BTEC/T level/other vocational 25/26

Good grief...SO many typos 😫

Thank you @timesaretough
That's so great to hear and huge congratulations to your dd 👏
My dd actually did pretty well in her gcses and could javelin gone to 3 6th formz to a A level.
Sadly, they have all dropped her passion subject and she's just "done" with school tbh.
So, we are hoping that the btec in a new city is the right decision for her 🙏

Hi everyone I have just seen this thread and thought I’d give any parents who are worrying some reassurance.

DD did a Btec level 3 almost 10 years ago after she missed her A level entry requirements at the sixth form she wanted to go to by one grade.

She walked away with all D* grades and went on to study at a Russell Group uni. She left there with a first and walked straight into a graduate position.

Btec was not her first choice but in reflection it was the best route for her as it allowed her to develop skills that aren’t explored in academic study. At uni she found self study much easier than many of her course mates who were much more academic than she was but had been spoon fed at sixth form.

To anyone worried that a Btech might be second best to A levels, don’t be. The skills they learn are just as important and valuable and even before covid, some of the best universities recognised that .

No re sits at all.

Do you mean 'with no resits' or do you mean 'no resits first, but resit in parallel'? I suspect the latter.

Its definitely college dependent...
As I said, locally to me colleges have made the decision that kids within 2/3 marks of a 4 cam start the course with no re sits
Perhaps common sense is finally prevailing?

The policy is wrong whoever sets it. On DD's enrolment day last week we had to go to the maths and English dept to have her results verified to confirm she didn't need to do resits. The room was packed with kids who did. It must be so hard to start a course and give it your all when you're having to cram extra lessons in. On results day DD sobbed with relief knowing she'd never have to take another maths test, the pressure has been immense.

@Sisublondie No, DD isn't leaving after a year – she's now going to do three! One year at Level 2 to boost her GCSE equivalent and then she'll stay on to do two years at Level 3. And yes, animal care. She's really happy, it's like a weight's lifted, frankly. She's already said uni felt too scary to contemplate but now she's talking about doing the three years, taking a gap year and then going to uni when she's 20. Having read what someone put on another thread about ND children being three years behind their peers it now makes total sense to us how she's been feeling and struggling to cope. She needs these three years at college to catch up!

I think your DS will be fine and will fly through the six weeks. You just need to follow @TeenToTwenties' excellent advice – which I intend to do as well! – and stay on top of helping him be organised and do his best possible work for the best grades. It sounds like his mindset is already shifting towards feeling more positive about the course. What's he doing, btw?

That was college policy not government. At a grade 1 they could start at FS and resitting in Nov crazy and not required.

They need to do something.

I was teaching students who had got a 1 in GCSE, in September and they would resit in November. It's crazy, there is no way you are going up 3 grades in a month of teaching.

Yes, I was just about to re-reply to you as I’d not got round to mentioning what happened to you at enrolment… that sounds like an utter nightmare?? The college screwing up like that! 🤯.. Your DD sounds like she ( and you!) dealt with it with aplomb….. I think you said she will now leave after first year with Level 2, animal biology (i think?) equiv to 4 GCSE’s?, which I think is absolutely excellent. I’m an August baby and I screwed up my first lot of A Levels and did four new ones in a year and got off to Uni then. That year didn’t make any difference whatsoever ( other than it taught me that you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off and crack on, even if you do pick the wrong subjects (maths, chemistry and biology 🙄) and nail all U’s!

I think it’s going to work out so well for your DD and it’s great she’s excited about it now! I wish this year, DS college were running his subject in Level 2… ( sometimes they do, apparently) I would much prefer that for him. I think this “ provisional 6 weeks” they have out him on sounds very much like the “ flying start” that @TeenToTwentieshas at hers?? , with a review after 5 weeks? Maybe they all do?

Sadly not the same college!, we left NW London when the boys were 3 and 1 with work, now in the touristy Midlands…. 🤦‍♀️😹… don’t miss it all…..😡😤🤯.. much!!

3rd! Not long! I’m not at all sure what we need to buy, anything at all, really. His starts 1st September for” induction week”…

I think I was a bit embarrassed wrt my maths grade for a while.
I was in top sets for everything else.
Nowadays - thankfully - it would be flagged up and I'd have got interventions etc but 🤷‍♀️
I went to a pretty rubbish school tbh...I'm amazed I got the grades I did!

