Daughter wants Equine Management BTEC instead of A levels after open day

[Brainfreeze1]

Hello, my daughter in year 10 is a hard working student with expected 6 and 7 grade passes. Up until recently she was set on history and English A levels and off to university. All good. Until that is I took her to a land and agricultural college who were having an open day. The sun was shining the setting was beautiful. She is now determined to go there and study BTECH in Equine Management (she horse rides every week).

Whilst trying to support her I can’t help but feel this is the wrong choice and will limit her choices going forward. She loves horses but I always saw this as a hobby not a job.

i wondered if anyone had similar experiences of this. Do I respect her wishes and hope for the best or do I insist she goes to college to do a levels?

Seems sensible to me 🤷‍♀️

Colleges like Hartpury offer both A-levels and BTechs in Equine Management. Could you look into those?

Thank you XelaM that is a good call. I’ll take a look.

This is fully her choice, not yours. What you can do is get her professional careers advice (pay for morrisby online?). Help her understand her options and own strengths, various job pay. Keep visiting different colleges and different courses.

What does she want to do as a career? Where does she see herself in ten years?

Honestly the way the world is going I think a practical, vocational course that leads directly to a job is probably better for most young people than a degree.

Honestly I can see why you’d be worried. Maybe look at adverts for horsey jobs together and look at the salary offered. She needs to make an informed choice. If she understands about the hard work and low pay in that sector then I guess it’s up to her.

Why did you take her to the agricultural college then?

At some point horse racing must surely be banned due to the animal rights angle. Many many riding stables have already had to close due to high running costs. This will affect the numbers of jobs available.

Encourage her to look around for vacancies working with horses, and see what sort of lifestyle she would be able to afford on the salaries offered. If that isn’t what she was hoping for, hopefully she will draw her own conclusions.

Is there a hybrid A level and BTEC available where you are?

Thank you I’ll take a look.

It will probably lead to a career less affected by AI than some other roles, and that’s no bad thing. She can also go into higher education with a BTEC so it won’t cut off access (Reading, for example, do agriculture type degrees and biovetinary science if she wanted to go down that route - so check out career pathways before closing it down). Take her to a few other colleges just to be sure, but she could do a lot worse. Also, she’s so young. If she wants to do it for a year and decides it’s not for her then she can always leave and go do A levels. 16 is a good age to chop and change courses and careers.

First and foremost she is only y10.
When applications come around, get her to apply to both the BTEC and A Levels to keep her options open.
Then take time to really explore the options and see how she can progress from there so you both have full information.

good point! I was interested to see the college after they had visited the school, I didn’t expect my daughter to love it there as much as she did 🤦🏼‍♀️

As a horse lover who knows several people who have taken this type of qualification you are right to be converted. Very few end up working with horses long term because the sector is rife with exploitation and low pay for long hours. Sure a few end up with fantastic jobs with good employers and amazing travel opportunities but it is very, very much the minority. I suggest you get her to post a question on the Horse and Hound forum asking for careers advice and that she gets as much work experience as possible. The latter is usually sufficient.

I was similarly swayed by a BTEC in year 11 op. I wasted a year on it before switching to the sixth form college and doing A-levels. The pace was so slow. IME as a teacher and student, bright students get frustrated on BTEC courses.

Thank you everyone for replying, it is so helpful to hear your experiences and advice on this.

Equine physio therapy or chiropractor may be of interest? They make quite a good living as do farriers, but that's a very hard profession

Someone I worked with did a degree in equine management. She got a first. The job we were in had nothing to do with horses. Before we worked together, she was in the NHS. Some of her friends did have jobs to do with horses but it was very poor pay and not a graduate level of role. I’d urge her to think carefully.

This.
If she is only getting 6&7s she really shouldn’t be wasting time and money to get a 2-2 degree in a non-vocational subject.

That’s a bit harsh. Dd got 6s and 7s and got a 1st class degree on a very tough course at an RG university and is now doing her Masters.

Have her finish school as if going to uni, but then take the tech course.
The racing industry employs a huge number of people.

If your daughter is not bright enough to study for years to become a vet straight out of school, gaining the tech qualification will be useful. She can enjoy her job, gain experience snd later study part time towards something more accademic if she chooses.

So did I. I was made to do A Levels. I hated every second. Preferred uni (which you can get into with BTEC qualifications by the way, subject depending). But to this day (20 years after leaving college) I still wish I'd been allowed.

I have a good job, provide a good life for myself and my family, so it's all good. But the actual work doesn't fulfil me AT ALL. I wish I could go into what would but now I'm at a point where we need my salary so I can't.

Look into other ways to work with animals (veterinary courses, vet nurse etc) that might provide a more stable (ha!!) income but ultimately this is her life. She needs to be looking at what will make her happy. Because money isn't everything and the way the world's going no-one has enough so she may as well be happy.

A degree in history will be expensive and what exactly is she hoping to do at the end of it? It may ‘sound better’ but will be a costly waste of time. Practical skills will be much better. The world doesn’t work like it did 30 years ago.

A couple of DD's friends went down this route. Neither ended up working with horses. One is a prison officer and the other is a lab assistant in a hospital.

My academically bright daughter is currently at agricultural college doing an animal management BTEC. She applied for both a levels and this course but by the time the gcse results were in it was clear that she had her heart set on the BTEC. She's thriving at college and loving the course, has made a group of like minded friends and is planning to go on to university following the BTEC course. She's year 12 so not applied to university yet but is well into the process of open days etc.
For most of the courses she is interested in her course is accepted but she needs to have done the correct modules during her BTEC (She's looking at a science based degree). There are a couple of options closed to her or more challenging however I think for her this is balanced by the brilliant college experience she has had. She considered adding a biology a level alongside the btec to study during year 13 to widen her options slightly, so there are definitely always options and ways of getting where you want to be if they are motivated.