BTEC/T level/other vocational 25/26 - part 2

I'm not sure it is that shocking really.

They can't pass first time with more hours of lessons, interventions, and a focus on passing them from school.

College comes along and they get 2-3 hours of lessons weekly (provided the teachers turn up), less chasing if they don't attend, less homework, teachers who don't know them. Plus a feeling of being a 'failure' and 'can't do it'. Plus more interest in their main course.

Oh My … !!! I hadn’t read my Times today, yet ( my increasingly expensive old school vice! Home delivered, drives the blokes mad, but live in the middle of nowhere and been reading it since Uni!) so hadn’t looked, but literally looked down and saw yours and read yours first… that is so bloody shockingly sad!!! But, as @TeenToTwentiessaid, it really does drop, teaching wise, to DS having couple of hours on a Monday am, and hour on Thursday. His teacher was engaged, but frequently class cancelled and online. Plus, after so many years of bullying and having zero self esteem, having been given an AMAZING opportunity to even START Year 1 on a probationary period, his brain was trying to concentrate on starting new subject of his course… so it’s a miracle he did pass!!!! He’s clinging on to that two mark win for perpetuity!!!

Yesterday’s Times front page ran “ Crackdown on resits to the “ treadmill of GCSE failure”. Says it all, really!

The other thing I noted, is that someone at college must have said “ Oh, you can always resit the resit” at some point, as he started relaxing in the home straight and I started really panicking.

I think today’s Times also said number of resits up, but pass percentage rate down, too….. deeply, concerningly depressing for hundreds of thousands of lovely teenagers right now…. 😿

But, for my lucky DS, yes, onto Year 2 and a whole fresh new start with his head held high… ( the 2 marks that could be 62, it doesn’t matter!).. the stupid box is ticked! ✅ Whoop!🙌 x

Yes, always!! I am making ongoing diary/book with pictures/photos of DCs achievements and progress - little or big - although DC doesn't go through it regularly, ( I am trying if they could) when they do they seem so relaxed and composed. As @Sisublondie said 'little things mean so much'.

Hi all, just joining this thread as DD wants to go to college next year. Could you please help me with the following:

Recommend good colleges in London we could look at. There are so many and reviews are mixed.

What is the difference between level 3 Btec and UAL level 3 diploma.

If your child is in London. How many days per week is your child studying? Are they happy? What are they studying and where?

Ahhhh, that is such a beautiful idea!!! I love things like that. I have a newspaper cutting with a photo of DS20 when he was in our local London newspaper…. baby signing “ cow”, or something, at a baby signing class in a frame! 😻! He’s only 18 months old and looks super cute!

I think your DC will treasure them!

Welcome @Peacot91! Lovely to have you join us!

Great News on your DD! I’m so sorry, though, I left London when DC were little and am in the Peak District now, so I don’t know anything about London colleges.

I’m afraid that I also don’t know anything about the UAL qualification, either. 🙀..

I’m so sorry, hopefully someone with more knowledge can assist! 🤞

So! Whilst I was still on an English resist high, was immediately into a drama re DS20’s Uni flat for this year… cue being up in Scotland, smashing head against wall to no avail…. I came back here for DS, straight into thunderstorms, localised flooding and zero power on and off since! ( handily, a bunch of notifications and stuff pinged through at 02.42!! All in one go! When power flicked on for a bit! Joy-ous!!)..😈🤯😹

Anyhooooo! How are we all doing?! Anyone else feeling sick at the mental thought of it being SEPTEMBER next week?!? 🙀🙀🙀

It's nonstop, isn't it?

My older DS is having some issues which are taking up my time, not sure what to do next after finishing his course - life is so hard for young people these days, I am so glad I am not starting out now.

Younger DS has decided he's an adult now (at 17) and refused to share his timetable with me - I guess I'll work it out in a week or two, assuming he attends as he should! I think he's in four mornings a week, but not sure when he starts!

I am dreading this long winter term - so it's not winter yet, but I hate the getting colder and darker, colder and darker.

I'm also sick of the rain! Day 2 of it here, I promised myself to give it a chance after all the drought, but it's playing havoc with my line drying! And I am frankly over it!

Good luck to everyone starting back next week (or whenever it actually is!).

I'm rather enjoying the rain (sorry!)
My lawn is green again! 😊
Repainting/sorting the conservatory today 😕
Dds timetable has changed, same hours, though.
Her first shift at her new job today 😬

Thank you ☺️

Hi Peacot

I have passed through this!

