BTEC Level 3 in applied science

BTEC's are not worthless... so you've finished Level 2 (GCSE) and now moving onto Level 3 (A Level)?

Best thing to do is email/phone Universities your're interested in going to and say "I want to study this, I'm currently studying this are BTEC's acceptable?

I've been told BTEC science closes quite a few doors, is there any truth in this ?

Not really. Certain universities don't accept them but most average universities will accept them and will probably realise that in some ways they're better than A-levels. Doing a BTEC extended diploma you do a lot of practicals and learn about a broad range of topics whereas at A-level it goes into so much detail and there's very little actual practical experience. Someone who did chemistry and biology A-levels might know more about DNA than me for instance but they probably won't have ever used a centrifuge or own their own little vial of their DNA that they extracted themselves. They also won't have done as many titrations as a BTEC student and they won't have as much experience researching and referencing as we do. One of our core units is called perceptions of science and it's all about researching and referencing different views on scientific topics and saying how different things change the opinions of the public.

We also have a unit called scientific investigation where we decide on something we personally want to investigate.

I did AS's in maths, biology, business studies and statistics. I didn't like my subject combination and I had a lot of distractions so I basically flunked the year.

I'm now at college in my last year of a BTEC extended diploma in forensic science (level 3, worth 3 a-levels) that I got into because of my gcse grades and despite a lot of set backs within the college I'm hoping to do quite well. I applied for 4 universities to study forensic psychology and I've had offers from all 4. My choices are portsmouth, southampton solent, UEL and bedfordshire and I've got my heart set on portsmouth.

Basically if you do a BTEC you're never going to be seen as oxbridge material and you won't get into any of the really good universities like UCL, york, leeds etc. But to be honest if you did A-levels which are harder in my opinion having tried them before this course, you'd probably end up with less ucas points than you would doing a BTEC. My lowest offer is MMP (2 Cs and an E) and for me that would be easy to obtain right now despite having no proper teachers at all in the first year! At A-level it's quite hard to get a C! Especially in something science related like what I'm doing.

Also if you're doing applied science (or possibly medical) rather than applied (forensic) then you'll be in a better position for applying to do something very sciencey at university because there's more science content. My friend on my course wanted to do biochemistry or something at university and a lot of universities said he'd have to do a foundation year. Bear that in mind when choosing which science BTEC you want to do. I personally really enjoy the forensics stuff on my course. The other day we actually got to search our lecturers car, retrieving evidence in proper forensic evidence bags that the police let us have. We found hammers, bullets, a gun, screwdrivers, a womans shoe and a bag of what was supposed to be cocaine (probably flour lol). It was actually part of a murder investigation all set up for us by our lecturer and he's got the whole college involved so we're going round interviewing the lab technicians and the security guards who have all been told what their role is lol it's really good fun...

I know exactly what you mean about the BTEC stigma! There really are a lot of advantages to being a BTEC student though. I love being in a college rather than a school. I only go in 3 days a week, we call our lecturers by their first name and we have to be responsible for our own work and be organized which I think are good things to learn. One of the advantages is that we have no exams which means that thoughout the year we know where we are and we'll know what we've got as soon as we finish because we keep track of everything ourselves and know how to use the points system. It means that if it's the last month of the course and we're finishing things off we'll know how many BTEC points we have and how to top it up. We don't have to wait around for exam results either so we can accept our university places as soon as we finish and spend all summer organizing everything for when we leave and get first dibs on halls

Thank you for the reply, it really helped. My only other concern is i'm interested in things to with the universe and have looked at some uni's. I found one which has a course i'm extremely interested in and the entry requirements are DDD, with preference selected as A level. Now i'm worried that if too many A level people apply they will take great p residence over me.

I am in my last year of studying the BTEC level 3 in applied Science, it has been brilliant and really combines aspects of Chemistry, Biology, but not a great deal of 'Physics' more so statistical sciences. If you have any concern over university acceptance of the course, then please do the background research and come to a conclusion - obviously universities like Cambridge will not accept BTEC's due to their traditional entrance process.

BTEC level 3 applied science is a very demanding course which requires you to keep on top of the work load. I always have said even if you are intelligent, you need also to be punctual and organised; or else you will quickly fall behind.

In regards to university application; I am predicted a DDM and have been offered a conditional place to study Chemistry at Loughborough university. Many of my friends also in my class have been offered places at universities. So yes in essence, this BTEC course does allow you to progress into university and straight into a job also :-)

Out of interest what did people in your class apply for ?

I am in my last year of studying the BTEC level 3 in applied Science, it has been brilliant and really combines aspects of Chemistry, Biology, but not a great deal of 'Physics' more so statistical sciences. If you have any concern over university acceptance of the course, then please do the background research and come to a conclusion - obviously universities like Cambridge will not accept BTEC's due to their traditional entrance process.

BTEC level 3 applied science is a very demanding course which requires you to keep on top of the work load. I always have said even if you are intelligent, you need also to be punctual and organised; or else you will quickly fall behind.

In regards to university application; I am predicted a DDM and have been offered a conditional place to study Chemistry at Loughborough
university. Many of my friends also in my class have been offered places at universities. So yes in essence, this BTEC course does allow you to progress into university and straight into a job also :-)

hiya!

I'm currenty doing the same course as you, its been really good so far,we get to wear green scrubs as i'm doing medical. I want a career in science or in healthcare and think this course would help.

This course will help you trust me. . I'm doing the same course as you and hoping to get into a healthcare career as well. I might do biomedical science at ntu.. what about u

yeah. Im thinking along the same lines. If I get into something medically related that would be excellent, if not Healthcare sounds good too.

It's difficult to decide as there are so many possibilities and I just need to know what suits best.

The others in my class applied for Biomedical science, Biology, and I am studying Pharmaceutical Science.