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A levels vs btecs

I will get my AS Results on the 14th of August and I was wondering if I don't get good results will Btecs be the better option for me.
Many thanks
Original post by moneymania999
I will get my AS Results on the 14th of August and I was wondering if I don't get good results will Btecs be the better option for me.
Many thanks


Hey, i was in the same position that you are in, about 2 years ago, my AS results were sh*t, and so were many of my friends. I decided to do a BTEC and ended up getting the equivalent to A*A*A (400 UCAS points).

For me, it was the best decision i have made, of to uni in september :biggrin: some of my mate who decidede to re-sit A-levels, still struggled and are not going to uni, but have yet decided to hunt for apprenticships now (some aspired to got to uni).

What BTEC you looking at doing ??
It depends on what kind of things you're interested in and what you're realistically more suited to. BTECs are much more practical than A Levels, so they are really useful for certain trades. I think they're quite underrated and people feel too much of a social obligation to do A Levels.

What A Levels are you studying and what do you think you're likely to achieve?
Original post by moneymania999
I will get my AS Results on the 14th of August and I was wondering if I don't get good results will Btecs be the better option for me.
Many thanks

That's something only you can answer really. If you worked extremely hard and didn't manage to do very well and feel you could not bring these grades up through resits (bearing in mind you'd have to sit them alongside your A2 exams), then you have two options really:

-Maybe your subject combination wasn't best suited for you, you could consider starting AS again with completely different subjects.
-You could do an apprenticeship or, as you said, a BTEC.

Don't worry about this until you get your results; it may turn out better than you think :smile: also, plenty of people turn it around at A2, especially if it was down to lack of effort or revision :smile:

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Original post by ProppaNutty
Hey, i was in the same position that you are in, about 2 years ago, my AS results were sh*t, and so were many of my friends. I decided to do a BTEC and ended up getting the equivalent to A*A*A (400 UCAS points).

For me, it was the best decision i have made, of to uni in september :biggrin: some of my mate who decidede to re-sit A-levels, still struggled and are not going to uni, but have yet decided to hunt for apprenticships now (some aspired to got to uni).

What BTEC you looking at doing ??


Well I have decided to do btec applied science or applied science.
Just wondering what course you doing at uni now or planning on doing?
Original post by Reluire
It depends on what kind of things you're interested in and what you're realistically more suited to. BTECs are much more practical than A Levels, so they are really useful for certain trades. I think they're quite underrated and people feel too much of a social obligation to do A Levels.

What A Levels are you studying and what do you think you're likely to achieve?


I am doing A level maths, a level chemistry and a level biology.
I cant really predict of what im going to get im not sure.
Reply 6
BTECs are a very easy way to get into uni. Obviously some are easier than others but I know people who got a so called equivalent of AAA or above at BTEC who I doubt would get CCC at A level. It's ridiculous that such an easy option exists. Saying that, I really don't blame people who do BTECs if the think they'd struggle at A level, there's nothing wrong with exploiting a broken system to help yourself. I went to a private school so can't exactly judge others for taking an easy route to uni
Original post by moneymania999
Well I have decided to do btec applied science or applied science.
Just wondering what course you doing at uni now or planning on doing?


A-Levels

Economics - U

Accounting - U

Computing - E

Use of Maths - E



B-TEC

Level 3 Extended Diploma in Business - D*DD*



Uni
Roehampton - Business Management and Entreprenuership

(Also got offers from Royal Holloway and Southampton)



So yeah, ballsed up my A-Levels, Aced my BTEC (nearly) and now im off to Uni :biggrin:
Original post by Gumperst
BTECs are a very easy way to get into uni. Obviously some are easier than others but I know people who got a so called equivalent of AAA or above at BTEC who I doubt would get CCC at A level. It's ridiculous that such an easy option exists. Saying that, I really don't blame people who do BTECs if the think they'd struggle at A level, there's nothing wrong with exploiting a broken system to help yourself. I went to a private school so can't exactly judge others for taking an easy route to uni


In what way is a BTEC an easy option into uni? Feel quite offended. Please elucidate.
Reply 9
Btecs are coursework based, so there isn't the opportunity to slack 75% of the year and then have a mad rush of revision in March

But it also depends on what you want to do after college. Many good universities like Bath, Birmingham etc accept Btecs, likewise apprenticeships.

Original post by hellodave5
In what way is a BTEC an easy option into uni? Feel quite offended. Please elucidate.

