Education choices post 16

[notnowbernadette]

I'm trying to help my dd think about what she might want to do after GCSEs. She is bright but has dyslexia and I think A levels are going to be a challenge due to the dependence on high stakes terminal exams. I had thought a mix of Btecs which rely more on course work might be the answer but it seems they will be discontinued in 2023. Having just read about TLevels I'm not convinced they are suitable as you need to know what sector you want to enter as you are specialising in one subject. What do students do who dont know what sector they want to enter when they are 16 but aren't suited to Alevels?

Why wouldn’t she be suited to A levels? Kids with dyslexia succeed in doing A levels all the time. What is she interested in studying?

Your dd sounds like my son.

We visited a Sixth Form Open Evening a couple of days ago and it helped him see a post GCSE plan.
His school had a mixture of level 3 qualifications aimed at pupils who get different grades which will hopefully keep him motivated. For example A-level maths requires a grades 7 but they had a vocational maths qualification that requires a grade 5 which is a much more realistic aim. His school are teaching BTECs from Sept 2022 so I don't know if it means they are the last year to start them.
Before he visited he was very "dunno" about choices but he asked good questions and had pupils and teachers explain the course which has made him more motivated.

Is your daughter interested in any creative subjects? Just thinking, around me it seems school sixth forms are still offering BTECs in conjunction with A levels, sometimes they are worth one A level, sometimes two or more. There are also level 3 certificates in things like criminology.
So you could do eg A level in photography + BTEC IT
or BTEC applied science + core maths level 3 certificate
BTECs are definitely still running in some areas, even the local college is still running some (science is one). Also, the change to T levels may be delayed, there is a petition about it.
My daughter doesn't have dyslexia but hates essays so is going to do science and maths A levels.

She struggles to memorize lots of content and write long answer questions. Essentially she learns through doing so coursework suits. I think she is fairly creative and design subjects might suit but shes unconvinced. I guess we need to go and see quite a few colleges for her to narrow down what she might want to do.

That's a good idea. My child who is in y11 is actually my third but I've learned that there's a lot that I didn't know. In the case of school
Sixth form we had to name choices but they said it's absolutely fine to change after GCSE results day.