DS wants to do sixth form "for the experience" and doesn't even need a levels.

[PrinceCharming80]

DS wants to end up in the police. He's a smart lad. There's a public services course at the local college that I thinks for things like the police but he says it does focus a lot on the army and that he just really doesn't want to do it he wants to go to a local sixth form joined to a school, he is smart but didn't receive any As in GCSEs (I'm not fussed, I'm very proud of his grades) and wants to do a levels, for the heck of it (his words) he says he wants to meet new friends and just learn a bit more before he actually goes down that whole chosen careers route as he would just like to build his confidence up and learn more about life. I'm just worried that he is going to find them too tough but then get a bit too attached to this experience and then spend 3 years getting a levels he doesn't need IYSWIM? When maybe he could be doing public services or something a bit more related to his chosen career.

I'm just not sure how I feel about this. I saw 2 threads on here recently about a levels and I thought they were helpful but none were exactly to my son's experience, so wanted to see what people's thoughts were! Thank you

We have 6th year here just the same really but in school anyway Dd1 stayed on for the experience really she did a couple of Advanced highers it really matured her let him go to 6th form. Dd didnt get into the police until she was 22 on her second application she didnt plan to be in the police till she was 19

My nephew started the public service BTEC 2 years ago. It was brilliant for motivating him and getting fit but his plans changed (as they do at 16) and he decided against joining the navy. He moved to an apprenticeship and is doing brilliantly. Let your son decide what he wants to do. If he is keen to try a levels let him. He will likely come away with some qualifications which will open doors for him as he gains life experience and makes new decisions about what he wants to do. The worst that can happen is that he changes his mind and moves on to something new.

He's 16 and may change his mind over a career anyway. I don't really see what the problem is? Bs and Cs are good grades and are more than sufficient to be able to sit and do well in A levels.
He has a plan worked out which is great, maybe the reason he always says 'if I fail' is be uses he thinks you don't believe in him enough to do well in A levels and suggest other courses instead??
Surely he's old enough to be making his own decisions about his future?

He probably has his "if I fail" attitude from you
I thought you were going to say he got 2 E grades! he got bs and can that is an achievement and a b in GCSE should be good enough to do an a level.
Why would you discourage education and ambition?

Most of the boys I went didn't do that great at GCSEs as didn't knuckle down as much as girls to revise and then went on to outdo everyone doing really well at a levels as they matured. His grades are not bad, you don't need a 's

He sounds like he's thought it through and knows what he wants. I'd highlight that leaving at the end of two years with crap results won't look good so whilst he dlesn't need A's, he does need to work at them. If he's saying he will, i'd let his start his own path. If he gets to end of forst year with a few AS levels but hates it he can try a different route. Pushing him down a route he doesn't want yet will not end well

B grades are the minimum requirement at my school to do most A levels. If he's not academically minded, I think he'll find it a struggle, but equally, he has to try if he's keen. The police like a bit of experience before join up, so he might not be able to go straight in at 18. I would definitely suggest some work experience too.

He needs life experience for the police and staying in education will help with that. Encourage him to get a public facing job aswell such as waiting work

Yy public facing job which just translates to bar /supermarket/ nandos . My friends sons did the Btec but they went into the armed forces

A levels will open doors. At this young age he needs to widen his opportunities not narrow them.

There has been some discussion about making police a degree entry career due to the amount and complexity of the law they need to learn.

I will also add once he hits 18 while he's waiting for the books to open for new recruits encourage him to get a civvie role and to sign up as a special. Every little bit helps it's a highly competitive career

Hi PC80, have had a skim through the thread but can't see that the Policing BA degree has been mentioned, so if that's of interest to you DS, A levels definitely the way to go!
Here's the link to the one at DMU Leicester as I understand it's been a course for a while now but you will find that lots of uni's offer this course.
www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate-courses/policing-ba-hons-degree/policing-ba-hons.aspx
As an aside, I'd agree with your DS and get the A Levels in case he changes his mind re policing- he'll at least have the ground work in place for future choices.
All best to him!

I have a close family member who is working for their sergeants exams apparently it counts as the equivalent of 1st year of your degree if you leave the job at sergeant level and go to university.

Looking at youth offending jobs in my area they usually ask for a relevant degree or sergeant rank for ex police. It's hard work

This is all new to me, this thing of having to have As at GCSE to do A levels.

Back in the day I got 2 As, 5 Bs and 2 Cs at GCSE then went on to get straight As at A level.

More and more people who apply for the police have higher qualifications and I think it shows in interviews. It isn't that you need a-levels or a degree but if 50 people do and 50 don't who apply I would bet the higher educated ones on average do better at getting an interview at the very least. The bar is naturally raised and you need to up your game accordingly. If he gets the a-levels he always has them and options. A public service course sounds a bit narrow to me

Dd has a degree irrelevant to the police but she I think the might be looking for Higher Education

I haven't read the thread for other serving officers but from the ones i know they are VERY disheartened by all the changes in this particular force (and national changes as a whole) and officers are leaving in droves. It's a vocation many went into from a childhood of dreaming of wearing the uniform and catching bad guys but years of being treated like shit by the home office and the public coupled with their numbers being decimated by funding cuts....

...if nothing else being a British Bobby will get him into Canada Australia and the US if he wants to emigrate

Too true Puzzled! Know many who took the Step this Way offer that WA offered and all doing really well!

OP, as previous poster said, British policing still recognised internationally and also for other career paths in the UK. No surprise that PC's with 10 years experience will (usually) display sound managerial/ decision making qualities.

Cherrysoup Thu 25-Aug-16 21:38:09

"B grades are the minimum requirement at my school to do most A levels"

The highly regarded Sixth Form college ds is going to are happy to take C's for most A-level choices (maths and science may be exceptions). Their results are still excellent.

He should be doing a course based on what career he wants. Not a course based on a back up plan.

The highly regarded Sixth Form college ds is going to are happy to take C's for most A-level choices (maths and science may be exceptions). Their results are still excellent

That may be the case, but have you asked their drop out rate? Our best, very highly regarded local sixth form school has amazing results, and again, they allow Cs at GCSE for many subjects. But only around 50% of starters actually make it to that A2 exam - a picture you'll find reflected in many schools and colleges. Those 99.9% pass rates you read don't tell you the proper story. Drop out rates during the first year and after AS (where many colleges require a D to continue and for the highest performing schools, sometimes a C) are huge everywhere, and sometimes biggest in the places which look the most impressive.

Don't believe everything you read on the league tables. The OP's son should follow his dreams, but make no mistake, he is going to need to work.

Getting into the police can be competitive, I'd have thought A-levels can help with that.

Depending on which A levels he's thinking of doing, if you're certain that a BTEC would suit him better, what about a OND in Law? Law is generally a good degree subject to get into a wide field of careers and if he changed his mind about doing a degree it would qualify him for a degree course, depending on the grades he gets of course.

musicposy Fri 26-Aug-16 00:07:34

"The highly regarded Sixth Form college ds is going to are happy to take C's for most A-level choices (maths and science may be exceptions). Their results are still excellent

That may be the case, but have you asked their drop out rate?"

Very low, particularly compared to the other academically orientated college in the region. Dd, who went to the same college, had several friends drop out of the other college because of low AS results: those of her friends who were struggling at her college were given far more support to stay on.

Of course the OPs ds is going to need to work. So did my dd, who had missed massive chunks of secondary school due to ill health. But she was given that support by the college and did well in the end.

I don't know why he keeps assuming he'll have to do that. Where as with the BTEC he wouldn't need to even consider all these years retaking.

You seem as guilty of assuming he'll fail as he is!

Let him do A levels