Bouncing back from poor GCSEs - in praise of BTEC (edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[Passingthrough123]

I’m sharing this as a message of encouragement/hope for any parents with DC about to take GCSEs who are struggling academically and are worried about next steps and think A-Levels might be too much for them.

That was my DD16 this time last year. She had major anxiety (needed CAMHs referral for therapy in end) and her mock grades were low. We knew A-Levels might finish her off so after coming on MN for advice, we looked at a BTEC in animal management because ultimately she wants to work with animals.

Her GCSEs were even worse than we feared. She only passed 3 above grade 4 and the rest were 3. We were so upset for her but hid our disappointment and tried to stay positive - we knew how much she’d struggled sitting so many exams and a practical qualification in a subject she loved might be a better fit. But it was so hard seeing all her peers get decent grades and head off to sixth form. It was hard not to think that we had failed as parents too.

Then there was a slight setback on college enrolment day. Because she hadn’t got a science at grade 4, she’d have to start at Level 2, where she could learn animal biology. It would be a one-year course that, should she do well, would get her to Level 3.

Yesterday our girl came through the front door looking the happiest I’ve ever seen her coming home from a day’s learning. She’d sat a mock test last week and found out she got 98%! She hasn’t scored so highly since primary. She was also told she’s on track to pass her course with Distinction, meaning she’ll have the equivalent of four more GCSEs at grades 7/8 as far as employers are concerned. She loves the practical elements of BTEC, including sorting out her own work experience, and finds the written work more than manageable.

It’s like having a different child, frankly. And the stress and worry that we carried while she struggled at secondary school is finally ebbing away. So if you’re a parent reading this worrying that your DC isn’t going to do well enough to take A-levels, please know there is another path. I only found out about BTECs from coming on MN so this is me paying it forward.
(Edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

It's still up in the air, isn't it? Hoping the Govt backs down – why rebrand something that already works as it is?

Agree, T-Levels are definitely worth a mention! My DD has also looked at Animal Care T Level but she was worried the written work would be too overwhelming again, so is going to stick to progressing to Level 3.

It's brilliant your school actively encourages pupils to look at them post-16. Ours didn't – it was A-Levels or bust.

Not just in praise of BTECs but going to a different place for Sixth Form/College can be a great shake up after the years of school.
DC school treats Sixth Form very much as an extension of the lower school, so my DC is very happy to be away from that, and working in a different way on his Level 3 BTEC at college.
So much less stress (for me!) than the GCSEs and he's doing very well too!

@@Passingthrough123 absolutely!

You are so right, @LarkspurLane. DD's school didn't have a sixth form but her friends who have moved to ones at other local schools have complained it's too similar in regime – some even have to wear uniform still. DD loves that college treats her like a young adult with autonomy.

I think it is one of the benefits of Hants that it is (almost) all colleges, (nearly) no school 6th forms.
(There are drawbacks too, but overall I like our system.)

I agree an advantage of a school finishing at 16 is they are forced to think about the next step rather than taking the safe route.

Plus the range of subjects at A Level, as well as the other qualifications seems to be a lot wider at a college over a school sixth form.

@TheNightingalesStarling I used to worry about our DD's school not having a sixth form but now I'm glad. Had there been one, and she'd got the necessary grades, she would have wanted to cling to the familiar and stay on, but her issues would've stayed on too. Going to college has been transformative.

I love reading stories like these. DD was an average child (also August) but in a v academic school and had no interest whatsoever in anything except music. The stress over GCSEs nearly finished her off. She went to a specialist school for 6th form where she did A levels but only had to take 2 and one was music which wasn't a lot of work for her. Six years after a rather depressing GCSE results day she has a 1st class degree from the top UK conservatoire and is studying for a masters at the same institution with a substantial scholarship. She's a different person - happy confident and knows her worth - from the stressed teen who used to make herself sick so the school nurse would send her home.

I come from Scotland which has a different system (we do a broader education for longer) and so sixth form colleges don't exist so I wasn't sure about it, particularly since my kids were happy and doing well at school (we live in an area where schools don't have sixth forms). But their enthusiasm for their subjects has skyrocketed at sixth form college.

