BTEC - to drop or not to drop

[btecdilemma1]

DS Yr11 has had nothing but trouble since starting his BTEC, mainly due to lack of teaching staff. The class had months when they were being 'babysat' by various different teachers and generally getting nowhere.

The school managed to get a permanent teacher a couple of months ago and they have been trying hard to catch up by having extra intervention sessions, but still the class is incredibly behind, with one unit not even started yet.

We have been in contact with the school about our concerns as to whether it's possible to complete the BTEC in time and have been told that extra intervention sessions will be laid on over the exam period. They will also be running sessions once the exam period is over, so essentially when DS, and all of his peers, have finished school. Work can be submitted up to the 5th July

We're not sure we're prepared to send him in once school has technically finished for him as it just seems so unfair when none of this is his fault. And I know he will be highly reluctant to go in! We also have a short break booked during this period so we don't even know if he'd be able to go in as school have yet to decide which days they the sessions will be on.

At this stage we're leaning towards him just dropping it, not doing the exam and not attending any additional sessions. But we're very reluctant for him to get a 'fail' for something that isn't his fault. We're really at a loss as to what to do.

This BTEC was chosen by DS as he just didn't know what other subject to pick, so he's never been enthusiastic about it and it's not necessary for what he wants to go on and do in the future.

So do we make him complete it or just write it off now?

How many other GCSE's is he doing? I'd be very tempted in his situation to just bin it off.

English, maths, combined science, history, German, food prep plus already has statistics as he took it in Yr10.

Can the school withdraw him from it to avoid a fail? Not sure of timeframes and if it’d be too late.

When have you booked your break? Are you aware of the GCSE contingency dates?

If he finishes all the other units bar the one not started yet, he may still be able to scrape a pass (depends on the qualification), so would still have something to show for his work over the two years.

but the specification will be finished in time, so what is the issue? BTECs run at a different timetable to other courses. Of course he finishes it

I wasn't aware of the contingency dates until after the holiday was booked, despite asking the head of year before. He said the exams ended on Friday 16th June so we'd be safe to book a break after that. I thought asking the head of year was a safe bet, but obviously not.

We've asked to have a meeting with the school to discuss their plans and see if he could scrape a pass if he doesn't do the additional hours.

My main issue is that he could be focusing on the subjects that are worth focusing on rather than on a subject that has little meaning to him. For instance he will have to forgo English intervention, a subject that he struggles with, to do the Construction intervention.

the Btec dates will all be published on their website, as are the GCSE dates, and change very little from year to year.

I would prioritise English over a BTEC.

I think my DS was put into BTEC sport. I've no idea why, he didn't want to do it, and was academic enough to get 10 strong GCSEs. He did badly in the exam and refused to hand in the coursework (the teacher was emailing the night beide his Maths GCSE saying we had to hand it in NOW, and I wasn't about to upset DS so just ignored it) We've just always ignored his result. I've no idea what it was.

Maths and English, are the most important GCSEs - they're what many employers insist on, so I'd get him to focus on those. However, having said all that I would encourage my DC to go in and finish the course work after exams, but if they chose not to I couldn't get worked up about it.

Sorry, I'm not sure what your point is?

so how is it going to look to have a BTEC fail on his records and in all his applications for the rest of his life?

@Nimbostratus100 we have asked the school if it's possible to have him removed from the subject, rather than receive a fail.

As someone who teaches BTEC, while I firmly disagree with students being placed on subjects they don’t want to do, the teacher emailing the night before an exam was probably feeling sick with stress, having nightmares/broken sleep and will be hauled over the coals next year because of her shit results because students chose not to do the coursework. Of course she was emailing and doing everything she could to get the work in. If a student fails it is firmly, 100%, totally put down as the teacher’s fault. I have two students who will fail this year and I am just physically nauseous about it all the time because I know what the impact on me personally will be. It’s why I’m looking for another job, the mental impact on me of students not doing work is just too large. So that’s why they chase, harass etc for missed work. The student will never be held accountable but trust me the teacher will.

that would be the best option, if it is possible

@Nimbostratus100 The BTEC will be a different certificate, surely, so no need to mention it at all on job applications.

But I agree removing from the subject would be the best option, if possible.

not all, no, but some, yes, if an application, such as UCAS want ALL qualifications taken, failed and passed, then it is fraud not to include them, and can lead to a lot of trouble if found out.
But you can choose for yourself what to put on CVs and some job applications, just not all

There are increasing numbers of external companies doing qualification verification checks - and ask if any other qualifications were taken that were not declared. So just failing and not declaring it will not work.

Stick with it. You do nit actually fail BTEC you just have not completed it. That gives you an option to complete over the summer and get the qualification late or you can get a certificate of achievement for the units you have passed.

I have made resources for students to complete outside the classroom, either online or in paper form due to various circumstances.

Just to add, if this is level 2 you can also get a level 1 pass.

@sashh thank you, that's very useful to know, the school have told us none of this.

No problem @btecdilemma1 if I can help at all let me know.

The school may say they can't do work over the summer, and that's true to a point because if he is leaving school they have no obligation to be marking work from him in September.

It also depends what resources are available tot he teacher so if I had something like Moodle I would do things like instead of asking for a poster of a eukaryotic cell (I taught health and social care) I could put a picture of a cell with a list of terms that the student could do a drag and drop on to the picture.

But not everywhere uses things like Moodle.