BTECs starting 2015 - General support thread

[TeenAndTween]

Is there anyone else around whose child is starting a BTEC rather than A levels? Should we stay on this board or move to Further Education?

My DD has enrolled for Travel & Tourism.

DS had a qualification after the first year as well.

He is studying sport not IT bit would have thought the principle is the same. There will be the mandatory modules and then the rest are optional as in a certain number are picked from the list. DS had no choice in the optional as the college picked them so it might be an idea to check with each college exactly what is studied. I know that a poster on here has a son doing the same course as my son and there have been differences.

Found this on a college website (somewhere in Essex!)
Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma - equivalent to three A-levels.
Level 3 BTEC Subsidiary Diploma - equivalent to one A-level.
Level 3 BTEC Certificate equivalent to one AS-level

To me that implies that either you do the extended diploma over two years or AS levels with the Certificate in the first year and progress to A levels and the Subsidiary Diploma in the second year.

I would check whether the Level 3 course that doesn't mention extended diploma is or isn't as I notice that on out local sixth from website it doesn't mention extended but in the course description states it is equivalent to 3 A levels whereas my DS calls it an extended diploma

Hope that all makes sense!

DD is doing the 90 credit diploma as finishing at the end of this year and as with T&T's DD, all the mandatory units are done this year. She has done 11 units and they will take the highest 9. I believe it is the equivalent of 1.5 A levels and if she gets MM as I think she might, that would be 120 UCAS points.

A very happy sounding text arrived earlier to say she has finished the BTEC forever, all in capitals so I think she is quite pleased about that!

Not that I think she will want to ever go on to University but I would like her to have doors open in the future should she want them.

Excellent sugar. I like that they do extra modules and pick the best ones. That was the saving grace about DD missing an assessment. She now still has one 'spare'.

Draylon you need to look carefully See the ucas tariff here it looks like the Eastleigh course is only worth the equivalent of one B at A level whereas the Brockenhurst course can potentially give you the equivalent of 3 A levels at A* Might need someone else to come along and check I am reading the tariff correctly but thats what it looks like to me.

My DD is just finishing the OCR Extended Level 3 IT Course. She has the equivalent of 3 A* A levels which has helped her get 4 Uni offers, 2 unconditional each with a bursary. She has really enjoyed her course, but half way through most of the tutors left which meant having to change the topics of the modules to suit the remaining two tutors! Luckily for her the first year was really interesting with interesting subjects. I would be inclined to ask about the tutors knowledge and experience as well as the course. One of my DD's tutors was not marking the modules correctly which meant the whole class had to re-do them at the last minute.

Sugar Brilliant and she will always has the points. Might be enough to start a foundation degree in the future

How did the maths go? DS thought his english went well so is worried that means he has failed!

Draylon I would make sure that for each course you ask how many A levels it is the equivalent to. Your DS has not got on with the A levels so really does need to be looking at an extended L3 Diploma equivalent to 3 A levels so he has the option to go to university.

EYV I can only find extended diplomas on the college website

Maths is Thursday Gaslight, fingers crossed for your DS that English did actually do well and has passed!

DD doing Japanese A level next year so hopefully will pick up some more UCAS points then

Draylon this is the Ocr L3 IT that I saw, but as I said before I maybe reading the whole thing wrong - it says 100 points which is B at A level. It can't be the same one that FozzieMK was posting about although Eastleigh's website says its 3 A level equivalent. if it isn't a btec then it doesn't seem to match anything else on the tariff. I think I would want to be sure its recognised by ucas - I'm sure it probably is if they quote the ucas points it attracts. This shows that the extended diploma is worth 360 ie 3 As but Easteligh says theirs is 420 Here are all the ocr IT qualifications. Looks like it could be an NVQ rather than a btec - its not very easy to work anything out - how they expect 16 year olds to make informed decisions is beyond me!

I reckon the OCR and BTEC are the same but are different awarding bodies in the way that there are various different examining bodies for GCSE. There are a lot of OCR courses on the UCAS tarif tables

This the a link to OCR grades and tariff values. The grades are different to BTEC but same tariff
www.ocr.org.uk/images/77754-ocr-nationals-ucas-tariff.pdf

UCAS points are changing for 2017 entrants so these points are for current applicants.

