Btec or gcse science

[Jayne131]

My son has just finished year 9 and got a 6c and a level6 in teacher assessment. I am hoping this means he will be able to do gcse but he is in the bottom set for science

BTECs involve a lot of coursework. Is he the type who potters along at the same pace all year, does what is requires and hands homework in on time? If not, then the GCSE may be the better option. If he's a worker, if just not a particularly gifted at science, then the BTec may be best.

If I were you I'd have a conversation with the school about this. They may have a far better idea of his potential and the best option than your son. In my experience teenagers can have wildly optimistic views of their own work habits and capabilities and sometimes the slightly more jaded eye of a teacher can make a better assessment of a student's capabilities. Though not always of course.

Thanks. He certainly not a worker in fact he can be very lazy

I would start by asking why he is in the bottom set with levels like that.

A friends son was put in a bottom set (for being a pain basically), they withdrew him from the school and sent him to a private one, he did so well in the entrance assessment that he was placed in the top set.

Thanks he was in set 3 during year 8 but did very badly in his end of year exam partly because he dad was critically ill in hosp and also he just did not revise. Plus during the dhole of year 8 he was a utter pain in science class

With a 6c, he's either at a very high achieving school or he's in the wrong set. If he's bright but lazy I would suggest GCSE. BTEC's suit those that work hard, achieve well in class but underperform in exams.

Thanks. It's not a high achieving school we still have gammer schools and this is not one
Hopefully he will be move sets in September

what does he want to do as a career? If it is something connected with engineering or healthcare then GCSE science as there is a chance that uni's won't accept Btec for some courses.

Avoid btec science if poss. My dd did this and it was terrible. Unchallenging and an endless series of boring worksheets.

The only thing BTEC is good for is if you run out of toilet roll.

if Btec is taught correctly it can be very interesting and for those not capable of getting a decent grade in GCSE a useful alternative.
However, I can see how it can be taught really badly.

I wouldn't recommend it to anybody capable of getting a decent GSCE grade though.

I've taught level 3 BTEC's as well and had many students get into university (nursing, midwifery, sports science etc) with BTEC qualifications so clearly not just useful for wiping their bums.