[FinalMH]

(Original post by ryansboro)
Maybe my opinion will change. That's true.

The GCSEs I have achieved are respectable. Not straight As, no...

omg grow up. You're not at university so how do you even have opinion.....

[ryansboro]

(Original post by FinalMH)
omg grow up. You're not at university so how do you even have opinion.....

Someone needs to calm down. I was agreeing with you that my opinion will/may change if i'm at University. Chill.

[cl_steele]

it depends what BTEC you do ... some are harder than alevels and very respected and some well theyre not ... and contrary to what some others have said on this people can do and have got into top tier unis on BTEC qualifications ... just make sre its not something like beauty therapy or the like

[internetguru]

If you are aiming to go to maybe a top 20 university like Birmingham or Nottingham then BTEC is probably the easiest route in. If you are a person that thinks they are good enough for Oxford etc then obviously you won't even consider a BTEC. Hardly anybody gets into Oxford/Cambridge anyway I remember when I did A levels nobody in my year got into Oxford/Cambridge.

[FinalMH]

(Original post by cl_steele)
it depends what BTEC you do ... some are harder than alevels and very respected and some well theyre not ... and contrary to what some others have said on this people can do and have got into top tier unis on BTEC qualifications ... just make sre its not something like beauty therapy or the like

I doubt that.

[cl_steele]

(Original post by FinalMH)
I doubt that.

Remember i didnt speciy which A-levels or BTECS. I get the feeling a BTEC in Engineering or something similar will be a lot harder than an A-Level in Critical thinking or general Studies...

[FinalMH]

(Original post by cl_steele)
Remember i didnt speciy which A-levels or BTECS. I get the feeling a BTEC in Engineering or something similar will be a lot harder than an A-Level in Critical thinking or general Studies...

haha fair enough.

[littleone271]

(Original post by FinalMH)
I doubt that.

You have to be far more independent in BTECs than you do A-levels and I'd say that's a pretty important thing to learn before uni. On my course I got the chance to develop my own idea into my own scientific investigation and learn new skills in order to carry it out and analyse my results. I had to come into college in my own time to do that.

Also you're assuming that BTEC students are only expected to learn the bare minimum to meet the criteria. That may be true for some institutions but certainly not all of them and definitely not the one I study at. For a lot of my units I'm expected to cover a lot of A-level standard stuff and produce really good work for each assignment despite the fact that I have 18 full units. For instance my 2 physiology units combined probably contains more content (at the same level of detail) than an AS in human biology because of what's expected by my lecturer.

[a.partridge]

the only person I know doing a btech was the most outrageous melt at my school who only got 1 E at A/s level so moved onto Btech and is now getting a really high grade despite still being a total utter melt.

[a.partridge]

How does an 'engineering' btech even work btw? surely you can't do any meaningful engineering when you still don't know anything about maths or physics.

[nickbob00]

In general, A levels are the best qualification if you want to go to a top uni for an academic subject. While it is possible to go to a good uni for most subjects with BTECs, A levels are the more common route and seen as harder (regardless of whether they are). BTECs are supposedly more vocational, so better if you want to go straight into work at 18.

[Leo*]

(Original post by a.partridge)
How does an 'engineering' btech even work btw? surely you can't do any meaningful engineering when you still don't know anything about maths or physics.

An Engineering BTEC is split in to 18 modules, including the likes of Maths, further Maths, Mechanical principles and electrical principles etc.. (depending on the engineering type you choose)

Essentially those studying BTEC Engineering are taught modules similar to those they will be taught in uni, although not in as much depth of course, as opposed to just core physics and maths.

[FinalMH]

(Original post by littleone271)
You have to be far more independent in BTECs than you do A-levels and I'd say that's a pretty important thing to learn before uni. On my course I got the chance to develop my own idea into my own scientific investigation and learn new skills in order to carry it out and analyse my results. I had to come into college in my own time to do that.

Also you're assuming that BTEC students are only expected to learn the bare minimum to meet the criteria. That may be true for some institutions but certainly not all of them and definitely not the one I study at. For a lot of my units I'm expected to cover a lot of A-level standard stuff and produce really good work for each assignment despite the fact that I have 18 full units. For instance my 2 physiology units combined probably contains more content (at the same level of detail) than an AS in human biology because of what's expected by my lecturer.

I did a BTEC, so please read my previous posts instead of quoting me on one. Then at least you can have the background to my reasoning.

However of course each college has there own stance on BTEC and the way they teach them, of course it also depends on the BTECs you are studying. I can only speak for the BTEC I study, however it is extremely arrogant to think you can get into a top university with just a BTEC. Look at the facts instead of firing assumptions (A quick look on unistats will help you).

BTEC weren't designed for university study :/

[littleone271]

(Original post by FinalMH)
I did a BTEC, so please read my previous posts instead of quoting me on one. Then at least you can have the background to my reasoning.

However of course each college has there own stance on BTEC and the way they teach them, of course it also depends on the BTECs you are studying. I can only speak for the BTEC I study, however it is extremely arrogant to think you can get into a top university with just a BTEC. Look at the facts instead of firing assumptions (A quick look on unistats will help you).

BTEC weren't designed for university study :/

I'm not saying that you can get into a top university with just a BTEC. Unfortunately there's still a lot of snobbery towards them.

The BTEC that I do is designed with university preparation in mind because it's forensic science and you can't really get any kind of job in forensic science without having done a degree. I'm in a far better position to study forensic science at university than someone who has straight A's in maths, chemistry and biology A-levels. Not all BTECs are the same, it depends what subject you do.

