Music BTEC

[IrisVonEverec]

My dc will be choosing their GCSE options this year. They play two instruments at grade 4 and has always wanted to take music at GCSE.

However, their school now only offer a music BTEC instead of a GCSE.

What are people's thoughts/experiences of this qualification? Is it a true equivalent to GCSE or is it considered easier/not as good (sorry to be blunt but I don't want them to waste an option when they could get an extra GCSE instead in a different subject and continue with their ABRSM exams outside of school).

Hmmm I only have DD to go on here but she says if you know music theory etc you should do GCSE. BTEC acc her is for ppl who don’t really play/sing but don’t have lessons.

BUT both were offered at her school, unlike yours, and the serious musicians did GCSE while those who just fancied it but knew nothing about music theory did BTEC. She says the only true musician on the BTEC course was someone who played drums!

Sorry, all a bit snobbish. Not meant to be - I am sure BTEC music is a valid qualification. But i would look carefully at the course requirements to see if it is what your DC want. If not, equally valid to do grades and music theory through their usual outlet and a perfect prep for A level if wanted, as I understand it.

@malbecfan is a music teacher I think so may have more direct intel.

Thanks for tagging me @clary . I have a friend & colleague whose DS was offered GCSE but the school then changed to some other Performing Arts qualification which she is livid about. He is doing the GCSE online with Cambridge Home Schooling alongside the PA one. I think he's doing it just in y11.

@IrisVonEverec I agree with you about how BTEC is perceived. In fact, I thought the qualification was being discontinued, but I might have dreamt that as my school is quite academic so we only deliver GCSE and A level, so I'm not 100% certain. Your DD has a couple of options:

1. Do the BTEC for "fun" but keep up the ABRSM grades in practical and Theory.
2. Investigate the online course I mentioned, then do alongside or instead of the BTEC.
3. Choose another GCSE option and stick to practical/Theory grades in Music.

I'm happy to help over PM if you like.

@clary thank you for the reply. The lack of musicianship on the BTEC is a major part of what concerns me. My dc won't enjoy the subject if everyone else in the class isn't as invested as they are. I know that when the school used to offer the GCSE (when we chose the school when dc was in year 6) they wanted students to be at grade 5 or working towards in at least one instrument, but since they have now moved to the BTEC there don't appear to be any entry requirements at all.

And they don't offer music at A-level anymore either so dc would need to move if they want to pursue it in sixth form.

@Malbecfan thank you too for your reply. We have a parents evening for options choices coming up so I can ask the teachers more questions then. My dc does still want to do music, but I think partly feels that they will be betraying the teachers in some way if they don't choose to continue - the music department is in some trouble with recruiting student numbers from the looks of it, which may be why they have "downgraded" to the BTEC. Not helpful for the handful of students that do want to study it properly though.

I will look into the online qualification too, so thanks again.

I have a DD who is doing Music GCSE and a BTEC in Creative Media Production. She's very serious about a career in music. Doesn't do exams, but was G8 in first study at 12, is around G6 in two other instruments and also studies composition outside school.

My advice will come down to why he is wanting to do music and if he intends to study it beyond GCSE level.

If the answer to that is yes, then I would probably try and find another way to take the GCSE. The Performance part can be done via ABRSM exams, and the analytical part can be done via Music Theory exams, but the composition side would be very hard to recreate - learning to use DAWs etc can be done at home, but would need a fairly significant outlay and the child being techy enough to teach themselves.

Check what the BTEC actually entails - if it is focused on the composition side and the school has decent tech available then it would probably be worth doing as you can so easily tackle the theory/performance elsewhere.

I've been very impressed with the BTEC that DD is doing - she's high ability but with significant SEN and so having one subject that plays to her strengths, interests her and has no exams is ideal, plus it covers all kinds of topics that are useful to her future plans. It's also one less subject to have to focus on in the revision schedule. She's predicted 8/9s for other subjects so not a kid that school are suggesting take easy options.

If your DS doesn't want to study music beyond GCSE then maybe just do another option depending on future plans.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow your analysis of the requirements of the GCSE is at best simplistic. The performance cannot simply be covered by ABRSM exams - how can a student produce an ensemble performance based solely on ABRSM work? Performances have to be recorded in the school year of submission in the presence of the teacher/examiner. ABRSM exams do not count. Theory on its own does not cover the listening/appraising exam. How does grade 5 Theory of Music equip you to discuss the chord progression in a specific set work that you need to learn?

