DD wants to take a vocational course at the college instead of studying A levels at sixth form

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I am not sure what I think.

I obviously would much prefer her to take A levels - she has a place at 6th form to take Geography, Biology and History. She is predicted decent grades at GCSE - all A-C (mostly B and C).

She is dyslexic and has an additional 25% time on all her exams. However, she gets terribly stressed at exam time, frets, runs out of time, generally panics, and this has affected her module results.

She has applied for (and been accepted on) 2 vocational courses at 2 different tertiary colleges. They were a fallback option originally, as the idea has always been for her to stay on at 6th form and take A levels, however more and more she wants to do the BTEC course. It is in something she is interested in and wants to pursue as a career, and there is also the added bonus that it is an exam free environment. She wants to either join the armed forces or join the police when she leaves education (she is not 100% sure she wants to go to university).

I can't help feeling a bit despondent at the thought of her doing a BTEC as opposed to A levels, in my mind (and surely others if I think it) it is not as good an option, and lots of doors will close to her. But then again am I being old fashioned? I just don't want her to waste years of her life on pointless qualifications. I said that she could do A levels, and then do the BTEC afterwards if she liked, but she is very frightened at how much harder A levels will be after she has struggled at GCSE (she has plently of friends who are a couple of years older, who have said that the workload and pressure is very much harder at A level).

I am not sure what to do - I am inclined to persuade her to do A levels, but what if she hates it? Then again, if I encourage her to do the BTEC and it is a waste of time, what then?

Is anyone else going throguh the same?

Thanks

Not going through quite the same, but ds is finding two of his A level choices massively hard, after always getting A/A* in them at GCSEs.

If your dd is likely to go in the Army, she could do NVQs and, I think, BTecs through the Army,but I appreciate you may not want her to enlist until after she's 18.

Certainly if she chooses hard A levels she will probably find them a lot tougher than GCSEs.

Let her do the BTEC. A Levels are a big step up from GSCE, and with Bs and Cs at GCSE her A Level grades are likely to be Cs at best, unless she seriously steps up a gear, probably Ds given her difficulty with exams.

And being brutally honest 3 Ds isn't going to get her onto a decent degree course, but will get her a second rate degree and £50k in debt!

BTECs can be used for university entance by the way, but not the 'top' universities. And don't fiorget she can always study as a mature student. No door is ever closed at 18.

Yes it is silly for me to say that doors will be closed at 18 - I got my degrees when i was in my 20s after all.

But it is a lot harder that way, certainly.

I don't think she will go to university - she has no real desire to and wants to either join the armed forces or become a copper when she is 18 (if she gets a place of course).

BTECs and FE colleges can be great - A levels are by no means for everyone - my BIL really regrets doing them for instance
What is the BTEC in - what are the colleges like - have you visited, ofsted etc?

Have you checked the Army/Police view on these as qualifications? I presume its Public Services?

If they allow for slightly higher entry than entering with no qualifications, it may well be worth it. But if they don't give you any benefits once recruited, you may want to consider how worth it it will be, IYSWIM.

I did 4 years of BTEC (ONC, HNC), part time whist working when I was 16.
Then at 20 I went to uni.
Have now changed careers completely, but thats beside the point.

Nothing wrong with BTECS - go for it. You learn more from 'doing' things anyway.

I agree that A levels aren't for everyone and good grades on a vocational course will be better than a bunch of Ds and Es at A level. A levels are tough and if her heart really isn't in it she won't reach her full potential.

I would ask her to speak with Army/Police recruiting as when I looked into joining the Navy they said you needed at least A levels to have the chance of becoming an officer - there was a definite glass ceiling linked to qualifications. It may be that it doesn't depend on grades (so Cs at A level would be fine) just that you need the paperwork.

A levels are a lot harder than GCSEs. Has she had her exam provision reviewed recently? Could she be placed in an individual room with light/fresh air or something to help with the anxiety? I invigilate for students who have been moved into smaller rooms/big windows to help with severe performance-affecting stress.

From what I understand here, if she wanted to be an officer she would need at least 2 A Levels at Grade E or above.

if you think she is just scared of the exams and the stress but would enjoy the content then I think it a pity for her to do the BTECs. There are probably things that she could do to help her deal with the stress (CBT etc).

Thanks everyone.

Yes - they have recently reviewed where she takes her exams, she now does it in the learning support area rather than in a great exam hall. It has made things better, but she still frets terribly. She is normally a stoic and no-nonsense and confident girl, but not at exams. It is her weak spot.

She doesn't want to go in as officer entry straight off - has spoken to loads of people (she goes to cadets) and would prefer going in as a troop and then if she has potential to gain a commission a few years down the line. That said, I think at the moment she prefers the idea of being in the police.

What you are saying is very right - what good would a clutch of Cs and Ds at A level be? She may as well get a good result from a BTEC.

She has had CBT and help for the past 2 years to help her combat the stress - it hasn't really made a difference. But yes that is what I think - she loves History and Geography in particular, and has really enjoyed the GCSE syllabus. I find it very frustrating and don't know why she gets to sressed when she is perfectly capable of doing the work.

