Btec vs GCSE

[Mammie81]

Theoretical question really - regarding these schools that cater for both.

Wouldnt you expect the school to perform better in the league tables as those children that dont excel academically are presumably doing BTECs, which dont show in the tables?*

*unless the tables do show this and Im not seeing it! Ha!

Btec counts towards figures I'm afraid....

There are 2 quality measures for schools. The gold standard is 5A-C inc En and Ma so this could be en and ma + 3 others (or 3 equivalents such as Btec). The other measure is 5A-C, this can be any GCSEs or equivalents so Btec totally counts here. It's often easy to see schools where many students take Btec as the 5A*-C is high and the inc en and ma is quite low.

A 2 year BTEC is worth 4 GCSEs at grade C or above (depending on the grade - a pass is equivalent of a C). So if you are looking at the number of students with 5 GCSEs at A*-C then schools would also include those with one BTEC and 1 GCSE. It distorts the figures IMO.

It can distort the figures, willow, I agree. Some schools' figures make it look as though students are doing 12 or even 14 GCSEs, when in fact they could be doing English, Maths and 3 BTECs. I teach BTEC, and I don't actually see anything wrong with them - indeed, they are more appropriate qualifications for some subjects and some students, but I think the results from BTECs should be reported alongside those for GCSEs, rather than making the BTEC marks into "equivalents". It would be nice if parents and employers were given accurate information, and also I think it would help people to understand that BTECs are different to GCSEs, as opposed to being "worse than" GCSEs, which is, unfortunately, what many seem to think.