Y10/11 Choices (currently in Y9) - DD vs me!

[Poptions]

DD is making her choices over the next couple of weeks for GCSEs. One MAY be a BTEC though ,which is where we are having a disagreement. I have told her that ultimately it is up to her, but I am here to guide her, and as an adult feel I am looking more to the future (and giving her wider options) than her immediate plans.

DD is pretty academic and should achieve decent GCSEs if she applies herself. She currently is veering towards a creative BTEC, whilst I am pushing for a more technical/science GCSE as her final choice, which I feel will be better for her future prospects.

Having spoken with various teachers/the head, they have suggested she do the more techy GCSE, but have stressed it is more work and will require more effort. The BTEC is more fun, and DD is torn, but slightly leaning towards the BTEC.

I don't imagine the BTEC will lead to anything useful for her, career-wise, though who knows, I suppose. The GCSE will definitely be hard, but doable.

How much have you influenced your Y9s, and should I push her to do the GCSE or relent?

And do you think BTECs are still considered inferior?

Personally I never influenced any of mine. It's their life and their choice. I had my own choices at school, now it's their turn. Also, statistically kids will do much better in a subject they genuinely enjoy rather than one they may be good at but don't enjoy as much. When mine did GCSEs, the friends whose choices were dictated by their parents often resented the fact they couldn't choose their own.

Double science award is fine for all science careers (dd1 is in year 12 so we’ve been through it and she’s looking at a degree in biology at a Russell group uni).

Honestly, let her do what she’ll enjoy. Career wise, dd needs English, maths and science then other subjects are fillers. A levels is the time to focus.

Just to add, I did drama and theatre arts as an option. My dad thought I was doing geography for the first 6 months of GCSEs until I admitted to him I wasn’t.

Level 2 BTEC is the equivalent of a GCSE for university purposes so she won’t be penalised for having GCSEs and a BTEC.

Which technical/science GCSE ? If it’s Computer Science then you don’t need GCSE to do A-level and you don’t need A-level to do a degree in it. It might be worth checking if the subject you’re considering is the same.

Thanks for answers so far. I think if it was a less 'valuable' GCSE, and not especially a truly academic one, I'd be less worried, but the BTEC aspect is making me doubt how well that well set her up for A Levels and beyond.

I have said bottom line it is her choice, but with adult eyes, I feel I know more than she does about job prospects and futureproofing her earning capacity.

My dd did Combined Science for GCSE and did A-level biology. If it’s double or triple science then don’t worry.

Year 10 and 11 is tough enough without doing a subject because your mum made you.

Leave her to it, let her choose what she enjoys 🤷🏻‍♀️

Wow, good guess - yes, it is CS. And the teachers explained what you said about A levels too, though I can't imagine starting CS at A level can be easy when you are with kids who've been doing it for two years.

Totally agree, but I also feel LIFE is tough enough and if we make wise choices now, they pay off, hopefully. But that is exactly where we are torn. She's also not 100% set on the BTEC, and has been dithering for months! But deadline is looming, she's still not clear on making a decision, leans to the BTEC slightly, but is definitely taking on board the issues re career choices and earning capacity etc, which, let's face it, really matters.

How many subjects overall?
Our DD is doing a BTEC as her final option... we are happy with this as it will be a break from the more academic subjects. Its her passion subject.

I'm a chartered accountant, as are two of my college friends. We all took different routes and took different amounts of time to get there, but we all did eventually - whatever you do for GCSE it very rarely closes doors forever. And even if it does mean she can't be a doctor (for example), there will be 101 other things she can do.

I don't think doing a tricky subject she doesn't really want to do is a recipe for success. Better to get a decent BTEC than a shit GCSE.

Computer Science teachers are hard to recruit because CS is a relatively new subject (it used to be called computing I think) and people with CS knowledge earn more in the private sector. I’d be checking if the years above have had constant teachers. I know that MFL is another subject where the teacher shortages are hitting hard.

Nine.

If it were a passion subject, I might be more on board. It's just something slightly less challenging, a bit creative. I can of course see the merit in that, but I don't think she's seeing it as a helpful stepping stone to anything useful in life, but I of course may be wrong.

