Getting into university with an extended BTEC

[Stairsandbiscuits]

Hello,
My son is 17 and in his second year of an extended BTEC at a local college. He is not doing A levels because he did not get the necessary GCSE grades.

College appear to be really pushing the young people towards university. He attends compulsory lessons about how to apply and is set tasks to help him complete his UCAS form. He is very compliant with any instruction given to him by a teacher at college.

My son has ASD and a LD. I am very concerned that he will not cope academically, socially or emotionally with university. He does not speak to any of the other students at college and has made no friends. His current grades are in theory high enough to get him into some universities.

Has anyone got any experience with a young person going to university with a BTEC instead of A levels? How did they manage? Did they keep up with the academic work OK?

I feel like I would be a terrible mother if I told him not to apply to university if it is what he wants. His Dad and I both went and had a fantastic time. His grandparents went and so did his older cousins. He has not seen anyone taking a different path.

However, I am unsure whether it is what he really wants or whether he is just doing what the teachers at college have told him to do. I would also be an awful parent if I let him merrily walk into a situation where he will spend a lot of money just to be miserable and have to drop out because he is not coping academically or socially.

He is such a lovely young man. He is kind, patient, enthusiastic, cheerful and wonderful to be around. I would love to help him get into working with people in some way, He loves children and is great with older people too. He volunteers in a charity shop, at a food bank and at our local hospital.

Any experience or advice very gratefully received.

Thank you

Hey @Stairsandbiscuits your DS sounds great. It’s a shame he hasn’t been able to make any friends – does that bother him? Would he mind a fairly solitary life at uni? Does he have hobbies which he could pursue there (societies are a great way to meet people and bring structure to uni social life – not every student is out drinking all night).

Firstly yes for sure you can go to university with a Btec. Some unis and some courses will not be accessible (Oxford, Cambridge, some other RG unis want an A level with a Btec, courses like medicine and vetmed) but plenty will be happy to accept him. Is that what he wants though? What might he study – where might it take him?

From your post maybe he would want to do teacher training, nursing, youth work or healthcare work? For some of those you need a degree. I suggest you talk to him a bit more about what he wants. If he does want to apply to uni, ideally (tho not essentially) he needs to have his application sorted by January, so not long to look at options.

In terms of keeping up with the work, a lot of uni courses are modular (tho it does depend on the course) which matches Btec structure so may be ideal. Would there be local unis that he could attend to study without moving out. If that would suit him better (it might not but it’s a thought). It depends where you live but for example where we are in the East Mids we are within about 30 mins or so by train or car of at least a dozen unis inc RG and post-92 unis.

He might as well go through with the applications. You’ll visit the unis on open days, talk to lecturers and students and that will give him a better feel for how he’ll get on. They tend to have good support for those with diagnoses. You don’t have to accept any offers. I think the deadline for acceptance is in May.

If he wants to go to open days tho he needs to crack on. A lot are held in Sept and Oct. Tho less popular unis hold them in tonic and Dec tbf.

My DS did an extended BTEC and is now at university. He is doing a very niche degree though which incorporates industry exams and the BTEC he did was the only way he could get onto the course without A levels. He is doing very well and if he continues to pass all the exams he will have a degree which will pretty much guarantee him a job in the industry. I think it depends what your Ds wants to do career wise and if the degree he chooses will help him achieve that. My Ds was hoping to go down the apprenticeship route instead of university but when it was time to apply there were no suitable apprenticeships around so he went the uni route instead.

Thank you very much for all of the replies.

He does not want to leave the city we live in, so his options are quite limited in terms of which university he could go to. We have been to two open days. They are incredibly positive and encouraging at the open days, so he came away feeling good about it.

I intend to keep helping him with his UCAS form because it will not harm him to fill it in. I am just trying to work out whether I would be a terrible parent if I actively encouraged him to do something I am very worried he will not manage. On the other hand, he is a wonderful young person who surprises me all the time with what he can achieve.

