Advice please on going to college instead of 6th form.

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Hi,
My dd got her gcse results last week and while they were good to excellent overall, she got a 4 in English language which limits her choices in 6th form. Its 3 marks off a 5 with AQA so we feel it's worth asking for a remark.

We have found a college course that would allow her to access her desired uni course and follow her long held career dream (sports physio). She has an enrollment morning and interview later this week.

My questions are:
Should we prepare a cv for this?
What should she wear? It's a sports and exercise science course if that makes a difference.
When can we expect to be told if she has been accepted onto the course?

I'm a bit worried because we don't have another plan. What happens if she isn't accepted? If she has to be in education until 18, will she be made to do the subjects offered that do not interest her and have no benefit in her uni application?

In relation to having her english remarked, are we best to do this via the website rather than the school as it now looks like she won't be going back there.

And someone said they feel it's worth her while resitting English language, if it isn't upgraded, as they heard that 4s wont be counting by education establishments or employers as passes for much longer. Can anyone agree or disagree with that?

It's been a long week and the more I learn about 16+ education, the more I realise I don't know. Any help would be appreciated.

Does she meet the admissions criteria for the course? In my experience the interview is more of a chat about the course and expectations. They are likely to suggest an alternative if she doesn't quite fit that particular course. She will be enrolled or another option there & then.

Check the college website, but I would simply take photo ID and a results slip for her GCSEs. Parents are usually welcome to attend as she will be discussing the options available, such as whether it is worth resitting her English.

Is it a BTEC? My DD1 did a BTEC a couple of years ago.

My belief is that she definitely doesnt need a CV but should bring her results slips. Have they asked for other ID too? Maybe have passport with her too if she has one. The interview should be about suitability for the course: has she got required GCSE results, does she understand what the course is, and does it fit with her aspirations. It shouldnt be an academic test.

She will quite likely be told there and then that they are accepting her.

Wear smartish casual - not ripped jeans but doesn`t need to be job-interview smart. Unless they are doing a course taster too (though those are usually in July) in which case something more sporty?

Personally I doubt most employers will start asking for a 5 as standard, and I doubt your college will support retaking if she already has a 4. But who knows?

When DD did her BTEC (started 4 years ago so old now) we had a BTEC Support Thread which has useful background info in how they run and are graded.

It seems to me that pastoral care in colleges is weaker than schools. They also tell the students they are adults now which in my view is not always helpful for the less mature.

Are her other grades A level worthy 6+ ? What was she planning to do? PE, Biology and something? Will no local schools take her with the 4 in English?

Also, do you realise that a remark simply involves adding up the Mark's given for each paper as an arithmetic check. They do not look at the Mark's allocated to her answers.

Hog They also look at the banding for an answer and check they are in the correct band. What they won`t do is say well the band was 12-16 marks, the marker gave you 12 but I think it is a 15. They could however say they have put you in the 12-16 band but it should be in the 17-20 band so you now get 17.

My son left 6th form after a couple of weeks due to bullying and went to college to do a BTEC national diploma in Business Management for 2 years. He had to get at least distinctions and merits on parts of his coursework to gain enough points to get him into university. He just took his exam slips to the interview, no CV as he hadn't worked.
He's now 24 and has a good job in the civil service, they weren't bothered about the lack of A levels

The Civil Service understands that BTecs are a qualification for undergrad degrees. Not at every university and every course but there are many DCs who have them and have decent jobs. They are recognised as an alternative and that they suit some DC.

I do believe colleges of FE are less likely to chivvy up DC than schools are and pastoral care will be limited. Around me, they don’t always get the most motivated students either. So if DC isn’t mature enough to engage in the course and do the work, it can be a bit of a doss with like minded friends. If DC really wants the course and enjoys it, the outcomes can be excellent.

Aw thanks, that's really reassuring.

Yes it is a BTEC.
No other local 6th form will take her with the four in English language, and allow her to do the subjects required for uni course. She was planning to do biology, maths and pe. Most local 6th forms offer btec certificate in sport rather than pe which is no good for uni application.

Dd is very motivated, maths and science are her strengths while sport is her passion. She engages really well and is aware she needs top grades for her uni course and is already planning how she will .
She does meet the entry requirements, and has a strong background in sport, both as a player and coach, that will surely go in her favour.
Furthermore she was diagnosed as dyslexic last summer, so we're hoping that the assessment structure of a btec will suit her better.

I do know that remarking the english is a long shot but it's worth a try imo. We'll always wonder the possible outcome if we don't.

Thanks for all your answers.
No doubt I'll be back with more questions but I'll keep an eye out for a btec thread because that would be useful.

