To think it’s ridiculous that given the NHS recruitment crisis my Dd has been told she can’t do the new T level in nursing due to a lack of placement places.

[Mudlark3r2]

She has the course requirements and then some and has been bumped onto a BTec which the government are phasing out.😵‍💫

Can this government organise anything properly?

Not at all what I was saying. If student are choosing btec/t levels because they believe they are less academic then they could struggle on a nursing course.

More nursing students leave the course because of not achieving the required grades than those who decide the practical aspect isn't for them, though

When t-levels were launched we knew there wouldn’t be enough placements for any of the t-levels, not just burnings it’s especially difficult in a hospital though as. The students are too young. Tory governments fault-btec’s could have been changed and improved.

She doesn’t feel she’s academic but she’s not dim. If unis take BTecs and have for some time then surely wanting a more practical and relevant route onto the degree isn’t an issue. Nursing isn’t about academia is it.

Thank you Lougle that’s really interesting, your degree sounds amazing. Thank you all for the reassurance. It’s hugely helpful. Maybe as you say it could be a blessing. Still think this gov are beyond shit though and the whole issue is ridiculous. They couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery.

I am currently halfway through my nursing degree.
Loads of students came from the BTEC and it has set them up well.
But there is no difference between them and the women who did the access course and who did A-levels except the women from access had a harder time because access is harder than 1st year degree.

I did totally unrelated A-levels (Art, History and English) and got onto my course easily, mostly because I have outside experience. It is not a difficult degree course to get onto.

I can't see what benefit a T level would be, surely you would have to relean the basics when you got to uni anyway as they have to teach everyone else all the basics.

I am in a smaller branch of nursing but in a year and a half people on my course have halved. I know the drop out rare is steep on the other branches as well, if she can she should do anything slightly open ended. She might realise the field is wrong for her, and she would be better as a an OT or a Physio or a SALT and that is easier without a very narrow college course.

All the students who came straight from college dropped out in the 1st year. It wasn't what they expected, the academics were more than they thought, or they had no caring experience to build off and no life experience to help them. It would serve her more to get experience, particularly with the elderly and people with additional needs.

Yes this.

I agree with PP’s about doing the BTEC. It’s a great course but she should definitely get experience as a HCA ASAP. Where I work they must be 18+.

It’s good she has the GCSE to do A levels if she wanted to as at some unis the academic weighting of the courses is changing. The university that is attached to 1 Trust I work at now gives 0% weighting to placement. It is entirely on exam and coursework.

I also agree with another poster who says it’s desperate on the wards. Some days I have 4 or even 5 students rock up and expect me to teach them and mentor them. I know we love our children and want to encourage them but whenever I see these (or the medical school admission) threads I just die a bit inside for these kids.

Good luck to her.

The issues with the NHS are far more reaching than people at college not being able to go on placements, if she wants a career in nursing then sadly she will have to get used to it. It gets worse every year so goodness knows where will be by the time she qualifies. It doesn't matter how the government feel about BTECs anyway, it only matters whether the universities she is interested in accept them- if they do then it doesn't matter.

There aren't enough placements because staffing numbers are so low they can't train students without jeopardising patient safety. So there aren't enough new nurses coming through the system to replace those leaving and retiring, and so it will go on.

If the govt is deliberately fucking up the NHS so that there will be no outcry when it's finally privatised, it's working well. If it's not deliberate, it's at a level of incompetence I would previously have thought impossible.

I feel really sorry for those like OP's daughter, who really want to go into nursing but can't get on courses, but I also think that they've had a narrow escape.

It takes a lot more supervision to train someone to do something they can't already do so not relevant that she can work as an HCA.

DS2 is a nurse. He did A Levels and volunteered in a care home before he did his degree. His college tired to push him down the BTEC route but he had a real interest in the subjects he was taking for A Level so that’s what he did.

DDIL is a nurse, who did A Levels, prior to her degree too. I don’t know if she was offered a BTEC or not, though.