Equally DAWs do not need a significant outlay and there is no necessity to use one at all. BandLab is free to use; the education version is acceptable to many schools in terms of safeguarding. However, most of my students do not use it as it is a challenge to produce a written score, something that examiners like to see. Most of my students use MuseScore, again a free program rather like Sibelius. Students who have access to Macs can use GarageBand which will produce a score. The composing part is something that lots of students do in their own time - many of them write songs at home, so it is far from hard to create as you state. You do not say which exam syllabus your DC is studying for GCSE but it would be worth checking it carefully as a lot of what you wrote is simply not the case.

I wasn't suggesting that they could 'do the exam' on their own outside school.

It's entirely dependent on what the DC wants to do music for. If it's just a fun option with no interest in taking it on to further study or a career then ABRSM exams plus participating in ensembles/orchestras/bands etc is probably going to be fine in terms of doing music for general enjoyment (and would cover both the solo and ensemble parts of the exam). Most of the theory would be covered by G5 ABRSM too.

So, it depends what is in the BTEC syllabus as to whether it would work for the DC or not.

If you are planning to go on to do A level music then yep, the appraising part would be very useful. If you are planning to do a L3 BTEC then not so much. And if you are just considering doing music as a fun GCSE option then knowing how to discuss 8 set pieces in detail is about the same level of usefulness as an detailed knowledge of the set poetry for English lit... nice to know as an addition to general knowledge but not fundamental to enjoying music.

Yikes. Any student who is using freebie software is being let down by their school in my opinion. Industry standard DAWs like Ableton or Logic Pro would be far more sensible - I can't think of any higher level music colleges that don't use those. DD has been using Logic Pro for 3.5 years both in and out of school.

Don't worry, I know exactly what the requirements are for the syllabus DD is following - although I leave that side of things to school.

Ah just realised my wording was odd..

When I say "If the answer to that is yes, then I would probably try and find another way to take the GCSE."

As in see if you could do it at a local college or other alternative. Not in that you could use the ABRSM exams as a part of it.

That is more meant that by doing the exams, the DC is still playing music. A bit like not doing GCSE Art doesn't mean that you never draw or paint again.

Quote: "Yikes. Any student who is using freebie software is being let down by their school in my opinion. Industry standard DAWs like Ableton or Logic Pro would be far more sensible - I can't think of any higher level music colleges that don't use those. DD has been using Logic Pro for 3.5 years both in and out of school."

This is ridiculous. You clearly have no idea about how state schools function in terms of their budgets. We simply cannot afford to fund these, and in any case they are not necessary for either GCSE or A level. My students are far from being "let down by their school" simply because they are using "freebie software". Better "freebie software" with outstanding teaching than Logic Pro or Ableton (which gets mixed reviews) and ineptitude. High level music colleges may well use these packages but I thought we were discussing secondary education.

You have clearly demonstrated that you do not know the requirements for the GCSE syllabus as there is no scope for ensemble performing within ABRSM specifications that also fulfils GSCE specifications. Grade 5 Theory covers different areas than those in the listening/appraising exam - in grade 5 Theory, you do not need to listen to anything or identify anything by ear.

At the end of the day I have been teaching GCSE and A level Music very successfully for decades. The OP can decide which information to use - that of someone whose DC is enrolled on a BTEC, or someone with 30 years' experience. I was trying to put across specifics in case other parents come across this thread later on. I'm out.

And you haven't actually read what I wrote. I specifically said that if the DC wanted to do music seriously then they needed to find a way to do the GCSE. If they are just wanting to do music for fun then they can get many of the same skills you would get in the solo and ensemble performance parts by doing ABRSM (solo) and playing in groups and orchestras (ensemble). The ABRSM theory will give them a decent amount of the theory. Appraising etc is where there is a problem.

And some state schools DO manage to supply their students with industry standard software. Which means they're not miles behind when they go on to higher level music courses (explains a lot about why DD was so far ahead of all the other students on a recent course despite being 3 years younger than the other students and the only one who hadn't yet done the GCSE).

In 2022 my DD did a RSL Music Practitioners. Appreciate this is not what you are talking about but when I asked about GCSE music, her teacher said we would not have enough people with the ability to read music to offer that. Maybe this is why the BTEC is offered in your school to