T levels or BTEC?

[CornishGem1975]

My DS needs to make a choice between taking a T level or a BTEC. I know T levels are relatively new however they are accepted onto a the degree course he is interested on (I've checked with the unis).

I am wary of the T level - mainly I guess because it's an unknown, but the similar BTEC option that is available at the college only gives the same UCAS points as 2 A levels, which means not enough to get into uni - anyone got any experience here?

T-Level completion rates this year have been very low. Only 66% of students who started a T-Level in 2021 completed it this year: https://feweek.co.uk/t-levels-results-2023-1-in-3-students-dropped-out/.

Ofsted (not the most reliable source, I know) gave a poor review to current providers of T-Levels, highlighting a great degree of variability among providers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/t-level-thematic-review-final-report/t-level-thematic-review-final-report.

It does look like there are some teething troubles, or fundamental design flaws.

Hi I am based in Devon and nearest college would be Plymouth city college. During an open evening they said they are now stopping BTECs in favour of T-Levels due to government stopping funding BTECs. Had anyone else heard this? I think my D's would be more suited to the BTEC then T levels plus I worry about the placement side of things. It's very frustrating.

Yes, BTECs are going to become obsolete.

Which is a real shame.
Many college students work pt jobs to support themselves or family. This won’t be possible with T levels unfortunately.
You can take a BTEC from level 1 all the way through to level 4/5. (Effectively pre GCSE through to year 2 of uni/ HND)

Glad you managed to find an appropriate solution.

I'm not sure any level 3 qualifications are perfect.

It depends on the subject, but the funding is being withdrawn in stages, so some BTECs are losing funding from this September, some from September 2025, and so on. It is a bit of a mess as there have been lots of teething troubles with T-levels and they aren't suitable for all students. Do you know which BTEC you would be considering?

I know the FE colleges in Cornwall seem to be trying to keep their BTECs going for as long as they can. Could you realistically get to any of the Cornwall College campuses? Or I think Callywith in Bodmin do quite a range of Level 3 BTECs and have students commuting from parts of Devon to them? But may possibly already be full for some courses?

If you're the other side of Plymouth, then what about Exeter College? They're massive and AFIAK offer a huge range of courses including most Level 3 BTECs. Again, students commute a really long way to them, so he wouldn't be the only one!

I'm pretty much the least pro T-level person ever, but why wouldn't a part time job be possible with T-levels?

IMO, the biggest issue with them is that the work placements do make it really difficult to resit GCSEs alongside.

They’re designed to be 5 days a week. BTEC level 3 is around 3 days. A levels about the same.

Quality of work placements will be variable. Employers say they want a work ready work force (but even if you change to a similar role there’s still settling in period/ new procedures etc) but not many are stepping forward to provide placements.

Universities haven’t all decided on how they fit in re entry requirements.

My DDs extended diploma Btech was full time and she had to do at least a 100 hours non paid works placements.

We call extended diplomas full time but in reality they are 3 days a week (18 ish hours/ week).

The health and social care or childcare diplomas included alternate weekly placements. They converted readily to T level. The others not so much.

Any study 12 hours or over per week classed as full
time for child benefit purposes.

Vocational courses can be compressed to 3 days in college as everyone is on the same course. A levels are the same teaching time, but because students choose different course combinations they end up with gaps due to timetabling.

Our BTEC students have gaps in their timetable too. Think timetabling tries to give them all a full day off instead of too many gaps.
T levels are meant to be a full 5 days.

And yes there are more random gaps in A level timetable due to different combinations of subjects.