Would a vocational course still be suitable for someone who doesn't struggle with school?

[RenegadeKeeblerElf]

DD is in Y11, autistic but generally does very well with academic subjects and only really struggles with things like noisy classrooms, group work where others aren't pulling their weight, or not fully understanding expectations and needing to try and figure out what is being asked. She does also get stressed around revision time as she doesn't revise well - she doesn't really need to revise as she does well without it, but she knows she 'should' and therefore gets stressed that she isn't. Overall though she does well at school, and is predicted mostly 7s , with the potential for 8s and 9s if she was to really work hard.

She is therefore very capable of doing the traditional A levels and uni route, but her passion is making things. She loves crafting and always has a project on the go - she just sees the finished design in her head and knows how to get there. She also loves theatre so her aim is a degree in theatre production, probably specialising in props and set design/build. Her plan had been to go to our local (excellent) college and do two academic A levels that really interest her, plus Textiles (her main crafting interest at the moment is customising clothes/crochet/sewing). But the school have been encouraging them to look at alternative options (the school as a whole has quite a challenging demographic and academic A levels certainly won't be suitable for all or even most).

We have now found a course at another college a little further away that she is interested in but I don't have much experience of vocational courses and want to understand more about it and whether it will be a good fit for her. Its a Level 3 extended diploma in Performance and Production Arts (it seems to focus on technical theatre rather than performance but she does enjoy performing too) - does anyone know anything about this? She likes the idea of being more practical and less pressure to write essays but I want to be sure it isn't closing doors for the future if she changes her mind about her career plans.

How about mathematics (if she is good) or English, drama or D&T, and textiles. That way she could get her practical fix and since (art) textiles is finished by the time exams come around, she would only have to revise for exams in two subjects. I think A-levels would be good to have as a backup in case a career in theatre arts does not work out.

Another possibility is to focus completely on the vocational qualification for a year. At the end of the first year she can still decide if she wants to continue with it or exit with a foundation diploma and switch to A-levels. However, an important caveat here is that if she is considering A-level mathematics, a year without mathematics would mean that colleges won't accept her on the course, so you would have to keep up the maths in some demonstratable way. I think other subjects would be fine though.

All routes would be fine for a degree in theatre arts (e.g. CSSD).

A level maths isn't really something she is thinking about so that isn't an issue, she was looking at psychology and classical civilisations alongside the textiles. I like the idea that she can get the foundation diploma after a year then switch to A levels if she wants, that's an interesting idea to bear in mind. I just don't want her bored or in a class with kids who aren't motivated to work hard.

I wouldn't assume that the students doing vocational courses aren't motivated.

https://www.arts.ac.uk/subjects/textiles-and-materials/undergraduate/ba-hons-fashion-textiles-print-lcf#application-process

If you think she might want to take her interest further, it would be worth looking at entry requirements for suitable courses post A levels eg this one at the LCF (which is a brilliant place!)

There is a LOT of essay writing on vocational L3 Extended Diplomas.

There aren't exams, but the assignments are very written work heavy.

My DD is doing one of these courses at the moment, her two best friends got straight 8s and 9s at GCSE.

In my experience you get a few who are very dedicated, lots who are a bit flaky and those you never see much of after enrolment. Mine is endlessly frustrated with slow pace, lack of seriousness and the amount of tick box busy work involved. Says if it wasn't for being severely SEN and therefore unsuited, she wishes she was doing A Levels.

My personal advice would be, do 3 academic A levels, then do either an Art Foundation (these are free) or a degree.

My DD was torn between creative arts and academics after GCSE. She had completed at BTEC in art and design alongside all the GCSEs. In the end she was went with A levels and a RG uni. Rationale it would be easier to start art foundation later on than do academic studies outside of the established trajectory,

Would a vocational course still be suitable for someone who doesn't struggle with school?
In short, yes!

I was academically able. I preferred vocational college to A-Levels (ugh!), and there were quite a few stereotypically academic students in my year. Most people went on to university afterwards, but that college was quite geared towards it, as it had a University Centre on site.

I now work for a vocational college. They might be doing things like agriculture, forestry and countryside, but most of them aren't your classic academic 'failures'. A lot of them prefer college to school. We have a few autistic students, some who have behaviour issues/avoidance issues with being in a classroom environment, but love the practical elements. Quite a few do go on to university, some get jobs in the local area, while others go working abroad for the experience.

Thanks all, some really helpful replies here. We're going to go to the open evening and see what she thinks, but I am feeling more reassured that if she does choose this option it won't necessarily close too many doors for her.