The Student Room Group

What is a distinction in a BTEC the equivalent of?

An A or A* at GCSE? Despite having done my GCSE's last year I still don't know :p:

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worth 3 a-levels.
not gcses.
Reply 2
BTEC level two I'm referring to.
Reply 3
Gawd knows. It's as respected as ****-roll I think though.
Reply 4
That's promising. My damned school forced them upon us!
Adam92
An A or A* at GCSE? Despite having done my GCSE's last year I still don't know :p:



Our teachers last year told us it's pretty much equivalent to an A grade.
Reply 6
its an A, distinction star is A*, merit is B pass is C
Reply 7
Level 3s are respected by most universities, but I don't know if level 2s are any good or what they're equivalent to.
Reply 8
Distinction star? I didn't know it went that far. Ah well, thanks for that everyone :smile:
Reply 9
Don't mean to worry you, but if you were thinking about top unis, they won't acknowledge it. There are some schools who mislead pupils on how useful it is as a qualification because it pushes their rankings up.
Reply 10
paddyman4
Don't mean to worry you, but if you were thinking about top unis, they won't acknowledge it. There are some schools who mislead pupils on how useful it is as a qualification because it pushes their rankings up.


Not at all? Our school made it compulsory to complete the ICT BTEC (worth 3 GCSE's) because too many pupils weren't leaving with 5 A*-C's. And unfortunately because we completed the business studies GCSE in year 10, we had to do the double-award BTEC in year 11.
Reply 11
Adam92
Distinction star? I didn't know it went that far. Ah well, thanks for that everyone :smile:


yeeh one of my freinds got it in one of their modules, albeit for public services :yep:
Adam92
Not at all? Our school made it compulsory to complete the ICT BTEC (worth 3 GCSE's) because too many pupils weren't leaving with 5 A*-C's. And unfortunately because we completed the business studies GCSE in year 10, we had to do the double-award BTEC in year 11.



If you're doing BTECs as equivalent to GCSEs I imagine it won't matter so much. I thought you were talking about A-Levels. I would just make sure you do 3 A-Levels when the time comes and don't let anyone tell you a BTEC is as good.

I don't really know that much about BTECs but I know a girl who was told by Oxford that they don't acknowledge BTECs (she had done one instead of an A-Level); and she had no idea about this having been completely misled by her teachers.

See you're school has got people on BTECs because they are easier for them to teach and to get pass rates up; the Government sees them as equivalent to however many GCSEs or A-Levels, so the school's ranking goes up and they get more money. It's awful, and whatever the Government tells your school that BTECs are worth, all that matters is what unis think.

I would email some unis of whatever standard you'll be aiming at and ask them what they think of BTECs. But at GCSE level, you're probably fine so sorry to have worried you. I thought you were talking about doing BTECs instead of A-Levels.
Reply 13
paddyman4
If you're doing BTECs as equivalent to GCSEs I imagine it won't matter so much. I thought you were talking about A-Levels. I would just make sure you do 3 A-Levels when the time comes and don't let anyone tell you a BTEC is as good.

I don't really know that much about BTECs but I know a girl who was told by Oxford that they don't acknowledge BTECs (she had done one instead of an A-Level); and she had no idea about this having been completely misled by her teachers.

See you're school has got people on BTECs because they are easier for them to teach and to get pass rates up; the Government sees them as equivalent to however many GCSEs or A-Levels, so the school's ranking goes up and they get more money. It's awful, and whatever the Government tells your school that BTECs are worth, all that matters is what unis think.

I would email some unis of whatever standard you'll be aiming at and ask them what they think of BTECs. But at GCSE level, you're probably fine so sorry to have worried you. I thought you were talking about doing BTECs instead of A-Levels.


Haha, that's a relief. I'm already doing my a-levels btw, I would never of dreamed of taking a BTEC optionally.

My school was really bad in terms of pass rates and stuff. 19% with 5 passes or something along them lines. They was so desperate not to get in special measures :rolleyes:
Reply 14
BTEC First Award - 1 A
BTEC First Certificate - 2 As
BTEC First Diploma - 4 As
I think the reason top unis don't like BTECs much is because they tend to be focussed on one subject. Manchester for example would only offer me foundation year entry because my BTEC didn't include the required Maths to get on the course I wanted. However if you do a BTEC + a relevant A level giving you the equivalent of four A levels very few universities are going to ignore you if you get DDDA. Oxbridge is probably difference since they represent the best of the best but not everyone is aiming quite so high.

But yes, as someone said already, definitely check with admissions tutors and websites before considering a level 3 BTEC as a route into uni. A levels are always the better option but they're not suited to everyones tastes and you should study something you'll enjoy.
Reply 16
Thanks for the advice, but can no-one read? I did my GCSE's last year, I'm already doing 5 proper a-levels, lol.
Reply 17
I'm doing it aswell .....and it's equivalent to 2 A's :smile:
Reply 18
paddyman4
If you're doing BTECs as equivalent to GCSEs I imagine it won't matter so much. I thought you were talking about A-Levels. I would just make sure you do 3 A-Levels when the time comes and don't let anyone tell you a BTEC is as good.

I don't really know that much about BTECs but I know a girl who was told by Oxford that they don't acknowledge BTECs (she had done one instead of an A-Level); and she had no idea about this having been completely misled by her teachers.

See you're school has got people on BTECs because they are easier for them to teach and to get pass rates up; the Government sees them as equivalent to however many GCSEs or A-Levels, so the school's ranking goes up and they get more money. It's awful, and whatever the Government tells your school that BTECs are worth, all that matters is what unis think.

I would email some unis of whatever standard you'll be aiming at and ask them what they think of BTECs. But at GCSE level, you're probably fine so sorry to have worried you. I thought you were talking about doing BTECs instead of A-Levels.


If you don't know much about BTECs then perhaps you shouldn't advise others on whether they should take it...

Oxford do acknowledge BTECs, they just won't accept a student unless they have combined a BTEC ND with at least 2 a-levels. The same goes for Cambridge, Imperial and LSE. The other unis in the top 7 also generally require them to be combined with A-Levels but it's not a definitive rule and BTEC students have been known to get into Warwick and such with just a BTEC.

All other unis accept BTEC as a standalone qualification. This goes for Durham, UCL, King's College and the rest of them.

Now, I've done A-levels and a BTEC (I dropped A-levels and decided to do a BTEC when I realised what career I wanted). I'd say that if you know exactly what you want to do for a career, take a BTEC. It's an easier route to 360 UCAS points and it gives you more vocational training for your desired career. The only downside is that you can only do a degree that is related to your course.

I realised I wanted to be an accountant last year, so I dropped out of sixth form and took on a finance BTEC. I achieved a DDD this year without really putting much in (it's a fairly simple course). I've been in contact with Durham admissions and they informed me that their general BTEC requirement is DDM, so I'm likely to receive an offer. I got the same news from Exter, Loughborough, City and Bath.
Reply 19
Im looking to do an A Level equivalent BTEC textiles course, which is a double subject in my school, along with 2 A levels and an As, but im probably not going to do art at uni.
Would the BTEC still count as two A levels that top universities would accept seen as though its not relevent to the course i would take? :s Im not sure whether to take it or not!

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