Sounds like a butthurt kid that can't accept the fact that not everybody learns the same way
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Jkizer
Btecs are coursework based, so there isn't the opportunity to slack 75% of the year and then have a mad rush of revision in March


Sounds like a butthurt kid that can't accept the fact that not everybody learns the same way


To do well at A level you need to work consistently, even in September/October time I did far more work in my history A level alone than any of my friends doing BTECs which counted as 3 A levels.

Don't see how you can call me butthurt given that I even said that I don't blame people for doing BTECs, and what you call 'learn differently' I'd interpret as 'struggle with exams.' The thing with BTECs is that many people doing them are bad at exams even if they're quite clever. BTECs isolate these people from exams so they are completely out of practice by the time they get to uni - how is this a good idea?

Original post by hellodave5
In what way is a BTEC an easy option into uni? Feel quite offended. Please elucidate.


Never come across 'elucidate' before, is it a word you use naturally or did you just want to demonstrate that BTEC students can be intelligent? BTECs are basically proved to be an easy option by the fact that lots of people who were hopeless at A level (or even GCSE) do very well in them. I've never heard of anyone struggling grades wise in BTECs unless they're feckless immature people who don't bother to show up to college.
Reply 11
Original post by Gumperst
To do well at A level you need to work consistently, even in September/October time I did far more work in my history A level alone than any of my friends doing BTECs which counted as 3 A levels.

Don't see how you can call me butthurt given that I even said that I don't blame people for doing BTECs, and what you call 'learn differently' I'd interpret as 'struggle with exams.' The thing with BTECs is that many people doing them are bad at exams even if they're quite clever. BTECs isolate these people from exams so they are completely out of practice by the time they get to uni - how is this a good idea?


First sentence and i'm already shaking my head. Thats more of an advantage of Btecs than A levels (since they scrapped January anyways). I'm sure you did more work in your history and that completely invalidates btecs :facepalm:

Lots of universities make you do coursework too (aka dissertation for many courses) - Do A levelers get out of practice by then too? No. The individual grows their skills as they progress through university, which includes independent research skills and exam skills. Flipping the question around, a levels isolate people from coursework - is that a good idea?

If Btecs meant that students were so unprepared for uni, wouldn't more universities recognise this and stop acceptance of btecs? You could even go as far as saying A levels are an easy option to university compared to the IB. Thus by using your logic, we are all 'exploiting' a broken system.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Jkizer
First sentence and i'm already shaking my head. Thats more of an advantage of Btecs than A levels (since they scrapped January anyways). I'm sure you did more work in your history and that completely invalidates btecs :facepalm:

Lots of universities make you do coursework too (aka dissertation for many courses) - Do A levelers get out of practice by then too? No. The individual grows their skills as they progress through university, which includes independent research skills and exam skills. Flipping the question around, a levels isolate people from coursework - is that a good idea?

If Btecs meant that students were so unprepared for uni, wouldn't more universities recognise this and stop acceptance of btecs? You could even go as far as saying A levels are an easy option to university compared to the IB. Thus by using your logic, we are all 'exploiting' a broken system.


You shaking your head doesn't mean I'm wrong. All I'm saying is that BTECs require far less work than A levels, why is that an advantage of BTECs?

Of course you need to do coursework at uni too, but most A levels also require coursework as well as exams (like uni), but BTECs forget about exams. Also there's no real difference between skills needed for homework essays and skills needed for coursework, whereas exams are wholly different to anything else and only practicing them can help you improve.

To my knowledge lots of higher universities don't accept BTECs for many of their courses, so yes, it would appear BTECs are inferior at preparing students. I don't know anything about IB so I'll take your word for it that they're harder and be glad I didn't have to do them.
Original post by Gumperst

Never come across 'elucidate' before, is it a word you use naturally or did you just want to demonstrate that BTEC students can be intelligent? BTECs are basically proved to be an easy option by the fact that lots of people who were hopeless at A level (or even GCSE) do very well in them. I've never heard of anyone struggling grades wise in BTECs unless they're feckless immature people who don't bother to show up to college.


No, it wasn't to demonstrate anything. It is my normal language.
It has been a while since I completed my BTEC and have since finished a first class Psychology degree after doing a Sports Science BTEC.
Elucidate is just a normal word which you would use at degree level... hopefully.

As you said 'can' be intelligent... would that be you thinking that perhaps you made a generalisation about BTEC students?

Your point of view on BTEC's is somewhat understandable, correct in a way but IMO slightly bigoted.

BTEC's are less academic and more practical in that BTEC's give practical application for what is taught. A levels I felt (I did A levels too) are more esoteric; giving deep insight into things which aren't all that pragmatic and more of an academic endeavour. In that sense, you could say that A levels are more difficult.