Interesting to hear about the pastoral care not being as strong as schools. I'll bear that in mind as she (hopefully) progresses.

I used to work in the FE sector. However do check it out at your college. The rules at colleges are more relaxed and DC need to realise they are not schools and of course many students will be part time and even mature!

Wow seems unfair she cant do her desired A levels at 6th form. A 4 is a pass.
She wouldnt need English to be higher.
At my DD school she could do these subjects.
You said she has recently been diagnosed as dyslexic. Did she have extra time in her exams?
Good luck and hope your daughter gets offered a course she will enjoy and does well. Regarding the remark, look at the grade boundary for that exact exam. Apparently some are narrow and there is a risk of going down too. We have asked for priority scripts to help us decide. However the school not particularly helpful. 2 Mark's of a 7 in a science subject.

Some apprenticeships etc. are now accepting a grade D/3 as "good enough", I think they are assuming that this is at least equivalent to Functional English.

A level 4 is perfectly good enough - your local Sixth forms are obviously highly academic and wouldn't be the best places to support someone who struggles a bit with English. The college will be far better - just remember an interview is a two way process.
Actually when my DD was called to an interview at a FE college, she was instead pushed through registration (and at the end they realised she couldn't do the course as she was too young).

And are you sure that Btec Sport is not the same qualification at Btec PE just called different things at different colleges.

What Uni course does she want to do? Is she playing sport at a high level?

Hi OP

Ex teacher of BTEC (health and social care).

There are some advantages to BTEC - one is being allowed to upgrade, individual colleges have different ways of doing this.

Practical elements, I used to do as many assessments as practicals as possible eg 'health and safety' they could write an essay or I could create a disaster zone in a clinical area and have students list the hazards. They still need to do some written work but they can get the pass grade with the practical element.

There may be a work experience element, most HSC course do this but I think it depends on the college and the course.

She will be able to resit her English if she wants, there are always resit English classes and even evening classes.

She may, not definite, but may be able to do an A Level alongside BTEC.

It is closer to a uni experience than a school

You learn how to reference using Harvard

Disadvantages

FE colleges do not have the same sanctions available in schools, we can't put students in detention so we can have some unmotivated class disruptors. Often they are asked to leave after a few weeks.

Lack of pastoral care, we do try but we expect students to come to us with concerns.

BTEC's P M D system. An assignment will have criteria for pass merit distinction, usually 2 or 3 per grade.

If you obtain all the pass criteria you will be given a pass, if you miss one of three pass elements but achieve all the Merit and Distinction criteria you will not receive a pass because you have missed a pass criteria.

OK the interview, take her evidence of grades, ID and she can wear what she wants, jeans are fairly normal.

Most local 6th forms offer btec certificate in sport rather than pe which is no good for uni application.

As far as I can see there is no such thing as a Level 3 btec in PE. The syllabi are wither Sport or Sport & Excercise Science.

The Level 3 certificate is a qualification worth half an A Level, most schools or coleges offer the Extended certificate which is worth a full A level and the students then do 2 other A levels or Btec's alongside. My son's school offer the Foundation Diploma worth 1.5 A levels and students do 2 different diplomas so for example they might study one in Sport and one in Science or Business. There is also a National Diploma worth 2 A levels.

The Extended Diploma is worth 3 A levels and I suspect this is the qualification the college is offering? My son will be moving to a college next year to study an extended diploma in Music.

At the college open day they told us that thir interview/audition will be to make sure the student has the right entry qualifications and understands what the course is about also that they have sufficiet skills (in my son's case in music) to benefit.

How far afield have you looked for A levels?

Round here it is not unusual for students to travel an hour+ to get to their college. It seems slightly ridiculous to me that a 4 in English is preventing her doing A levels in PE maths and science.

Another somewhat left field option here. No idea how realistic:
Start at the college, and retake the English, hopefully going up to a 5. After 1 year 'restart' 6th form (they get 3 years funding) and do 2 years of A levels. (If they run the BTEC sensibly they will do the compulsory units in the first year and she would still come out with a 'certificate' after the first year.)

I remember years ago my elder brother took Btech, got distinctions in every topic, went to uni got a first and is now a management accountant/ CEO. We're from a working class background.

My eldest wants to go uni and do maths with applied maths/physics. He achieved a raft of 9s apart from English language where he got a 5, he needs a 6. The paper is being reviewed because he's one mark away from a 6. So yes GCSEs do matter, even in unrelated subjects.

There are only a tiny handful of universities that need a 6 in GCSE English if applying for a non English related subject.