I would have a check on university websites to see what they accept. I just had a quick check to see whether the uni DS is going to (sport rather than IT) accepts OCR and I couldn't see it although site does say to call if you have other qualifications. On another uni website it says OCR extended is accepted.

It is difficult to know what to do isn't it? A levels are so much easier to understand. DS did get a place at a very good college an hours or so away but failed english gcse so ended up at college in our city. Looking back I am not sure he would have coped with the travelling. He has enjoyed his two years at the local college. I also credit his friends on the course as they have been hardworking and do think it helped him to knuckle down

I think the BTEC and the OCR are pretty much the same. DD was doing media which was an OCR before she swapped. Looking at the info for that it doesn't say about getting anything after one year as the course info on her current course does so I would check that, to have the option to only do the year has been very handy in DD's case and I think she would have dropped out if she knew she had to do two years of it to get anything .

The commute is a pain and pretty tiring plus has created issues when she's been sick. The bus has been late a couple of times but overall pretty good. I've ended up forking out for lots of train fare over the year so she could come home early. I paid fit the bolt on each term so she has been able to use her card holidays plus weekends so that has made the about £950 spent on the coach seen not as bad.

Combined with rail fares plus studio fee, cost of photography paper plus notebooks it has been a very expensive year and a lot more than if she had stayed at school. It's been worth it though and college have been very good with her and are the first place out of four to clock the dyscalculia so I'm very grateful. It's a hard choice for you Draylon. Personally if there isn't a qualification after one year at Eastleigh I think the trek over to Brock might be worth it.

Gas your link to the ocr tariff doesn't show 420 which the college are claiming is attainable, instead it just says the max is 360 - it looks as if it is old as there is no A* at A level either. The ocr extended diploma is on the new tarrif here which comes into operation for the 2017 intake and it attracts 144 points which according to the new system is equivalent to 3 As at A level

ds has decided to take a gap year (not told the uni yet and hoping they accept deferments at this late stage) and his current offer is on the premise that the max points available is 420 which now goes down to 168 for the year he intends to go. Not sure how it will affect the scholarships available as they are based on exceeding a certain number of points - they will presumably have to run 2 parrallel systems for a couple of years to account for those taking a year out

EYV What's caused him to want a gap year? Is that set in stone or might he change his.

My DD has spent the last few hours looking a university websites. Certainly picks her moments! Age gap between DD and DS should have meant only one at a time going. Not sure if she's having a mad couple of hours or if she is serious. We will see.

Draylon Wait til DS starts the course - the way BTECs work is confusing! My DS did level 2 sport at school instead of gcse PE and then the two year extended diploma. After four years I still don't full understand it. I am forever asking my DS questions

A really good bit of advice would be that your DS needs to ask if he doesn't understand how it all works. For example if on an assignment he meets the criteria for a merit grade on all the parts except one where he gets a pass he can only get a pass grade. Not sure if I have explained that properly so shout of it doesn't.

And yes I am the same - why change the tariffs?

The gap year announcement came when we were in the uni city for half term to help him get to know his way around before September - i think the distance from home and the degree of self sufficiency needed gave him a reality check.

He is summer born so not 18 for a few weeks yet and he emphasised that he wanted to go but wanted some cash behind him as a safety net and wanted a year to "become more of a man" he was surprised at how ok we were with it but I told him he couldn't tell the uni until he had a job lined up. The boss at his coaching job has offered him as many hours as he wants so he's decided on 24 - he finishes his level 2 award tomorrow so will get £15 per hour from September and fill the remaining time with performance analysis, lifetime qualifications and whatever one does to become more of a man

Become more of a man

fair play to him Eatmoreveg !

Gas what did your ds think of today's English? I saw one half of the paper and the first question looked horrible but the second question in contrast was great and I sat there imagining what I would write - oh to be 16 again :)

Well, I've been having fun

DD1's last 3 assignments are all due today. I had to pick her up early from college on Wed and we spent all of yesterday at the hospital! Doctors bemused by her sudden mysterious lack of mobility issues.
Oh joy.

Luckily she is mainly done, at least 2 will get submitted on time, but she may need a short extension on the last one.

Draylon could you ring admissions tutors and ask whether the OCR one is an acceptable alternative?

eat/gas Hope English gets passed! Also 'become more of a man' is a fantastic attitude.

T&T I hope she is ok? Surely they'll grant an extension for that.

Oh goodness T&T, you poor things Have they any idea what is going on? I'm sure College will be understanding.