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