He wants to be a psychologist. He only has 5 GCSEs and his highest grade was a 5. He has a huge amount to offer, but academics is not where his strengths lie.

Cassgate, your DS sounds very determined and it seems he is on a great path. I hope it all goes brilliantly for him.

Thank you to everyone who has replied. You have made me feel much better about it all.

My foster son did the BTEC level 3 extended diplomas at a college. It was equivalent to 3 x A levels in terms of grades. He got 2 x distinctions and 1 merit. He went to Worcester uni last year and passed everything and is now in year 2. My foster son got offers from Worcester, Nottingham Trent, and University College Birmingham which incidentally offers a £6k cost of living bursary to most students.

I would not discount him going in the future but taking a year or two out to mature and develop soft skills will increase the chances of success at university. I would also consider living at home

I think he will probably live at home. In his first year he achieved MMM. According to google that is similar to CCC at A level. Although that is not very high it is also much better than I expected.

I have suggested he spends a year or two out of education with the possibility of going back to university. I think part of the reason he is applying to university is because it delays having to make any decisions about his future. It also means he does not have to get a full time job.

The possibility that he might go to university has all happened quite suddenly this September. I have spent the last ten years talking about all the different options there are post school because I thought university was definitely not an option.

I know my job as a parent is to support him as well as I can with whatever he chooses to do. I might just have to ready to catch him if it all goes a bit wrong. It might all work out brilliantly for him.

Thank you for all of the replies.

Uni living at home sounds a good path to me

Can I suggest he fills out and gets his UCAS form in then see what grades he gets. My foster son got several Merits in his first year but improved in second year when he got modules he preferred.

No idea about a BTEC but there are loads of ASD students on my science degree (healthcare AP) course. All have friends and seem to do ok. We are mostly a commuter uni though.

My child is in their final year of level 3 BTEC. She’s ASD too and really socially shy but has made a group of friends. Her problem though is becoming overwhelmed with classrooms and busy spaces, she can’t tolerate noise either so really struggles. Thankfully she got a distinction * in her first year so is definitely thinking university but she won’t cope with the sensory issues so is looking to do an online course, open university probably, possibly another one

Hi, OP -

You and your DS both sound lovely. I understand that you don’t want to think in terms of limiting him unnecessarily, and I agree there is no telling what he will achieve this year. The advice above is good.

And yes, as PP have said there are clear pathways from the BTEC to university. As a former admissions tutor I am all for creating as much flexibility as we can (that works for each degree programme), and a big believer in widening participation in the most meaningful sense.

However, there is the question of why the college is foisting one-size-fits-all advice of any kind onto its pupils, and I think you are right to be wary. Your post reminds me of many posts from mums of very able pupils who are focused on specialist degree programmes at post 1992 universities, but their schools discourage them, and push them towards more prestigious choices. Why? Because this a a metric on which the schools are judged by HMG.

The fixation on university at this college could be encouragement gone awry, it could be about the interests of the college; but the fact that advice should be geared to the needs and goals of each individual seems to have been lost.

Psychology is one of the most brutally competitive degree programmes. There will be statistics course modules. Amongst psychology graduates, there is another fierce round of competition for the small number of jobs in the field, which may require PG training.

I think you are telling us that perhaps DS is better suited to helping people in a different way. You are the best judge of how to handle the UCAS situation. However if his goal is to work with people in a helping profession
I share your concerns.

I don’t know enough about either DS or Nursing to know whether he would cope with that degree. I wonder what related professions would suit him?

I have written all of this very hesitantly because the last thing I want to do is to seem to limit a student’s aspirations - someone I haven’t even met. Students who exceed expectations are always a delight and perhaps DS will be one of them.

But the college has no reason to expect this and I think their motives are mixed or poorly thought out. I feel like signing myself

Indignant on your behalf

PS Very best wishes to DS.