Depending on where you are based in London, Barnet college in Wood street has good teachers mostly. Capital City College is a huge set up with many courses available with sites in many areas. BTEC level 3 is equivalent to A levels again depending on how many units students study. My DC has 2 A levels ( National diploma). If more units are studied it is equivalent to 3 A levels ( National Extended diploma), 1A level ( Extended certificate), and graded as Pass, Merit, Distinction. Course will normally be for 3 days a week for few hours between 2 - 7 hours a day with breaks.

Unfortunately, I am not sure about UAL, however, Level 3 will be equivalent to A levels.

Hi @Peacot91

My DD is studying for a UAL level 3 extended diploma (equivalent to 3 A levels) not in London though. She goes into college 3 days per week. It is graded Pass Merit or Distinction and the grade depends entirely on the final project. DD tells me the final project has 7(?) criteria and the grade you get it the lowest one (so to get a Merit you need a merit in every area.)

She is really enjoying the course and we've had great feedback from her teachers. If she had not been enjoying the course and decided to do something different after one year I think she would have got some sort of qualification (level 3 diploma?) which would have been equivalent to 1.5 A levels.

Actually, we too are still not sure wheather DC should go for Access to Science or GCSE higher tier Maths. My hubby's opinion that since DC has already cleared GCSE Maths, it will not be very challenging🙄 so do both!! Access to Science looks good but DC's opinion that since they do not want to go for Science degree or any subject directly related it will not be very useful. As @LarkspurLane said, its never ending! In my opinion either will be useful and I dont want to put too much of pressure due to DC's ASD, as it is, it took long time to explain and convince why it is important to get qualifications whilst waiting for apprenticeship. Any suggestions please!

Thank you. This is helpful

Thanks. I hope DD gets into a good course and college which is a good fit. We are looking at open days this year as next year will be busy with GCSEs. Hope she gets the passes she needs.

@Peacot91
My DD is at a London college. Not on BTEC or UAL but an RSL L3 Extended

Where I have seen a difference is on how grades are allocated.

For DD's course, every assignment counts towards the final grade each year.

You need to get a certain number of distinction grades in each module to get a distinction for that assignment. And then a certain number of distinction assignments to get a distinction at end of year. (Same applies to securing merit etc).

On UAL, the grade is determined by final assignments with the rest learning towards that. So in a way, you could have straight distinctions all year and then something goes wrong on final assignment and you end up with a pass or a merit.

IIRC, you can't resubmit unless you have failed completely. RSL, you can resubmit individual units depending on the individual college rules.

So really worth checking - and understanding - how the assignments work. DD's college has never properly explained it to them, and nothing on the VLP. I was clued in by a friend whose DD did a BTEC L3 extended and said get on top of mark scheme early. DD also did a L2 BTEC instead of a GCSE option and so I was familiar with the hell that is the assignment brief and having to work out what the heck they even want!

Yes, that's cute🤗

@LarkspurLane.. Non stop, indeed!

Oh, no, I’m sorry to hear that about your older DS…. I was reading recently the latest stats on their age group, and the huge number having difficulties getting employment after graduation. Add that to not being overly sure what you actually want to do, it just leads you to confusion and perhaps doing something that doesn’t “ spark joy” for you…

I totally agree about not being given the heads up as to timetables by my DS! Or, really, anything!!! I also don’t know his return date!

As for the rain! Oooooh, it’s not stopped, here! I’ll admit that I did pop the heating on! ( don’t have 🪵 yet!). It’s also getting into the routine of wearing “ proper clothes! And a jacket or rain coat! 😈😹…..

I could not recommend my Lakeland ( or, I’m sure, ANY) heated line dryer thing!! 🌟

Green grass!!! Whoo- hoo!!!!!! AND! Hopefully cooler inside to sleep!

Sooooooo… how did her first day go?! And your Conserrvatory revamp?!

I find both DS whine sometimes when I take photos… but!! When they then pop up in later years on Apple “memory” things, they always look at the photo, or video, and go “ can you forward it to me, please?!🤔🤦‍♀️😈😹

That Is really interesting!! I did not know that! I’m barely really comprehending the Level 3 Extended BTEC that my DS is doing!

Anyhooooo… Happy Bank Holiday, everyone!!

Anyone doing anything different, or a little bit fun?! 🌟🤷‍♀️😹

It’s something that really isn’t explained.

i actually think it’s bad that there isn’t equivalency across the qualifications.

