Can grades from Btec Science be corelated to achievement at GCSE Science?

yes, you are right pat. it probably wasn't clear last night. I was quite tired when writing it!

I understand what you are saying coconuts as I have been a teacher a fair while, however I think in places your point wasn't very clear to any parent reading it. However, you have clarified it now.
You would not believe the amount of parents I have come across over the years who think a 5 at KS2 is the same as KS3. They then go mad when their DC is given a 5b as an end of year target for Y7 or something!

Katymac, I wouldn't be happy either. The BTEC idea seems a waste of a year.

It is supposed to be a vocational course that is alternative to GCSE so it seems pointless for your DD to take if she is then going onto GCSE. Its for their data crunching benefit as far as I can see!

following on to your next statement, pat, progress in years 7 and 8 does not have to be linear as they adjust from Ks2 to KS3. However, over the three years I would expect an above average pupil at KS2 (L5) to be and above average student at KS3 (L6 or7).

Coconuts, with regards to your point a, level 5 at ks2 is NOT the same as a 5 at ks3.

No, I didn't say that it was. however, no child getting a level 5 at KS2 in year 6 should end up with a level 5 at the end of KS3. That would indicate to me no progress had been made and that there was questionable teaching and/or assessment procedures.

A level 5 student at KS2 should be aiming for a high 6 to 7.

Woah, they do seem obsessed with quantity somewhat......

Sorry, just read about the time off. That would explain the level drop. It does seem odd that they do these BTEC courses on y9 if they are then going on to gcse????

They may just get them to sit the KS3 exams in year 9 anyway which I'm sure is what a school near here does? Can't remember exactly. They wouldn't be able to use the BTEC for her KS3 scores. There is no real point to doing BTEC in year 9!
From what you have said I agree with migrating that she will probably be happier doing the double award rather than triple.

The school may not go with "the less GCSEs the better" given that, by the time she gets to yr11, they will only be able to count 2 non-GCSE grades per student in their headline figures.

Coconuts, with regards to your point a, level 5 at ks2 is NOT the same as a 5 at ks3. Otherwise loads and loads of children would make no progress at all in y7&8 nationally.
However I agree that that is a large drop between y7 to y8 and I would question this.
Like eviltwins and others have suggested you need to check what level btec it is that she is doing, unusual but not unheard of to do that as preparation for ks4.
We start our triple science students in y9 provided they have achieved a 6b or above in y8 and also prove that they want to do and can handle the work. If you would like Her to keep options open double science is a better option.

MC- just read your post about when KS3 grades are reported by your school. I get your previous point now!

MC, I don't see the issue with reporting, exactly, as BTEC is, in effect, a HIGHER level course. It's a KS4 course and any decent teacher ought to be able to assess KS 3 levels accurately at the end if yr 9, based on a student's performance, regardless.

OP, the main difference between a BTEC in something creative like Dance and a GCSE in the same is the way it is assessed. BTEC performing arts, which I teach, is assessed continually, and there is no written exam, whilst GCSE performing arts has an externally assessed element. However, Edexcel are responding to govt recommendations by re-writing BTEC specs to include an externally assessed element, which will bring them more in line with GCSEs in the way in which they are assessed. If DD is yr9, then she may well be taught new specs, in some subjects, next year, so there won't be a huge difference.

ok, the time off makes sense of the grades.

What i mean by my last sentence is this. We run a two year KS3. Our year 8 grades are reported to the government as their final KS3 grades at the end of the course. We then start GCSE in year 9 but don't get them to sit any actual GCSE exams until end of year 10.

I was just trying to work out if they report your year 8 level as the final KS3 level or if they are somehow using the BTEC grade and converting it to a final level.

I'm just trying to understand the point of the BTEC it makes no sense to me.

Sorry to derail a bit. I still think you should go for the double award GCSE in science.

(sorry rogue 'this' at the end there)

Sorry to bang on about this but if they reported a 5b at the end of year 8 as her final KS3 grade then that implies that
a) she has made no progress from her KS2 level 5
b) She dropped from an above average student in year 6 and in year 7 to an average student in year 8. (5 is the natioanl average and generally indicates a grade C in GCSE science two years later)

If they are equating her BTEC final score to a KS3 level to report to you and the government then I would be unhappy with this as the qualifications are very different this.

I agree with EvilTwins. It is an equivalent approach on paper (in reality an A in GCSE is far harder to achieve than a distinction in BTEC) and has the same points.
I wouldn't worry about her doing it in year 9. The topics are similar to the sort of stuff taught to a bright year 9 class if they were doing normal KS3 work. It wont do any harm. The school probably introduced it to bump up figures and introduce something different for year 9 as many schools condensed the KS3 curriculum into 2 years.

totally agree evil, totally!!!