What are the prospects with BTECs rather than A levels

[ActuallyComfortable]

Looking at options for my youngest, who is very bright and switched on about some things (really in touch with and articulate about current affairs and world politics which is not especially common at 15) yet academically a very mixed bag, and has some dyslexic traits (perfect grammar but terrible spelling, used to struggle with the physical fine motor skills of writing and find it painful because of gripping the pencil so hard leading to arm pain and had OT for that as a young child). His grades tend to be absolutely all over the place - moments of brilliance mixed with unexpected crashing and burning when he thought things went well...

BTECs are appealing because there are no exams, all course work, so the possibility of more course correction when going wildly off piste, and the risk factor of exams removed

I know what schools claim you can do with BTECs but that's largely meaningless.

Does anyone have relatively recent experience of what their own or a child well known to them did after completing BTECs?

I don't want to send him on a two year route to being no better off than he was before in terms of prospects for further study and employment he can make a living from!

It’s good to hear of young people with BTECs doing PhDs but what are they planning to do afterwards for work? I’d really like to hear about that.

Two of my children did a business BTEC and achieved the highest grade possible.
My daughter is now an AVP at an American Bank and my son an underwriter for an insurance company. Both are settled into jobs they enjoy and earning a good wage.
Both chose the BTEC route as they were no good at exams. One of them did have a place at university but eventually chose to go straight into the workplace.

She's already employed. University lecturer. She didn't fancy working in the fashion industry anymore after doing that through her earlier degrees, so is working on developing PPE for specific high risk industries.

Very interesting thank you!

Just to clarify, BTEC is an umbrella term. Level 2 BTEC is GCSE equivalent whereas level 3 is A level equivalent. There are level 4 and 5 too which are undergraduate levels.
Then there is the size of the qualification. A level 3 certificate is equivalent to an AS in one level 3 subject, an extended certificate is a full A level equivalent. These are usually offered by schools alongside A level or other Btecs. A diploma is the first year equivalent of 3 A levels and the extended diploma is equivalent to 3 full A levels which is what is needed for Btecs alone for UCAS entry.

T levels only exist in England and have been rolled out to replace L3 Extended Diplomas in some subject areas with varying success due to government defunding the original BTEC.

Btecs are usually brilliant especially for students who are organised, have great attendance and able to work consistently well across the 2 years.

Thank you, this is very useful.

So we really need to know what we're looking at.

It all seems to be in flux by the sound of it, which puts what generally seems to be a positive option into a less attractive light.

As far as the personal characteristics:

We've never had any attendance issues (though we all know anything can change with teenagers, but I hope not and don't expect it).

Being very organised is up for debate - I'm not sure he's vastly more organised than same age peers, in fact forgotten homework and lost bus passes definitely feature more than they did for his older siblings (though I'm beginning to suspect it was more that qe had it remarkably easy with the older ones...).

He generally has things like presentations done on time and is often the one in a group who gets the best mark in a group presentation because he has everything with him and often drives group work and comes across quite well in oral presentations compared to written work (on the other hand his school/ class specific friends seem flakier than his outside school friends and his siblings' friends...).

I'm not sure.

Thank you, this is very useful.

So we really need to know what we're looking at.

It all seems to be in flux by the sound of it, which puts what generally seems to be a positive option into a less attractive light.

As far as the personal characteristics:

We've never had any attendance issues (though we all know anything can change with teenagers, but I hope not and don't expect it).

Being very organised is up for debate - I'm not sure he's vastly more organised than same age peers, in fact forgotten homework and lost bus passes definitely feature more than they did for his older siblings (though I'm beginning to suspect it was more that qe had it remarkably easy with the older ones...).

He generally has things like presentations done on time and is often the one in a group who gets the best mark in a group presentation because he has everything with him and often drives group work and comes across quite well in oral presentations compared to written work (on the other hand his school/ class specific friends seem flakier than his outside school friends and his siblings' friends...).

I'm not sure.

You mentioned various things like holding a pencil, possibly dyslexic. Get it looked into ASAP because the support they get at school vanishes when they go to FE. Unless you have an EHCP (educational health care plan) there is no funding.

Btec are being replaced by v Levels in the coming years. Avoid a t level if you aren't sure what you want as they are more focused. A btec is much more varied in content. If it's a full btec (just btec, not a levels) then often they can often do one year and finish with a qualification rather than have to do two years.
Do something they enjoy /are good at. Most of the degrees you mentioned are open to most qualifications at level 3 for entry.

My son did a Btec in music. He has just finished a music degree and is currently working as a professional musician and in music tech. Friends on the same course as him went into teaching, arts admin marketing etc.

My daughter did A levels but a lot of students on her course did Btec. She is studying sports science on a course with good graduate outcomes.

A friend of my son did a science Btec and went on to do a science degree.

We know others who went into totally unrealted degree courses and careers.

It will cut off some options but only in th same way as studying English Lit, History & Art won't get you onto a maths degree (I won't say science as my daughter was accepted onto several science based degreees via a foundation year with A levels in English, RS & dance.) If you have a Btec you will not get into Oxbridge or a handful of other courses.

My daughter did a Btec in Business and applied science, alongside A level English. She did brilliantly - lots of hard work and course work but that’s how she works best. Just about to start degree in Business at a top university!

A PhD in Fashion?

@ActuallyComfortable I was shit at school and hated it. Ended up doing an apprenticeship with day release for BTEC. Converted the HND to a degree, went on to get a masters, a 1% salary job, and am now doing a second masters.

It is a perfectly valid thing to use as a springboard.

Only teaching would want a PhD in fashion. My DD has a degree in a fashion related subject and didn’t really enjoy it so has done a further course to become an interior designer and enjoys that much more. Is self employed and does high end work. BTecs are just fine for this sort of job. Look at more practical careers and ones where a human element will continue to be needed.

Some courses at degree level will want an A level too but it will depend how competitive and academic the course is. Eg maths A level might be required with the BTecs for better engineering courses. Other courses are happy with the BTecs so know what you are aiming for and choose the right mix.

No. Developing materials for particular protective clothing in medical/technical/emergency contexts.

The actual detail rests somewhere in a line between saving people from having their faces melted off in the event of a nuclear explosion to designing underpants for astronauts.

@NeverDropYourMooncup Interesting. My friend is a world expert in personal “barriers” for health and safety - specifically chemicals and radiation. He’s a PhD in this field of chemistry.

Cool. Maybe DD2 knows of him.