On the other hand BTEC's have constant assessment which may suit (as you said) some more than others; such as those who dislike exams (I disliked them quite a bit). The assessments in BTEC's are more similar to that of university - in which at university level the exam 'skills' you gained from A levels are rendered less important... as most assessments are coursework based (though there are still a fair amount of exams).

You mentioned that those who go to BTEC from A level never tend to struggle... and that could depend on a number of things. You don't say how well they do; admittedly getting a mediocre or low grade and passing the course is fairly straight forward - but getting higher grades is quite a drain (constant assessment and the need to attain a high outcome over all assessments).
It is also that if you do A levels, you are a year older and more experienced. Also BTEC's are done in specific fields; and you will most likely choose something you have a passion for as I did. I didn't have any passion for my A levels. It is also that if you did poorly in A levels, you really won't want to do poorly a second time around.

I honestly do believe that BTEC's are a (more or less) fair alternative to A levels; which helps give our educational system more inclusivity and variation. It also prepared me for university very well; more so than those who did A level qualifications.

Sorry if blabbered - just woke up!
Original post by Gumperst
You shaking your head doesn't mean I'm wrong. All I'm saying is that BTECs require far less work than A levels, why is that an advantage of BTECs?

Of course you need to do coursework at uni too, but most A levels also require coursework as well as exams (like uni), but BTECs forget about exams. Also there's no real difference between skills needed for homework essays and skills needed for coursework, whereas exams are wholly different to anything else and only practicing them can help you improve.

To my knowledge lots of higher universities don't accept BTECs for many of their courses, so yes, it would appear BTECs are inferior at preparing students. I don't know anything about IB so I'll take your word for it that they're harder and be glad I didn't have to do them.


BTEC's don't require far less work than A levels. Happy to look at stats or academic journals, or articles, if you have them your way.
They don't forget about exams completely - though I do see your point; there are much fewer and indeed few in total. On the other hand I had to do lots of practical assessments such as, in my case sports assessments (hated sports lol) and presentations. Even though I did fewer exams, I still did very well in exams in uni.

Uni's don't accept the courses as they are more practical and less academic. Though you have to take it on different merits. Some universities only want who they can judge as the best academically (AAA or A*//) at A level. BTEC's tend to be accepted in most respectable academic institutions as far as I'm aware.
I've had experience of doing both AS (biology,chemistry, geography, phil & ethics). With AS I worked constantly making notes an doing the homework but I fell ill the first couple of months into the academic year which really made me struggle. To cut a long story short I failed all my subjects apart from geography.

In order to make me better I (along with my doctor) decided a change of scenery would be the best option and so I applied to do a btec in medical science (applied science) and have successfully completed year one obtaining D* D*
All these comments about BTECS being 'easy' are insulting to anyone undertaking one. I have never put so much effort and work into something in my life, I have worked far harder this year than I have doing AS, this past semester I have worked solidly all day everyday (5am-1am) to meet very tight deadlines. The problem I find with a levels is that it is too structured, the modules (particularly the biology ones) are rather pointless and will not help you in the future. With a levels you get spoon fed absolutely everything, your teacher holds your hand throughout experiments and most of the time it is all set up for you ready for when you arrive, with btecs (well I have found) it's very much an 'off you go then' mentality and we are expected to do everything ourselves. One of the units in the first semester involved us designing, undertaking and writing up our own experiments without any assistance at all. My experiment involved isolating antibiotic producing colonies from soil samples which I would not have been given the opportunity to do in sixth form because it simply would not not have fitted in with the syllabus.

After a year I can write well structed and factually correct lab reports (the kind you'd need to produce at uni), confidently and accurately undertake complex experiments, use an automatic pipette (many of my friends going on from sixth form to do biology in September have no idea what these are) and use more complex experimental techniques. Would I be able to have done any of this in sixth form? No, and this gives an advantage for when I do go to uni

In a nutshell, btecs can be as hard as you wan them to be. If you don't care then you'll find it easy putting minimal effort in but if you do care, it can be tough, much tougher than the strict syllabuses of a levels that do not allow you to build up an in depth knowledge of areas surrounding your field of interest as your main priorities are memorising the syllabus in order to be somewhat successful in your exams.
I''m another person who failed their AS levels.

Went to College.. straight DDD from a BTEC.. now off to New Uni.
Thanks for the replys people. So too make it short you people would suggest that it really depends on the results I get and the options I have left on choosing btecs.
Many thanks

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