Science BTEC compared to GCSEs - I don't believe it can be worth 4 GCSEs

[bargainmad]

My son is in year 10 and is just starting his science GCSEs (2) or so I thought he was. I phoned the school last week as he told me he has been put in a lower ability group with disruptive pupils and I wasn't happy, neither was he.

I have just received a phone call from his teacher to say she can move him but he will be in a BTEC science group where potentially he can get 4 GCSEs.

This is the same teacher who last year told me if my son didn't pull his socks up he would be doing BTEC science which, and she said this to me on the last parents evening "has the same stigma as doing CSEs in the 80's compared to doing O levels".

When I heard this I made him work his socks off for the end of year exam and he did a lot better than expected.

She denied she said this and I am absolutely fuming they are now backtracking.

In my opinion they are doing this to "cook the books" and have more children leaving the school with a higher number of GCSEs.

I have told them I want my son to do 2 straight science GCSEs.

Not a through enough preparation for A Level and is not highly regarded by unis. In my school is general only given to low ability/bad behaviour just to meet the requirement for Science in KS4.

i did GCSE science both core and additional and when i went into year 10 i was in set 1. i got into the wrong crowd and started messing about, not taking great care of my education and as a result, i got an E on my core and they moved me down to set 3 and thats when i took conscience and started working a little bit but not to my up most potential and found additional easy but i couldn't move back up to set 2 or 1 in order to get a B or A because it was near exams in year 11 so i sat the foundation paper and got a C. i got refuse for AS level biology and chemistry and my mum and i went to college asking for GCSE science so i can resit they said 'yeah, 'yeah this is the right course'. they didn tell us it was btec and i didn know nothing about because it was my first time doing btecs and now im getting distinctions but i cant do a levels biology n chemistry because not many colleges accept it, but they're still adamant that colleges will accept it and i really dont know what to do

Neither the Btec nor the applied science route equip students for traditional A level science courses. They are therefore a bad choice for any student who is not absolutly certain that they do not want to go down that road.
Not sure about the performing arts BTEC but in science it is substandard to G.C.S.e, parents may not want to accept this, but it is.
It is a travesty to be honest, as pupils who haven't a hope of getting a c at G.S.C.E science very frequently get the equivalent of a c in BTEC. This is why some schools enter so many pupils for it.
It'S NOT equivalent, teachers know it, Universities know it and the govenerment know it. It might not be what people want to hear, but it is reality.
OP your son should not be doing BTEC uf he is a grade A student. You need to challenge this.

To my annoyance The confusion between btec science worth 4 gcses isnt going away.
My daughter is a bright child, she has gained a grade c gcse in maths after taking exam early. She was entered into btec science , worth 4 gcse`s as we were told by school . She is now coming to the end of the course and is now looking at colleges/uni to further her career in a nursing field.She has been predicted the 4 grade c or above to get on her course. The college has informed me that as well as enrolling on her full time health and social course she will have to enrol in a science subject to gain a gcse ( c or above) because most universities dont accept btec science !
So annoyed ! what a waste of her time and effort.
Is this a case of the school trying to increase their pass rates at our childrens expense?
Heads are gonna roll !

As a Head of VI Form, I can tell you that the college is talking bull.

I have had students this year and last (wasn't Head of VI before then) get to uni to take nursing and other related degrees with BTECs at both KS2 and KS3. If you go to the UCAS site and do Course Search (on the left) you can see exactly what universities do and don't accept - choose your subject, and it will give you a list of all related courses at all universities - you can then select Course Requirements, and it will give you the specific info. SOME might not accept BTEC, but certainly not MOST.

IME, the most important thing for any student applying for nursing (or related) at university is experience. One of my Yr 13s has had two of her applications for paramedic science courses rejected because her application did not clearly demonstrate a good understanding of the profession compared to other candidates. In contrast, one student who successfully applied for nursing last year had been working in an old people's home for a year or so, and had done work experience in a hospital. She was taking BTEC Health and Social (double) and BTEC Performing Arts at VI Form, incidentally.

If your DD can get some experience - even if it's voluntary, in the field that she wants to study, then that will help. If I were you, I'd check the UCAS details for the courses she wants to take, then take that evidence to the college to prove that she doesn't need to take GCSE Science.

Thanks eviltwins for your reassuring imput.I am looking forward to going to the college with the evidence, i just wished the college was as knowledgeable as yourself. Thanks too for the advice on gaining experience.

If he was told to pull his socks up then he is not a straight A student, he has been put in a group you are not happy with.

You really have been given a choice her - 2 GCSEs in a group you don't like or BTEC (probably level 2) which is equivelant to 4 GCSEs.

If he wants to do sciences at A Level then he not only needs GCSES but be passing with a minimum of a B, and in 'propper' science not applied science GCSE.

Even with a B grade GCSE he would still struggle at A Level.

This is for SScience, I am a big advocate of BTEC (you can go through levels from level 1 to HND), but not for science.

If he absoloutly will not be doing A Level science then put him in the group he will be happier in.

Hi, im a b-tec student in year 11 and I'm nearly finished my b-tec course. If I finish with a distinction thats equivalent to a A* ( so thats equivalent as 2 GCSEs). On the other hand b-tec is for those who can't do exams not for those who are dumb, just to make things clear. No one has the right to say that B-tec is for dumb people.

Enough said Lilsop.

Sashh - the ds in the OP will now be in the 6th form, or will have left school - it's from Sept 09
It seems this thread was revived in 2011, and now again this week.