What do you think of adding exams to btec courses?

One of my teachers said that they are adding exams to BTEC courses next year, which means that not everything is going to be just coursework based... What do you think of this?

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Reply 1

DiddyDec01

Terrible idea. There should be a course that is an alternative to exams because exams don't work for everyone and are completely arbitrary measures.

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Reply 2

jackcarty_

i do btec music technology, and have been told that i have an exam tomorrow, but everywhere ive looked it says that at btec you dont do exams and its all coursework?

Reply 3

iram_b

I think it's a good idea, although I don't do btec but it's good to have experience of both fields; coursework and exam and exam is just a set of questions whereas coursework tends to drag a bit.

Reply 4

Rhythmical

Original post by loveleest

One of my teachers said that they are adding exams to BTEC courses next year, which means that not everything is going to be just coursework based... What do you think of this?

Defeats the purpose of a BTEC really. I remember doing my GCSEs two years ago and I did an exam in my BTEC Media course as well as doing one for GCSE Media and honestly I didn't get why the BTEC included an exam. Honestly people go to do BTECs because they hate or struggle with exams and this could lead in a decline of students enrolling for universities and sixth form.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

1secondsofvamps

Tbh I don't think it's that bad. I mean there's exams in level 2 BTEC so I don't see the issue with having it in level 3 as well. I do the level 3 extended diploma in health and social care and my class got told we're quite lucky not to have any exams as we're on the old spec.
There's 18 units and only 2-4 of them has exams. Even if you don't do well on the exams there are still coursework to back you up.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 6

jawsontheflooor

Isn't that the whole point of btecs, that they're not exam based? what would be the appeal of them anymore

Reply 7

loveleest

Original post by jackcarty_

i do btec music technology, and have been told that i have an exam tomorrow, but everywhere ive looked it says that at btec you dont do exams and its all coursework?

It depends on the exam board I think.

Reply 8

blogbyreviews

Adding exams to BTEC course is not a bad idea as it prepares students who would later on want to go to university and most universities are a mix of independent work, exams and coursework so it helps students to learn effectively. However, the whole point of BTEC was that they are supposed to only be coursework based, helping people who struggle with exams or people who hate exams, giving them an alternative to be able to succeed and go into further education. I have been told that these exams that are going to be added in or are already added in are not too difficult and the courses will still be mostly coursework based so I'm not really sure of whether it's a good idea or not.

Reply 9

Brandon.1219

Original post by loveleest

One of my teachers said that they are adding exams to BTEC courses next year, which means that not everything is going to be just coursework based... What do you think of this?

Thats true, I'm studying BTEC Finance and already had an exam this year

Reply 10

Binary Freak

Depends on the course. For some courses an exam would help reinforce the knowledge, and the framework would be better standardized if the exams are consistent through all institutions, and invigilated like with GCSE/A-levels.

Personally, I think there's other areas they should be focussing on before adding exams.

Reply 11

smgrande

Instead of that, people should have the choice to do BTEC with maybe 1 or 2 A-levels so it look good for uni.

Reply 12

horanator

Original post by loveleest

One of my teachers said that they are adding exams to BTEC courses next year, which means that not everything is going to be just coursework based... What do you think of this?

I'm a Level 3 BTEC Health and Social Care student and they are planning to put exams into my course in 2 years. With my course, I find that it's going to be a lot more difficult since it is no longer course-work based and based on the amount of work I'm having to do for the course right now, there is no doubt it is going to be hard for the year group who end up doing exams. It also means that they'll have to make sure they focus on the other subjects that come along with health and social such as psychology, sociology, physical and mental health etc. that you need to learn for the course. On top of that, it can put a lot of stress on people especially if taking A-Levels or other courses that involve exams, and the placement hours that are needed to pass Health and Social Care in the first place.

In general, I think it could be difficult especially studying subjects with more than one exam or are just quite hard. Exams can be difficult for people too and put people under pressure too. I'm just lucky I'm still on the coursework based unit.

Reply 13

horanator

Original post by Rhythmical

Defeats the purpose of a BTEC really. I remember doing my GCSEs two years ago and I did an exam in my BTEC Media course as well as doing one for GCSE Media and honestly I didn't get why the BTEC included an exam. Honestly people go to do BTECs because they hate or struggle with coursework and this could lead in a decline of students enrolling for universities and sixth form.

Although I get where your coming from, I'm not sure if it would always be a bad thing to have exams. I understand that examscan be hard and put pressure on people etc. but in some sense many people complain how BTECS aren't as superior as A-Levels because they're purely coursework and that makes it easy (despite that isn't necessarily true) - but that could mean that BTECS can be seen more equal to A-Levels, essentially making it easier to get into university since the value of the qualification would be much more noticed. I'm not too sure on BTECS being just for students who hate or struggle with coursework either.... I'm a BTEC student but didn't really choose it because I hate or struggle with it... Some courses just only come along with a BTEC qualification. I'm studying health and social and the only way for me to go into the field of career I want is to study a btec as there is no other course for me to do it in.

Reply 14

Killerpenguin15

It would obviously defeat the object of btecs in the first place... to have 100% coursework.

Might as well take the better structured A levels if that would be the case then.

Reply 15

horanator

Original post by smgrande

Instead of that, people should have the choice to do BTEC with maybe 1 or 2 A-levels so it look good for uni.

I do believe that is already an option. At my sixthform you are allowed minimum 3 but most 4, sometimes 5 if you can handle the work load A-Levels. My health and social course is the equivalent of 2 a-levels and I chose A-Level photography (which I changed to AS half way through the year), so it is alreadypossible to do both a BTEC and a-level. Most places do require it to allow them to have funding(unless you don't have a BTEC in which you choose all A-Level or other qualification) as to enrol and get funding you need to do a specific amount of hours within the college or amount of courses.

Reply 16

ATW1

Original post by DiddyDec

Terrible idea. There should be a course that is an alternative to exams because exams don't work for everyone and are completely arbitrary measures.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Translation: Some people are thick so let's make them look less thick by enrolling them on a course where they aren't required to demonstrate any knowledge.

Reply 17

Rhythmical

Original post by horanator

Maybe yeah, but I guess then BTECs lose their identity and become something they never wanted to be. What field of career do you want to go into?

Reply 18

hellodave5

Nah leave exams out. Exams tend to be put to one side for coursework at university anyway. Why the fixation on exams?

Reply 19

horanator

Original post by Rhythmical

Maybe yeah, but I guess then BTECs lose their identity and become something they never wanted to be. What field of career do you want to go into?

That is very much true. There's it's positives and negatives. I've gone through many fields haha, I did want to be a photographer at one point (studied AS photography too), then I wanted to be a nurse for adults or mental health, then a carer, then a midwife, and currently I've stuck with the idea of wanting to be a SENCO or teacher for SEND :-) what about you?