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Further education

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

Original poster

DS wants to change track completely

29 replies

abreakplease · 29/08/2025 20:13

Hoping someone can offer some advice on how to manage this. DS17 has been doing a BTEC Level 2 for a year after his GCSEs. He got a Merit and seemed to be happy enough to move to Level 3 next week, but over summer had a complete change of heart.

It is quite a niche area - Animal Management - and he says he now wants to keep his options as wide open as possible as he really has no idea what he wants to do. He is keen to do something like Sociology, Geography - Humanities subjects which are A level.

His GCSE results were 4s and 5s so not great, hence taking a year at Level 2 to step back a bit. He has an EHCP for autism and processing issues, so learning isn't easy. Again why something hands on and vocational SEEMED like the answer.

I am going to call the LA on Monday about how to go about it, and I absolutely know that he will find Level 3 at A level or BTEC hard, but he wants to do it. Anyone been in the same boat, or know if we have a hope in hell of getting into a sixth form college at this point?

OP posts:
Original poster
abreakplease · 29/08/2025 21:06

What lovely positive replies thank you! Made me a bit teary to be honest, I was feeling very pessimistic, that it was setting him up to fail to try A levels with his learning issues. The issue with BTECs is that the ones round here at least are pretty focused on sport/media/computing, etc whereas he wants something broad but I will encourage him to maybe think about 1 BTEC alongside a couple of Humanities A Levels. Thank you!

OP posts:
LoremIpsumCici · 29/08/2025 20:45

Level 3 is level 3, so he will be fine at A levels with the right support. My DD’s 6th form was excellent for SEN provision. Go ahead and start touring/visiting some. If he can meet the teachers for the A levels he would take that would be fab.

Even highly competitive Universities also take 2 A levels + 1 level 3 BTEC- it all goes by UCAS pts so he may be able to leverage the learning he has done to date. https://unicrossblog.com/universities-in-the-uk-that-accept-btec-qualifications/

He can look at the career he wants, and then look at degree courses and then back from there to the A levels. There are lots of ideal hands on jobs that require a degree from archaeologist to wildlife conservation for a large national park.

Universities in the UK That Accept BTEC Qualifications for Admission

Universities in the UK That Accept BTEC Qualifications for Admission

BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) qualifications are vocational credentials that emphasize practical, hands-on learning, making them a popular alternative to A-Levels for students pu…

https://unicrossblog.com/universities-in-the-uk-that-accept-btec-qualifications/

LIZS · 29/08/2025 20:38

Agree, go for it. Possibly a btec would work better if he has coped with level 2 rather than exam structure of A levels. Our local college is doing enrolments next week so not too late and there will be people on hand to talk through options.

DeeKitch · 29/08/2025 20:33

I’d encourage him him to go for it, I hope he enjoys it and goes on to study even more - good luck x