Declaring qualifications for uni/6th form applications

[roisin]

ds1 is doing all trad GCSEs, is forecast very high grades and is currently on track.

For 2 lessons a week they do RE, Citizenship, PSHE etc. all rolled into one. Through this course they gain a 'qualification' which is an ASDAN Wider Key Skills qualification, which is "worth" a grade B at GCSE apparently.

At parent's evening last night I suggested to the teacher that maybe it would be better for ds1 not to be entered for this qualification as it wouldn't be a positive addition to his CV/future university application. (With RG Universities etc looking for high grades and consistency across all subjects). She said she'd look into it.

Today she's sent home a note which says "You don't have to write down all qualifications if you don't want to for univ."

Now, I think that is completely incorrect. Isn't it?
I mean if you get 3A*, 5A and 4E at GCSE, you aren't allowed to just pretend you only took 8 and ignore the other 4, are you?

[sorry this was a bit long]

Yes, you can definitely leave them off.

You can leave them off and we'd only really investigate if there was something obvious missing eg, a core subject. When we check our UCAS forms we highlight GCSE maths, English and science grades and AS grades. Some candidates are sneaky and leave off module results from AS that they're resitting but we can just run the report through the computer and get them.

of course you can leave them off, but why would you? A wider key skills course is known by all universities as that - Wider Key Skills, they do not count it as a GCSE equivalent (schools can use it in their % pass rates ).

It does though show that the student is not just academic but there is a rounded person as the WKS includes working with others, improving own learning among others - I ran it along side my subject qualification in my previous school at level 2; my current school I deliver it to KS5 students at level 3 which does equate to UCAS points (for those universities that still use UCAS points for entries). Many students include it within their personal statements as the projects we give them to undertake are completely unlike their A level subjects (for instance enterprise) that it gives a rounded view of themselves and that they can be successful in a different arena than academia

OK. Thanks everybody. That's really helpful and wasn't the answer I was expecting, which is even better.

Fab

Just to knock you back down again, roisin ....
Why did the teacher so easily agree with you and say that you can miss the WKS off the list. Why didn't she give a robust defence, like cricketballs did? Do you think that, on the quiet, she doesn't really rate it herself and isn't pushing the subject that hard.

If your DS takes this qualification and gets the maximum possible grade, then how can that be a disadvantage? It can only be a bonus as it is study IN ADDITION to his core GCSE subjscts.

I agree fully with cricketballs - evidence of a wider breadth of study can only be good.

You can leave them off. But universities know about these wider key skills and it can actually be useful to add to your CV. I

We were told that all qualifications that have been certified have to be entered on your UCAS form. This is the quote from the UCAS website:
"Advice about completing the education section

Universities need to know where you've studied and which qualifications you're taking/have taken. You fill in details of your schools or colleges, then list your qualifications, one by one. You must include all schools, colleges and universities that you have attended since the age of 11, even if you withdrew from your course. There is space to enter up to 10 centres.

For each school and college, you provide details of:

all qualifications for which you have accepted certification from an awarding organisation, even if you're retaking all or part of the qualification

all qualifications for which you are currently studying or awaiting results.

All qualifications must be entered, even if you received an unsuccessful grade, if you are still waiting to take the final exams or if you are waiting for the results."

So I disagree with the above posters that say you can pick and choose which qualifications you list. I believe this is a change this year. I think schools that don't certify the results until the end of the U6 are exempt but by this stage all GCSE results would be certified and therefore should be listed. The Student Room website gives the same advice. Kritur your university seems more flexible with this ruling.

I phoned UCAS about putting DS1s AS grades on the form when he already had A2s. They said all exams which have been certified need to be entered. There has been a change this year and it is much stricter. Basically if you leave something off and they find out your place can be taken away.

Thank you goinggetstough and others: that's helpful and it makes sense to me.

I think I'll have a chat with the careers guy at sixth form college (who seems very clued up about competitive university entry) and see what he thinks about the value of this qualification.

bit late but DS2 did Critical Thinking AS in Y13 & left it off his UCAS app. Didn't seem to be an issue

I'm going back a few years but all the early GCSE maths pupils were just 'plonked' into a Stats exam-with no teaching! Needless to say the grades were not of the usual high standard. I believe this had to be put on the UCAS form and only got one remark along the lines of 'shame about the B'.