So DD got a Distinction star this year with 21 straight distinctions. She resubmitted one assignment where she had DMM in the individual modules. Even with the two merits she still had enough for the D star but if external moderator had knocked a module down across the pack she’d have ended up with a Distinction and a lot less UCAS points so worth the resubmission as belt and braces.

One of her friends is doing UAL and got a distinction. DD asked how she missed getting the star. But UAL doesn’t have anything higher than Distincton.

Thats fine - except if you are an employer then a D star looks better than a D - except those students can’t ever acquire that. And that relies on employers understanding the difference between examining bodies.

Bit like if AQA only goes up to an 8 for GCSE and Edexcel goes up to a 9.

That's interesting.
DS told me he couldn't get Distinction star. I thought he just meant that he couldn't!
He got 96% in one assignment and told me it was a "really good distinction". I was wondering what he'd have to do to get the star!

He's getting a mix of Ds and Ms generally so I don't think Dstar was on the cards anyway, but it is annoying if D is the maximum.

In case useful to anyone.

Some courses might give you a better chance at grade/UCAS points depending on where you are likely to be aiming and what your work ethic is like.

Some kids are better nose to grindstone all year, ability to retake a unit and cumulative. Some are happier with it all being dependent on a final project.

RSL L3 Extended Diploma
You can't get Dstar in an individual module or assignment just the final grade.

You get the grade by dividing your total achieved points/credits across all units by the maximum possible points/credits and working out the percentage.

Distinction star (Dstar): 94% – 100% - 168 UCAS points
Distinction (D): 87% – 93% - 144 UCAS points
Merit (M): 63% – 86% - 96 UCAS points
Pass (P): 50% – 62% - 48 UCAS points

Every module counts towards final grade.
End of first year you get an RSL L3 Subsidiary Diploma - a Dstar is worth 84 UCAS points, D is worth 72 points, M is 48 points, P is 24.

Note: Year 1 and Year 2 are cumulative. So at the very end of Year 2, RSL takes your combined total points from BOTH years and divides it by the total maximum possible points for the whole qualification. If you drop points on a few modules in Year 1, it becomes mathematically impossible to hit the Dstar in Year 2, even if you get straight Distinctions in your final year.

UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma:

For UAL there is no Distinction Star (Dstar) grade. Instead, the highest possible grade you can achieve is a straight Distinction (D)

Early Modules (Units 1 to 11 / 12): These modules are completely diagnostic. Tutors will grade them as Pass, Merit, or Distinction to give you feedback, but they do not count toward your final grade.

The Final Module (Unit 12 or 13, depending on pathway): Your final grade for the entire two-year Extended Diploma is determined 100% by your Year 2 Final Major Project.

Distinction (D): 168 UCAS points
Merit (M): 120 UCAS points
Pass (P): 72 UCAS points

End of first year you get a UAL Level 3 Diploma - D is worth 84 points, M is 60 points, P is 36.

BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma:

Every unit is worth a specific number of Guided Learning Hours (usually 60, 90, or 120 hours). Pearson assigns a point score to the grade you achieve in each module, weighted by its size.

At the end of the 2-year course, all of your unit points are added together. The total maximum possible score is 288 points

Your final grade is shown as a combination of three letters. Each distinct combination converts to a specific number of UCAS Tariff points:

Triple Distinction Star: 272+ points - 168 UCAS points
Double Distinction Star/ D: 262-271 points - 160 UCAS points
Distinction Star/ DD: 252-261 points - 152 UCAS points
DDD: 242-251 points - 144 UCAS points
DDM: 222-241 points - 128 UCAS points
DMM: 202-221 points - 112 UCAS points
MMM: 182-201 points - 96 UCAS points
MMP: 162-181 points - 80 UCAS points
MPP: 142-161 points - 64 UCAS points
PPP: 120-141 points - 48 UCAS points

End of first year you get a BTEC L3 Foundation Diploma: a Dstar is worth 84 UCAS points, D is worth 72 points, M is 48 points, P is 24.

Two extra rules for BTEC:
1: The External Units Rule: You must achieve a minimum grade of a Pass or higher in all mandatory external assessments. If you get an "Unclassified" (U) on a core exam, you cannot get the full Extended Diploma.
2: The Minimum Credits Rule: You must pass modules worth at least 900 out of the 1080 total Guided Learning Hours. You are allowed to fail a small optional unit, but failing too many means you drop down a qualification tier.