BTEC instead of a GCSE?

[CinnamonEstella]

Dd is 14, choosing GCSE options for next year.

She has 4 choices, and will be doing the EBacc (Spanish, German, History) for 3 of them.

School "encourages" a creative or practical subject for at least one.

Dd really wants to do Travel and Tourism BTEC.

DH and I are fine with this, it seems like the sort of thing Dd is interested in and goes well with the languages, will be an interesting change from other subjects, fewer exams, likely to be a small class, fulfils the requirement to do something more practical etc.

Everyone else, literally everyone I have spoken to have made a face, said it is a waste of time, universities won't like it, she will only have 8 GCSES, she should do business instead, the travel industry has no future, everyone else in the class will mess around etc.

I don't want to give Dd bad advice. I think it's a perfectly valid choice. But I'm taken aback by the negativity.

Should we support dd's choice? The only other thing she might like to do is RE, which is obviously more academic.
But 1 BTEC and 8 GCSES should be fine, shouldn't it?

Hello yes DH and I talked about it with her and said we support her decision but showed the questions to ask the teacher which another poster suggested.
She will have meetings with head of year in tutor group time where they can ask questions, plus we get a parent evening to ask questions too. I think my main concern would be behaviour management.

Hopefully it will all work out. I don't think one BTEC counts as a "vocational education". It's just one random thing that's happened to have sparked her interest.

I (and she) still assuming she will go to university.

My dd1 did Btec dance along side all her academic subjects, including triple science and a language. She really enjoyed having a more practical course work based subject and cane out with a distinction* which is worth 8.5 points (between a grade 8&9 gcse).

If you dd wants to do a btec then she should go for it and not worry about academic snobbery.

Dd2 y9 also having to choose this year may well choose 2 Betecs as she wants to do health and social care and PE, they do Btec PE rather than gcse at her school. I’m happy for her to do it so longs as it’s what she wants.

*Would people have same concerns about a health & social care btec?

At DD's school it was the less academic students who did this, and yes the classes were rather boistrous.*

The most academic girl in dd1s year did a health and social care Btec. I know lots of bright kids who took it. Maybe it’s not the same in every school, but certainly is the case in my dds that all ranges of abilities take Btecs.

DD has been told she has to take GCSEs in:
English Lang
English Lit
Maths
Biology
Physics
Chemistry
Philosophy & Ethics

They all have to do Healthy Active Lifestyles (aka PE) but up to them if they want to do the GCSE for it. And all have to do Aspire/PSHE.

Alongside this she's thinking of taking Spanish and History. Leaves her one more choice...and we are veering towards a heath and social care BTEC. She's bright and in amongst those 9 GCSEs think taking one BTEC is fine.