Thank you to everyone who is posting here. Thank you so much. Our household needs to read and hear this. Please keep them coming.

My DD1 ended up under Cahms for anxiety and various phobias from Y10. She flunked every mock she sat because she was so frightened of being stuck in a room during exams. and not being able to escape if someone was sick. She ended up only passing 2 GCSES with a 4

She wanted to do Business BTEC so had to go back a year to L2 which she passed with a Distinction. She has failed her maths GVSE resit 5 times (suspect dyscalcula). She is about to finish her L3 with a DDM and has a place at Uni to do a Business BA - they also accept functional maths which she managed to pass.

College has been a much better fit for school and along with that now the pressure is off her anxieties have disappeared and she is off all medication. Sometimes school and exams don’t work for all children but there are still ways they can get a good education.

Thanks for posting @Fifiellz and @Londonmummy66! It's so great to hear more success stories of teens thriving after the toll of GCSEs. I suspect a lot of parents might not know that BTECs still offer a path to university if that's what their DC want to do. So many unis accept them now.

Could you all please write to
your MPs with these positive stories?

I’ve already written to mine as
BTECs are being phased out and I think that’s a shame. They are a well recognised qualification by unis and employers. When you look at uni offers T levels are not as widely accepted.

Just seems a pointless change. When BTECs offer a fantastic option

That's a really good idea. I saw this week that there's talk of delaying the V Level roll out because colleges are pushing back on the defunding of BTECs. The Govt has said they want to start defunding them this year and next but haven't given any advice on which courses will be targeted first. Absolute shambles.

Yes mine is one that can’t find appropriate alternatives for our students.

BTECs work. Leave them alone!

What I like about them is that you can go from level 1/2 all the way up to level 5 (year 2 undergraduate equivalent)

What I like about Btecs is that you can take 3 smaller ones in the same way as A levels but for those who are fixed on one area you can do the extended diploma.

if my son had have had to study anything other than music he’d have dropped out.

That's interesting - DS' school doesn't have a sixth form. In some ways that is good because there's no 'shame' in not progressing to your own school's 6th form and everyone's going to change anyway.

Just thinking that I want to thank this thread again because it has shown me something that I suspected (but didn't know the mechanics of). DH has been panicky about DS because, in his mind, less-than-stellar GCSEs = domino effect to worse outcomes further down the line and more and more options being closed off.

I can now see the system is very much set up to avoid that and give young people different channels and more chances and I'll now be able to explain this to him properly!

These stories are fab thank you for the thread. My kids are still in primary and I worry so much for them because they aren’t academic and need a lot of help. This thread gives me hope!!

I'm fairly sure T Levels will go the way of GNVQ and 'vocational A Levels'.

BTEC has been around for decades, universities understand it, the teachers understand it and employers respect it.

From my brief look, T-levels seem to be an unnecessarily academic version of BTECs with hard to meet work experience requirements. I have failed to understand the 'point' of them.

Similar story here OP.

We had a torrid lead up to GCSEs with DS. Hideously stressful time and we all knew A levels would not be right for him.

He's always excelled in practical subjects and started a BTEC in engineering last September.

He's absolutely flying in it and top of the class in all modules so much so that he's just won a industry award and secured a work experience placement with a leading engineering company.

So glad he went down the BTEC route rather than A levels.

I'm so glad my pay-it-forward thread is really helping other parents like you, @Echobelly, and @cadburyegg!

FWIW, my DP was the same about our DD. He's very academic and found exams easy, so he struggled knowing that she wasn't going to do well in her GCSEs. Even when I first came on here and read about BTECs and told him excitedly that there was another path for her he wasn't convinced. Then she came back buzzing from an open day and he could see how excited she was. Now he couldn't be happier at the path she's chosen. She has so much passion for the subject (animal care) and is doing so well in her studies that he knows she'll succeed in having a career that makes her happy and fulfilled, and that's all any parent wants for their DC.