level PE because he hasn't done it at GCSE.

OP posts:
Original poster
HeartVHeed · 17/09/2023 23:06

The sport is mountain biking.

Kids get into it more seriously around 11/12 and competition age is usually 13+ but lockdowns meant his opportunities were very very limited (no racing for starters!)

Location is also a factor. While he is ahead of his local peers he is behind those who live in locations with greater choice of decent trails/facilities.

I imagine his age group living near where the College is spent their entire lockdown doing it whereas he couldn't because we couldn't travel too far!

Essentially, those who live near the best facilities can do it daily, DS has been limited to weekly at mediocre facilities and monthly at the better places.

Regular repeated practise is quite a big factor.

This makes it hard to judge whether given the opportunity to focus solely on it, would he be awesome or would he still be mediocre?!

He has had coaching and we were told he had a natural aptitude for it and learned/improved quickly.

He is also in a club and is in the hardest/highest category having only joined this year (2 year waiting list!)

His a-level choices of business studies and physics are because he genuinely enjoys the two subjects.

His sixth form insist on 3 a-levels and maths complements physics.

He is predicted 8s in German and Geography and 7s in English and the other sciences but baulked at the idea of doing any of those at a-level!

When I ask him what he wants to do he says "ride my bike", but I'd expect that response from a 15 year old boy!

I'm really turn between encouraging him to follow his dreams and being the sensible parent 😂

OP posts:
clary · 17/09/2023 22:53

Yes good point about the HND level. can he even do it at 16?

dorisdoesdidsbury · 17/09/2023 22:49

What is the entry requirement for the HNC? I also thought it was for 18+

TizerorFizz · 17/09/2023 22:43

Isn’t HND level 5 and A levels, level 3? Quite a jump to HND from GCSEs isn’t it? I thought HND was 18 plus.

Can he not do PE A level? Plus get better at the sport whilst at home? Is there work for him in this sport? Is it normally coached by ex high level players? Like most sports. How good is he? Be truthful: and he should be realistic. Is this course really going to land a coaching job?

clary · 17/09/2023 22:13

OP will your DS not discover more clearly whether he is good at this sport over the next year? Can I ask why he has only started with it so recently (s it a sport you cannot do before age 14/15)?

Did he do other sport - is he keen on sport in general? I actually think the HND sounds great if he is really up for it and will excel in the sport. Knowing that seems to be the sticking point.

I imagine the HND will still enable him to go to uni if that becomes something her wants.

Does he love those subjects he would do for A level? If not then that's a bit dismal as a two-year project. Btw 7 is the lowest grade where I would consider maths A level. DS did it with an 8 and fought hard to get his grade B.

PhotoDad · 17/09/2023 21:55

I can't really give advice, just an anecdote (well, this is MN)! But my DS found himself in a fairly similar position. He has competed internationally in a very niche Olympic sport, and had to decide whether to pursue it further or focus more on academic study. He decided to follow the academic path, and he's pursuing his niche sport as a hobby. He also intends to gain his coaching qualifications in it.

One of the deciding factors for him (and us as parents) was geography, the next-level training for him would be not two hours away but more like eight. And he has other interests he'd have to sacrifice for it.

I should add that another relevant difference is that he has a degree and profession in mind, unlike your DS.

Good luck!