She should absolutely do what she wants to do. A levels are so much harder (going through it with ds2 at the mo). If she's interested, she'll do well at BTEC.

Ds1 was in both the army cadets and police cadets. (He's at a top uni now but still would love to be in the police one day). Just a word of warning about the police. Depending on where you live, there is a massive recruitment freeze, probably for the next 4-5 years. If she is really serious she should try to sign up as a "special" (unpaid full-on police officer, once she's 18). My ds1 was told at cadets last year that unless you have trained as a special, you stand little chance of getting in once recruitment freezes have been lifted.

My sister started 6th form, found it wasn't for her and dropped out.

Then did a National Diploma (not sure if this is a BTEC?) and on the back of that went to university.

She's about to graduate with an honours degree in Business. So a vocational qualification instead of A Levels has done her no harm at all.

but the thing is that it is not clear that she would find the BTEC any less stressful, it will not be the course that is too hard but the exams

Thanks berni - yes, I don't think the police are going to recruit in great numbers for years. She has contacted the local constabulary and asked if she can get involved in anything, however they have told her that there is nothing she can get involved in (no police cadets round here) and they strongly encourage her to become a special when she is old enough, so she plans to do that. I have suggested that if she wants to join the forces how about joining the military police, but she then looks at me as if I have suggested something completely obscene

Thanks everyone.

BTECs are great for those who panic at exams...
I have two DDs who have gone down the trad A levels route and DS1 who went Btec route. My girls are fairly level headed with exams but the stress was/is (one is A2 now, one at Uni) AWFUL... the jump from GCSE is massive.. my girls were both all A/A* at GCSE and they found it tough..

My DS on the other hand is capable but has always hated exams.. so did a 2 year extended Btec..and passed with higher grades than he did GCSEs as the course suited his learning style better.plus NO exams. Both give access to uni should your DD later decide she might like to go!

I would honestly say that if she is predicted mostly B/C at GCSEs..especially in her chosen potential A level subjects, she will find A levels very tough as GCSE doesn't prepare students for the jump.. and of those subjects (she will be expected to start with 4 A levels btw and drop one after AS) Biology is a BITCH.. both of my girls took it and I'm currently paying for my A* GCSE bio DD to have private tuition as she needs a v high grade and is finding it hard.. the sheer volume of work is vile.

Can she discuss it with her teachers and get an honest opinion? In the end SHE needs to make the decision for herself.

The risk, if you twist her arm, may be that she will start A levels and quit. That's what I did many years ago. I wanted to do a vocational course but parents and teachers persuaded me to do A levels because I was academically able. I hated it and left after one term and got a job. Easy to do that in the 1970s, much regretted since.

Is it the BTEC National in Public Services?

Lots of students in my FE college wanting to join the police force or armed services do this course. Its actually quite interesting with units in Law, Security, Health & Fitness amongst others.

Lots of people go onto uni with a BTEC. They are included in the UCAS tariff table as being an acceptible qualification. If she wants to go to Sandhurst does it matter if its via the A level route or a BTEC or are you worried she might change her mind?

We're one year off this, but I would say her choices of History, Geography and Biology are pretty full on. Is there anyway she could continue with the A levels but combine one or two of those with something that is more coursework intense or more vocational? Just looking around the options near us, some colleges have such a wide choice compared to others. My dd sounds similar to yours and we are looking closely at which A's she might take..

My friend's DS is doing a BTEC in uniformed services and should get 3 distinctions. It is by no means a full time course so there would be time to do an AS or similar but Colleges don't often let you do another course. So you end up with a full time course but with part time hours. So do check with the local college.

DS1 got all As and A*s at GCSE and has found that A levels are a big jump up. In your position I'd let her do the BTECs.

WRT to the Armed Forces/Police thing, she could join the RAF as a RAF police. I am not sure what recruiment is like for them at the moment, but it is an option.

I did fairly well at GCSE (Bs and Cs) and went on to 6th form because that was what was expected. I had no intention of going to uni as I knew it wasn't for me. I lasted about 8 weeks at 6th form before I stopped going. I wish now I had gone and done something vocational. In the end I got an apprenticeship and studied AAT so I've not done too bad for myself but I still regret not doing something that I really wanted to.

Yes it is the BTEC extended dipolma in public services.

She will attend for 3.5 full days according to the chap who interviewed her , and she intends to volunteer for her full day off (she has contacts in the local special needs school so wants to go there).

I didn't know that they did raf police - I will mention that to her.

Yes I know that the a levels she has applied for are pretty hard going. The last thing I want is for her to give up after 8 weeks, and then be buggered for the rest of the year as it may be too late to get on a course.

Just a thought - at our FE college there is a 6 week settling in period for all students starting new courses and at that point everyone is re-assessed to see if they are on the right course and if not, they swap.

If the place which does the BTEC PS also does A levels, your dd could consider starting off her A levels there and if it proves too much she could swap to the BTEC at the 6 week review. There is always movement across courses and some also move up to a higher level and others down to a lower level so plenty of people are on catch up for the second half of the Autumn term and as has already been said, its not really full time so if she put her mind to it, your dd could catch up without too much difficulty.

I suggest you contact the college concerned and see how they operate