Thank you. I actually think she could get a good grade if she applied herself, which I think she will. I am not concerned about her getting a bad grade, but that it will be more work alongside other GCSEs than the BTEC.

Ok, thank you, this is good to know.

I thought btec was at a-level stage..?

DD is doing a BTEC as one of her options, and I was recommending it to a friend yesterday for their very academic child.

She does Creative Media Production and I have been really impressed with the course and the requirements for the compulsory units.

In terms of what she has learned and what she has had to produce it's possibly the most useful course she has done. I've looked over her essays for it (she's very dyslexic so I sense check the spell checker!) and what is expected is well beyond the level she's getting similar grades for in other subjects.

In terms of forward progression, I know of people with Oxbridge offers who have a grand total of 5 GCSEs. Most universities are interested in A levels and only take top 8 GCSE grades into account. As long as you take the subjects you need to qualify for A levels, nobody will care a jot if you have a BTEC on the list.

For a huge number of university courses, L3 BTECs are accepted in place of A levels, so your child could well end up on the same course as kids who took a different path. In some subjects, BTECs are possibly the better path.

I would say they are also more like real life in terms of project planning. Plus it's one less exam to revise for which may be of help when DC are having to focus on revision priorities. I strongly suspect it will end up being one of the most useful things she has done at school in terms of broader skills and knowledge for the future.

DH and I were both highly academic - super selective schools, Oxbridge etc and in professions where pretty much everyone else around us is too, so when I say I've been really impressed by the course, I'm coming at it from that kind of background.

CS GCSE is well known for not having a very exciting curriculum. You can do degree level CS without A-level CS (lots of maths is more important) and arguably it is a subject that is relatively easy to self-teach (at any age) with all the online courses available.

Let your DD do the subject she wants to do. They don't get that many options and all the essentials are covered with the compulsory subjects. Mine will be taking science A-levels but chose an arts GCSE subject that is a welcome change of pace in an otherwise very desk-based, academic curriculum.

There are different levels.

There's BTEC L2 which is equivalent to 1 GCSE, a L2 Extended that is equivalent to 3/4 GCSEs.

Then BTEC L3 which is equivalent to 1 A Level, and a L3 Extended that is equivalent to 3 A Levels.

You get Pass, Merit or Distinction or Distinction*. So a triple D star at BTEC L3 Extended is the same weight as three A stars at A level.

My DD has just done her choices, she had to choose 3 options one of which is triple science (ultimately her choice to do it, although she was recommended to by her teachers as she is keen to do biology A level). The other 2 choices we didn't influence her at all, she is doing history and food tech. I very much doubt the food tech will be useful for her in her future career but I'm glad she's doing one more fun subject that will have less exam pressure in year 11.

I was a bit worried that my dd wanted to do a Cambridge Level 2 in creative I-media or something. Rather than computer science which she was capable of. She excelled at it and got the highest mark possible (D2 I think?) her friends doing computer science had a bit of a nightmare with teachers leaving etc as mentioned upthread.
Dd is predicted 3 A* for a level and applying to Oxford. Got 8s and 9s in her other subjects and it doesn't seem to have made any difference to her but she did enjoy it and it enabled her to focus on her other subjects as her course was coursework heavy.

8 GCSEs and 1 BTEC is more than enough to do A levels so I would really leave her to choose the subjects she wants to do. She's more likely to do well in something she enjoys

I think you should let her pick the subject she will enjoy and give her full attention to. I regret pushing my son to pick French GCSE against his wishes. I thought it'd look good to have a language in amongst his subjects, he wanted to do PE but I wouldn't agree to it. He spent 2 years doing no work, was graded at a 1 by his French teacher in all mocks (he had been predicted a 9 for PE). A week before his exams he finally picked up a revision guide and scraped a grade 5, but he would have done so much better doing something he enjoyed. I learnt my lesson and left him to pick his own A-Level subjects!

As a teacher I would highly recommend that students have a more balanced curriculum. A mix of different learning styles. A BTEC award can be a lot of work but most of the grade will be awarded from coursework rather than exams so it's puts less pressure on the students at the end of year 11 when they could possibly have 8-10 exams each week. Additionally BTECs are equally rated by colleges. I would say let her do the creative subject if that's hat she wants to do.

Thanks so much for this lengthy response, it has given me more to think about.