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A-Level vs BTEC

I am pretty sure this has been discussed several times on TSR but I am still curious to hear some views on BTEC's. There seems to be many misconceptions about what BTEC's are where they actually can take you.

People who got U's and E's in AS seem to take a single BTEC and finish it in 1 year with Distinction or D*. I don't understand how this is possible and some of these people are my friends who have not really improved their work ethic.

I understand they are seen to be 'equivalent' but at the same time I can't see this being the truth, Many higher apprenticeships talk about having A-Levels not BTEC's. Is it also true the proportion of students studying at a Russell group who have studied BTEC's is very low?

I don't want to come across as a BTEC hater but it seems to good to be true.

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(edited 3 years ago)

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This has been done to death.

BTECs are obviously the better the option.
Easier UCAS points and generally more interesting subjects that give you something to talk about in interviews. I know my BTEC has given me a lot more to talk about.
Reply 3
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Andy7348
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The reason your friends can get D and D* is because they're usually all coursework based and so they can take their time and use google to complete all of the criteria. I am doing a BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science at the moment and whilst we get quite a lot of assignments they are very manageable and no exams at all. I am aiming for DD myself and have been given an offer to do MPharm at uni afterwards so many universities are taking them seriously now. Hope this helps 😊


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Reply 4
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( c -_-)
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Btecs are a joke, thats why they are better.
Reply 5
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Andy7348
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Original post by ( c -_-)
Btecs are a joke, thats why they are better.


Very true, college is a doss but I'm getting paid to do mine so it's great lol


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Reply 6
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alexp98
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Everyone who does Btecs hoping for easy points are in for a shock when it comes to Uni... There's a reason why A levels are the perfect preparation. If you can't complete them then you will fail at Uni
Original post by DiddyDec
This has been done to death.

BTECs are obviously the better the option.


And my friend... this is where you are wrong. I am currently taking BTEC and in my opinion in terms of university, the cons outweigh the pros. Not only is it a lot harder to get into uni with BTEC, you're not prepared very well and may even not be able to cope. This might differ for someone who has already done A-Levels and is just looking for a more hands on qualification. BTEC is just coursework based so there's no real way of telling how well someone can do, you can just simply copy and paste changing a few words and be awarded a DD but at the end of the year when you go into uni, you won't really know what you're doing. Say you wanted to do a medical course, someone with A-levels will be highly favored over someone with BTEC because they actually take exams. If you have the chance of doing A-levels over BTEC OP, do it. Unless you're not going into such a detailed course in uni or are doing something totally different afterwards. I'm in that situation where my previous school wouldn't let me do A-level science cause I only achieved a B. Oh well
Original post by mrpopodopalaus
And my friend... this is where you are wrong. I am currently taking BTEC and in my opinion in terms of university, the cons outweigh the pros. Not only is it a lot harder to get into uni with BTEC, you're not prepared very well and may even not be able to cope. This might differ for someone who has already done A-Levels and is just looking for a more hands on qualification. BTEC is just coursework based so there's no real way of telling how well someone can do, you can just simply copy and paste changing a few words and be awarded a DD but at the end of the year when you go into uni, you won't really know what you're doing. Say you wanted to do a medical course, someone with A-levels will be highly favored over someone with BTEC because they actually take exams. If you have the chance of doing A-levels over BTEC OP, do it. Unless you're not going into such a detailed course in uni or are doing something totally different afterwards. I'm in that situation where my previous school wouldn't let me do A-level science cause I only achieved a B. Oh well


I went to an excellent university one of the few that actually did the course I wanted. Now I have a very successful career. All from doing a BTEC.
Depends what you want to do really. Some areas like BTECs, some are rather averse - such as medicine, law, etc.

Though I wouldn't expect an easy ride with them. They are extremely difficult if you want to get the highest grades (at least when I did mine it was). But then again, I was someone with CDE at AS level, so not particularly academic then.

But ultimately they can get you where you want to go academically for many things at uni, and may even be favorable in some cases. If you plan on not going into further education then I'd definitely recommend a BTEC.

I would greatly recommend them - especially if you're not liking how A levels are set out and taught. It made me very interested and motivated, and really got me into academics and learning more generally.

But as said before, this has already been done to death in another thread recently.
Original post by DiddyDec
I went to an excellent university one of the few that actually did the course I wanted. Now I have a very successful career. All from doing a BTEC.


What BTEC and uni course you do mate?
Original post by DiddyDec
I went to an excellent university one of the few that actually did the course I wanted. Now I have a very successful career. All from doing a BTEC.


I'm not saying it's impossible. But it's not the easiest thing to do either. Tell me are you currently in Veterinary Medicine? If not then you probably see my point.
Original post by hellodave5
What BTEC and uni course you do mate?


I did a level 3 BTEC in Agriculture and went on to do Rural Property Management at Harper Adams University. I now work for a multi-national surveying firm managing a portfolio of 196 active properties with a further 30 inactive properties across 2 countries.

Original post by mrpopodopalaus
I'm not saying it's impossible. But it's not the easiest thing to do either. Tell me are you currently in Veterinary Medicine? If not then you probably see my point.


Funny your should mention Vet Med. My university offered a range veterinary studies, some of those participating on those courses did have BTECs.
Original post by DiddyDec
I did a level 3 BTEC in Agriculture and went on to do Rural Property Management at Harper Adams University. I now work for a multi-national surveying firm managing a portfolio of 196 active properties with a further 30 inactive properties across 2 countries.



Funny your should mention Vet Med. My university offered a range veterinary studies, some of those participating on those courses did have BTECs.



Yes I know that universities offer if you have BTEC. What I'm stating is mostly about the course itself, how quite a few people i.e me aren't gaining much on it, partly because it's just researching and putting it into a document. This is why I wish I did A-level, each to their own though.
Original post by DiddyDec
I did a level 3 BTEC in Agriculture and went on to do Rural Property Management at Harper Adams University. I now work for a multi-national surveying firm managing a portfolio of 196 active properties with a further 30 inactive properties across 2 countries.



Funny your should mention Vet Med. My university offered a range veterinary studies, some of those participating on those courses did have BTECs.


What is harper adams uni like? I was going to go there but then I think they wanted work experience for the Vet course and I didn't have enough weeks under my belt.
Original post by mrpopodopalaus
What is harper adams uni like? I was going to go there but then I think they wanted work experience for the Vet course and I didn't have enough weeks under my belt.


Best university in Britain. I wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere else.
Original post by DiddyDec
Best university in Britain. I wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere else.


Lucky for some!
Original post by mrpopodopalaus
Lucky for some!


I had a little help from mitigating circumstances and I had all the work experience plus more.
Reply 18
Avatar for yt7777
yt7777
18
Original post by alexp98
Everyone who does Btecs hoping for easy points are in for a shock when it comes to Uni... There's a reason why A levels are the perfect preparation. If you can't complete them then you will fail at Uni


i did a Computing BTEC and I now study Computer Science at a top 20 uni and im on track for a First (currently averaging over 85% in my second year)

personally I think how well you do at uni completely depends on what BTEC you take and what course you go on to study also how hard you work is a very important factor, but the transition from BTEC to degree was pretty simple for me as the style of learning and the subject itself was pretty similar

@mrpopodopalaus- response to your post too
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by DiddyDec
I did a level 3 BTEC in Agriculture and went on to do Rural Property Management at Harper Adams University. I now work for a multi-national surveying firm managing a portfolio of 196 active properties with a further 30 inactive properties across 2 countries.
.


I'm jelly. Well done -_-

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