2 of DS1’s friends are nurses. They started the A level route but failed their AS Levels, so they did BTECs. They had no problems on their degree course or gaining their qualifications and are really good nurses.

If she really wants to be a nurse @Mudlark3r2 encourage her to do the BTEC. It’s tired and tested, finding won’t be withdrawn and universities will still accept it. I’d rather do something that’s been going for years than something new (especially that’s been thought up by this Govt) that will definitely have teething problems.

Tell her to do the BTec. When they say ending 2024 they mean ending to new starters then. If she starts now, she will be able to finish.
Most hospitals (any I've ever come across!) have an age minimum of 18 for HCAs so I don't know why the college are suggesting she could do bank work at presumably 17? I can't see the hospitals being keen on scrabbling around to find T level placements for students too young to work there either when it's hard enough to cover their degree placement needs.
You say she 'has the GCSEs' so must be a year past GCSE already to know the grades? What has she been doing in that year?
Care homes often take HCA staff from 16+ (and need them desperately) and are a great way to gain experience and also earn some money with a part time job. Lots of my sixth formers applying to degrees in healthcare do evening and weekend shifts at the local care home.

She has spent a fair bit of time herself in hospital the past year.18 at Xmas and got a care home Sat job lined up too. 😊Yes starting to think stuff the Tlevel and Btec might be preferable, dodging a bullet etc.Tlevel just seemed a good bridge between Btec and Alevel. It’s unbelievably crap how ill thought out the whole thing is given the current recruitment situation .

No T levels are not replacing the nursing degree. They are replacing BTECs eventually! However I don't rate the chances!

The T level rollout has been badly managed.
Your dd will be fine with the BTEC in Health and Social care. It’s not being phased out because it’s not good enough; it’s a political decision.
i agree with pp that T level will go the way of AGNVQ. It’s not a sustainable qualification with the requirements for work placement.

I would suggest a tried and tested course like BTEC would be better. It will still get your dd onto her chosen course. I also think it looks better if she has taken the initiative to get work experience. She can tailor it to suit her interests.

Any science A level plus 2 others would get her onto a nursing degree.

If she prefers science then could do BTec in Science.
As long as ste has a level 3 qualification, the right skills and attitude age will be ok.
Check uni entry requirements on ucas.com

It's a mess at the moment - they're desperate to get anyone they can to throw into bank HCA shifts. I went on a recruitment day for allied healthcare graduates with our local trust - and about 70% of the content was pushing their "we'll take you ALL for bank shifts" angle rather than the graduate level jobs we were looking for.

Likewise there are teams recruiting my area for band 5 roles that they've had to block for newly-qualifieds as they just don't have the staff to support preceptorships. Then you see the same posts being readvertised as they've just not had the applications - the post I've taken, which is a really good one for a newly-qualified with loads of opportunities to rotate through some usually hard to access areas - they had to readvertise to get all the graduates they wanted.

Nursing isn’t about academia is it.

well the degree kind of is. She’s going to have to be able to write 3000/4000 word academic assignments building up to level 6. Possibly a dissertation depending on the university. I used to be a nursing lecturer and would fail numerous students who weren’t up to scratch.

Clearly BTec students manage that just fine.

Lucky escape… tell her not to bother with the NHS. Tell her to learn a trade she will be much better off mentally and financially.

Absolutely. I’m an ex BTEC student myself who is now a to start a PhD. Like your Dd I just didn’t want to do A levels even though I was more than capable of doing them. I was just replying to your comment about nursing not being academic. Because whether you agree with it being academic or not it now is (at least during training).

This. Health care assistants (hca) will give her a real feel if nursing is actually for her. They start at band 2 and yes is dogs body work but it's good experience doing bank

I'd actually advise her towards a levels. More scope if she decides nursing isnt for her or wants different healthcare route.

Yes, we need more nurses, but that's not your daughter's problem. She needs a healthy wage and a good life. She'll get neither being a nurse.

Encourage her to do something else. There's so much more out there and she'll be paid more than a few pence for it.