BTEC/T level/other vocational 25/26

@TheForgetfulCat I may know this already. Is that at Sparsholt or elsewhere?
DD has done 3 years of Animal Care, 2 at Level 1 and 1 at level 2.

Dependent on Thursday DD will be doing either a T Level in Animal Management or a foundation year / L2 course with resits. She is organised and smart but really struggles with Gove style examined GCSEs as she has some verbal processsing difficulties. So I’m hoping that the more practical and work based focus of the T level will really suit her.

Shes been offered a work placement in a vet practice which is 🤩 as she wants to do vet nursing (at the moment …)

Dependent on Thursday DD will be doing either a T Level in Animal Management or a foundation year / L2 course with resits. She is organised and smart but really struggles with Gove style examined GCSEs as she has some verbal processsing difficulties. So I’m hoping that the more practical and work based focus of the T level will really suit her.

Shes been offered a work placement in a vet practice which is 🤩 as she wants to do vet nursing (at the moment …)

My DC3 has just completed T’Level. It was a bit of a risk/unknown to us at the time: 2 older siblings both took STEM A’Levels at our ‘exam factory’ college which gets fantastic results but with a lot of pressure. DC3 would not have thrived in that environment.
Before signing up to do T’Level I contacted some (non-Russell group) unis to enquire about acceptance. The T’Level was definitely less stressful than A’s would have been, and doing the work experience really helped grow. After passing the T’Level DC3 has just been accepted to a top 10 uni (non-Russell group). AND will be studying the exact course already has 2 years experience in (whereas others on the degree course who have done A’Levels will have a bigger learning curve). Most definitely the right path for my DC.

DD needed specific PPE for weekly practical days which was listed on the website and a link to the supplier. (Steel capped boots, overalls, etc). They had a bit of time to get it though to allow for late joiners to the course.

She also had a ring binder with file dividers, pad of paper, pencil case.

Oh, and a calculator and geometry kit for maths resit ....

I'm hoping that the FE college provide a list of things needed at enrolment?

Thanks for this! I had a big chat with DD earlier on the back of this thread and she understands that the workload is going to be huge and that she needs to be on top of it. I've said I'd help her get organised and she was pleased, but she also said that I shouldn't worry because it's a subject that she is truly interested in, unlike all her GCSEs. Let's hope it stays that way!

Dd is hopefully doing RSL L2 Music Practitioners alongside her A levels instead of an EPQ. I hope it isn't going to be too much work but she has the option to drop it if she thinks it will impact on her other grades. She did GCSE art and worked really hard on the coursework and enjoyed it so hope she will treat this the same.

Hi all!

DD's doing a L3 Extended Diploma from September - but with RSL so think not "officially" a BTEC but basically the same thing. Music in terms of subject.

She did a BTEC L2 in place of a GCSE so we have some experience of them.

I would say that as a parent it is worth being very, VERY on top of the requirements.

DD's college are very keen on parents being involved and have the whole parent's portal, parent's evenings, reports system, but I know a lot of colleges don't.

Our experience with the L2 is that they are brilliant for kids who struggle with exams due to SEN (working memory, processing speed, dyslexia etc) but require a lot of attention to detail and making sure every box is ticked and they are submitted on time. Working out exactly what is required can be a flipping nightmare though.

Do not let them sit back and relax as it's very much not like A levels where you could potentially coast through and then revise like crazy at the end and still get stellar grades.

Although I worry about her narrowing her options, as a previous poster said, it's better to do something you enjoy. The A levels she would have chosen would probably narrow her options too I think. The workload looks huge for the BTEC too.

She's doing Animal Management. She's wanted to work with animals since she was tiny!

Super, she has a couple of friends going to the same place but different courses. She's doing Art. What is your daughter going to study?

@TheFunSponge Same here with the nerves - none of DD's friends are going to her college or studying BTechs so it's very much starting from scratch. What subject is your DD taking?

Thanks for the new thread. It should be really useful for those of us who have had no experience of BTEC before. My DD is nervous about starting somewhere new but is adamant she wants to do her L3 Extended Diploma.

Narrowing options only matters if you might be interested in the options you are excluding. Even doing A levels narrows options.

We'd been worried about the narrowing of options at 16 but I've come to view it as a positive. There have been so many news reports recently about post-grads struggling to find work that I now think having two years' more practical experience in a niche subject will give them a head start. Even more so with the impact AI is going to have on the jobs market in the next five years. Plus my DD is so passionate about her subject that I can't actually imagine her doing anything else for a job!

I wouldn't worry too much about narrowing his options. It's better they do something they enjoy. There is plenty of ways to change path as they get older.

I have a nearly starting year 11 DS who wants to go to Uni to do Paramedic Science but is unlikely to excel at A levels. We are a bit isolated so not a huge choice of colleges and the only relevant course he can get to is T Level Health Social Care. I would have preferred he did a level 3 Diploma but it would mean a lot of travel.

Does anyone know how T levels compare to BTECs and do Uni's like them?

My DS did a T level, which sound and in a lot of ways was great, however the college gave absolutely zero help in getting a placement which made it extremely stressful. He did pass though so there's that!!

BTEC Nationals | Pearson qualifications

Yes.

Actual BTECs are Pearson (I think all they are the only ones I have heard of anyway). There are also City&Guilds, and Cambridge Nationals I think.

And T-Levels.

I assume I could find the spec for the btec?
I'm not sure of the exam board yet...

Youngest has just completed BTEC Level 3 Extended in Sport and got DDM across the course.

He’s loved the course and it’s got him into his first choice Uni to do a BEd pretty sure it’s the Physical Education - Secondary Ed (with QTS).

He’s loved the practical side of the course and being a qualified football ref has been very useful to the college.

I did the old BTEC OND route to university back in the very late 80s and never found it a hindrance to get to University after being told it was “the poor man’s A Levels” and it would limit me in getting in.

@GrumpyMuleFan he could make his own spreadsheet for grade tracking. As grades for units come in her could see his maximum grade coming down and his minimum overall grade going up. It sounds from @cassgate that there are tools for this nowadays, but doing his own might be more fun.