How can I get into Uni?

yo ****, I thought Shark Tank was that movie with those really cool fishies!

That's Shark Tale..

I was mainly talking about vocational degrees - in response to OP - to find out if what he wanted to study merited a university course or would be better suited to an apprenticeship or other vocational path.

This is why I said general rule - obviously there are exceptions and yours is one of them.

I didn't mean to disparage BTECs in any way, I was more trying to warn OP away from doing a 'new-age' or vocational degree and paying out of his nose for it when an apprenticeship would be a better option - depending on what he wanted to do, which was what I was trying to find out.

No, that's Finding Nemo.

Don't mean to be judgemental but if a uni accepts BTECs then they're sort of not worth the £45,000+ investment.. (Just a general rule - don't want any hate off people doing BTECs 😳)

I understand and agree with you that there are a lot of degrees out there which as you say there isnt any need to study 3 years for, however degrees with a more vocational nature like Computer Science, Engineering, Business etc. are very valuable and BTEC offers good preparation for such subjects, also a lot of jobs in these fields require a degree.

Apprenticeships are very good, however most which promote progression will usually put you through a degree or other HE equivalent to allow you to progress and apply for higher positions within the company, i will add, this tends to be particularly large companies, I think either route is acceptable and the field/subject that the OP wants to pursue should affect the decision of which route to take, however i also think university is a great experience and for example if the OP wants to study a subject like Computer Science or Engineering then university is a very sensible option this also applies for Business, Law, Nursing and the Sciences.

Some of the top 10 universities in the UK accept BTEC's as a qualification. Nearly all of the Russel group uni's accept them. There's only a select few that don't and they're ones that are difficult for even A-Level students to get into (e.g. Oxford, Imperial).

I myself got into a Russel group university with 'just a BTEC' and I know many people that also got into respectable universities with their BTEC qualification as well such as Manchester, Bath, Bristol (all doing Engineering).

I was mainly talking about vocational degrees - in response to OP - to find out if what he wanted to study merited a university course or would be better suited to an apprenticeship or other vocational path.

This is why I said general rule - obviously there are exceptions and yours is one of them.

I didn't mean to disparage BTECs in any way, I was more trying to warn OP away from doing a 'new-age' or vocational degree and paying out of his nose for it when an apprenticeship would be a better option - depending on what he wanted to do, which was what I was trying to find out.

You make an astute point, however what do you mean by 'the sciences'?

For sociology, psychology, and all of the social sciences, fair enough..

However for traditional science such as chemistry, physics, medicine, dentistry, etc, A levels are almost universally required - that is just the status quo.

That said, science is a VERY broad subject group, so I can't comment on every single course and there are of course ways in to university through this method - that one statement was wrong and I would like to officially retract it - it was only made based on my experience, which does not encompass all routes and/or pathways into higher education.

That PC enough for ya?

I refined it the sciences to cover all the science related degree subjects that yhe BTEC in Applied Science can get you onto, this includes Biological Sciences, Biomedical, Biochemistry, Zoology, Raidiography, Pharmachology, Biotechnology and various others, however obviously some will require Bio or Chem at A level

I agree with you that for 'traditional' sciences a more traditional education is required, for example physics would require a solid knowledge of both Maths and Physics, the only person i have ever heard of getting onto a physics degree with a BTEC was with a BTEC in Electronic Engineering, same applies to Chemistry and of course medicine and dentistry.

Very mature of you, a lot of people on here are very narrow minded and think that A levels are the only real route into univetsity, i also dont think that BTECs provide better education for all subjects, however for subjects that are more vocational in their focus (like the ones i mentioned), they are just as good, if not better for certain subjects/degree programmes.

Don't worry, the people on here are just being incredibly pedantic and are failing to see the general point which you are making, that for a lot of degrees and a lot of universities A-levels are preferred. Of course there are courses for which BTECs are perfectly suitable for, and careers in which a BTEC may be highly desirable, but it really does depend on the course and university that is chosen.

We are not merely being pedantic. The other poster was asked to give information to the OP so the OP could make a decision that would affect their future. The information given by the other poster was incredibly misleading and gave the impression that no decent university would consider the OP with a BTEC. This information was wrong and this misinformation could potentially affect the decision OP makes with their life. That's not pedantry; that's being an ethical user of this forum. There's a huge difference. If you do not know something, do not make it seem like you do. Hard and fast rule of TSR.

Incredibly misleading is a bit harsh.

You have qualified what you have said several times: even you would agree with my statement that your advice was misleading. If it weren't so misleading, you'd not have got 3 people pointing out the same mistake you made. You have no experience of the area outside of A-Level and you don't know anyone who has studied non-traditional paths, nor been in a position to meet them. You need to absolutely give up on offering advice on things outside of A-Level.

Even if it were true that outside of CompSci and engineering that BTECs have no use (which it is not), that does not mean that OP would only have A-Levels/IB/Pre-U ahead of them ifh they wish to get onto traditional degrees. There would also Access to HE diplomas which would be an alternative to those qualifications and only takes a year. Your ability to offer advice is severely limited by your not having any understanding of the area you're giving advice on, which is fine but I don't see why you keep trying to do it.

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