[Costalo]

Unless you want to go to Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews and the like, do A Levels. Otherwise, do a BTEC. No exams and no stress, you will have a much more enjoyable time. I did one and recieved offers from good Universities such as Exeter and Kent, among others. I'm also averaging 70% at Uni right now.

[H@nnah.]

Right, I'm a BTECH'ian myself and I just think its wrong that A-level students look down on me and other people for doing BTECH's I know there are ALOT of melters that go do BTECHS and some how manage good grades...BUT! there are that small minority of people like myself that, well chose to go to do their BTECH's. I was never the brightest light bulb in the electricity shop but I got enough to go to my A-levels so don't ya'll be hatin' on me for being 'stupid' which is a name I get called a lot as soon as an A-level student knows I'm in college, believe it or not all my closest friends who then went on to do their A-levels all stopped talking to me.
sad I know right >.<

Well I came here just to say that I think it DEPENDS for instance, if a A-level student wants to go and do ...Engineering and they have all them science and maths subjects you need then yea sure it looks better i think but if you are like me ^^

Then it will be best if you go to do BTECHS for the simple reason of...an art student in College covers a HELL of a lot more then an A-level student doing art, P.E and ICT. I know this because I was having a wee chat to a girl I know taking an art subject and asked how her prints and ceramics was going...she didn't know what a mono print, relief print OR an etching was or how to do ANY of them there are more she didn't know but ill talk about that in a wee bit.

I think that if you want to go and do a subject that you need to be taught techniques and ways to improve as in A-level I find that the teachers are just like 'yes, paint that in more acrylic paint' and the facts that College does in fact have better equipment and resources.

Okay to the other subjects I cover that A levels Will never cover until Uni..
I have classes in; Textiles, Graphic design and Illustration, (I want do that in uni <3 ) ceramics, fine art and exhibition preparation for the end of the year and photography. I study these techniques in depth and you cant do well unless your good at art and good at all aspects of it like right now I suck at textiles and its Soooo hard, doesn't help my teacher is a bitch.

Anywho rant over sorry, I'm just sick to my bones that people call me stupid and pathetic because I'm in college doing something I love and would never regret. I guess it just depends on
1, What classes you have chosen
2, what uni course you want to go and do
3, what uni you want to go to
and finally how in depth your course is before you go to uni

I'm happy that I have a good grounding about that I want to do.

Good luck to all of you from each and every course Hope to see you ALL do well in life!


This is only my opinion and the fact that I used art and stuff is because I know what I'm talking about.

[H@nnah.]

OH! and i forgot to say that my brother, he is doing civil engineering in reading University and he is one of the highest in his class, He was a BTECH'ian

[TerminalVelocity]

(Original post by littleone271)
I'm not saying that you can get into a top university with just a BTEC. Unfortunately there's still a lot of snobbery towards them.

The BTEC that I do is designed with university preparation in mind because it's forensic science and you can't really get any kind of job in forensic science without having done a degree. I'm in a far better position to study forensic science at university than someone who has straight A's in maths, chemistry and biology A-levels. Not all BTECs are the same, it depends what subject you do.

You need a reality check!

[ITGIRL]

(Original post by H@nnah.)
Right, I'm a BTECH'ian myself and I just think its wrong that A-level students look down on me and other people for doing BTECH's I know there are ALOT of melters that go do BTECHS and some how manage good grades...BUT! there are that small minority of people like myself that, well chose to go to do their BTECH's. I was never the brightest light bulb in the electricity shop but I got enough to go to my A-levels so don't ya'll be hatin' on me for being 'stupid' which is a name I get called a lot as soon as an A-level student knows I'm in college, believe it or not all my closest friends who then went on to do their A-levels all stopped talking to me.
sad I know right >.<

Well I came here just to say that I think it DEPENDS for instance, if a A-level student wants to go and do ...Engineering and they have all them science and maths subjects you need then yea sure it looks better i think but if you are like me ^^

Then it will be best if you go to do BTECHS for the simple reason of...an art student in College covers a HELL of a lot more then an A-level student doing art, P.E and ICT. I know this because I was having a wee chat to a girl I know taking an art subject and asked how her prints and ceramics was going...she didn't know what a mono print, relief print OR an etching was or how to do ANY of them there are more she didn't know but ill talk about that in a wee bit.

I think that if you want to go and do a subject that you need to be taught techniques and ways to improve as in A-level I find that the teachers are just like 'yes, paint that in more acrylic paint' and the facts that College does in fact have better equipment and resources.

Okay to the other subjects I cover that A levels Will never cover until Uni..
I have classes in; Textiles, Graphic design and Illustration, (I want do that in uni <3 ) ceramics, fine art and exhibition preparation for the end of the year and photography. I study these techniques in depth and you cant do well unless your good at art and good at all aspects of it like right now I suck at textiles and its Soooo hard, doesn't help my teacher is a bitch.

Anywho rant over sorry, I'm just sick to my bones that people call me stupid and pathetic because I'm in college doing something I love and would never regret. I guess it just depends on
1, What classes you have chosen
2, what uni course you want to go and do
3, what uni you want to go to
and finally how in depth your course is before you go to uni

I'm happy that I have a good grounding about that I want to do.

Good luck to all of you from each and every course Hope to see you ALL do well in life!


This is only my opinion and the fact that I used art and stuff is because I know what I'm talking about.

You're not stupid you just made a few wrong choices in life.

[littleone271]

(Original post by TerminalVelocity)
You need a reality check!

Not really... Someone who did science A-levels won't necessarily know the first thing about forensics which is a totally different subject.