@Sisublondie
Nope, never even seen the building before!
Older dd went in the opposite direction - both geographically and subject/path wise 😃

@Sisublondie
😃
I can happily state my maths ability or lack of has never hampered me at all 😃
I can do what I need to do...work out %, calculate compound interest etc
I have never, in all my 50 years, needed the pythagoras theorem 😃
Enrolment is Tuesday but not sure atm when the term actually starts 🤔
Dd seems ok.
I seem to have a sinus infection 🤧

Yes, SO similar to DS.. I hope she bounces home full of unknown excitement and all the potential to come after she starts! What day is her enrolment this week? Is it a college she knows well? Did older DD attend? I’m just wondering, because I had zero of DS’s ( aside from liking how the outside looked! 😈😹!) until I went inside, but he’d at least gone there for his interview. Just wondering!

How did her couple of days work go? What date does she start?

Oh, yes, the resit situation is astounding!!! The stats this year are shocking, I absolutely agree that for some vocational training/education, surely Functional Skills is sufficient? As I said earlier, my friends ND son has already taken and passed English.. apparently he could retake each section if necessary before moving on ( 🙏so much @TeenToTwentiesfor your kind info here!).. compared to the seemingly extraneous stuff in the GCSE that they are forced to learn! I don’t know. But, I do know how English GCSE affected DS mentally, and I bloody wish I didn’t have to see him going through that again… 🤯.. same as you said to the DC who resat, what was it, 6 or so times?! 🤷‍♀️🤯🙄..

You got great grades!! ( I don’t know anyone else who did Law!)… but the dyscalcula must be incredibly difficult….
The obsession with GCSE maths needing to be passed, when you, who are quite clearly intelligent!!, got a U, must really 🤔 annoy you! ….

My dd was desperate to leave her school.
She's looking forward to meeting new people.

That sounds really encouraging - the meeting with the ALS team, him wanting to go for a burger with you and the fact he was proud of himself for navigating a busy enrolment day. Maybe he's at last seeing there's a path for him and his bullies won't be on it. DD's college sounds similar – you're not in London are you?! – with so many students but she found it okay too. She had a wobble when they said she had to start at Level 2 but now she's just really excited to get started. Her first day is the 3rd.

@Sisublondie
All sounds very positive?

😹😹😹😹😹.. this tickled me!! 😻

Thank you for this….. Yes, I met with the ALS team ( the lovely Carol said he could decide on which biscuits at their first meet!😺), that were there at enrolment and we gave them an outline of how the day had started with his
results. They were both very kind and let him talk, and chatted about what additional support he was getting/laptop/calm safe space, etc… They swapped emails and arranger made for him to meet with “Carol” very soon after starting ( hopefully induction week)..

But, I had previously called the college before the day, spoken to a few people, and a member of the safeguarding team called me back. “ Emma” said she would be his one to one mentor, but I don’t know how accurate this is/ will be. We chatted about his difficulties and she was most convened about his bullying, and said she would “ red flag” 🚩 this on his records. Incidentally, that is one comment he made before he went into a slump, how he was proud he had coped with the “ crowd” at enrolment ( busy, but was also a massive building, too), but the flip side being “out of, like 1000 students ( 🤷‍♀️!), I did not see ONE one from school. Score!”….. I also have been given her email, and I’ll contact her again now that he knows his results.

So, I hope I’ve dove everything I can at this stage? He has brightened up a little today, we went for a quick burger 🍔 at a local barbecue, and the fact he agreed to even go was astonishing! I’m hoping he’s starting to settle down into the changes that are happening….🤞🙏..

It’s really good that your DD has similar support. When does she start? How is she feeling?

🙏 for posting!

True story. Bloody Tories.

Tories gonna tory 🤷‍♀️

But why? His upbringing was lower middle class – why stomp over the achievements of many in the same boat as him?

Well.
They all went to private schools...
Goves "reforms" were always about undoing the great results of poor/wc kids in the much fairer continous assessment method.

I'd love to know how his kids did in their GCSEs and whether they were stressed up to the eyeballs throughout. One weaselly man's ego has got a lot to answer for.