why do A-Level Students Look Down on BTEC's?

The amount of ignorance on this thread..

I'm a BTEC student, so please ask me anything! I'm academic, hard-working, compassionate and I know far more about my subject area than anyone doing a-levels will learn in their course. I'm also studying Health and Social Care for anyone who's interested and will be studying Occupational Therapy at UEA this year.

Personally I believe most of the problem here is misinformation, most people see "BTEC" and think of the level 2s they did in secondary school. The extended diploma is far from that; it's very academically challenging if you're looking for top grades and you will be combining this with practical experience. Obviously if I decided I wanted to do a degree in geography it wouldn't be any use, but the prospects are very broad! It's definitely equivalent, and I personally feel we're more desirable students for courses such as nursing, OT and social work (as well as other HSC roles) because we're not just turning up with A-Level biology where a lot of the subject is plants and microscopes. I also know people going to study non-accredited courses such as biosciences and psychology.
The people I study with are certainly hard-working and caring to get as far as they have in the course. I would trust them with mine or my family's care in any scenario, regardless of whether they have the period table memorised or know the exact dates of British monarch's deaths.

No offense at all to A-Level students but... If you want to work in a practical field, vocational qualifications are perfect for that. If you want to study history then do A-Levels! It's very simple, so don't judge people on their choices if it's right for them, there's no "better" course.

They say they accept them but in reality the proportion of students there who did BTECs is for all intents and purposes zero.

To your second question: no, but as you have said they are the best UK universities.

Er NO. This is where you are wrong, I'm doing a BTEC and I've got an offer from one the TOP uni's in the UK, problem?

Just wondering why people seem to think A-Levels are superior?

I'm on a Level 3 Extended for EEE Engineering, backed up with a A-level in Maths, planning on going to University of Southampton for EEE...

Just to be clear, I have nothing against A-Levels.. What's your opinion on the whole A-Level > BTEC thing?

Er NO. This is where you are wrong, I'm doing a BTEC and I've got an offer from one of the TOP uni's in the UK, problem?

Birmingham isn't really a top 10 uni though, it's great, but not top 10. So, putting 'top' in capitals won't really change that.

(Not being mean, just playing devil's advocate)

Posted from TSR Mobile

Birmingham isn't really a top 10 uni though, it's great, but not top 10. So, putting 'top' in capitals won't really change that.

(Not being mean, just playing devil's advocate)

Posted from TSR Mobile

I get that with certain courses, Health + Social care for example are complete knobs, However courses like Engineering are filled with A-level capable students...

I didn't say "top 10" did I?? It's in the Russell group of top universities. Do some research mate,it'll do you some good.

"Top"

Why in the hell did you opt for wasting your time when you got an offer from a Russell Group university?

Don't understand why half of you people even care..

1) Half of you have never done a BTEC. Those that have probably done it at a low-class institution.
2) Shouldn't you be doing something else more productive?

Shouldn't you be doing something more productive? your actually contradicting yourself by posting on here and telling others what to do. I'm currently doing a BTEC at sixth form and it's not "low-class" I'd like to see you try and do a 20 page assignment for every unit, bear in mind I have 18 units.

I didn't say "top 10" did I?? It's in the Russell group of top universities. Do some research mate,it'll do you some good.

I have dual monitors and I'm currently in the process of doing an assignment which involves research and I just happen to be used MBT for it which is the sister site for TSR.
In what way am I telling others what to do? I've always been against the idea of forcing your own ideals onto someone else.

If you paid any attention whatsoever you'd realize I done a BTEC and each of my assignments ranged from 30-40 pages consisting of roughly 10000-15000 words. Secondly you should take note of the word half. Stop being insecure because of other people here.

Cool.

Well I'm doing maths, so what btec would have got me offers from imperial, durham and warwick? (Gpt rejected from cambridge, but wouldnt even have been considered with a btec)
Not crapping on btecs, im just saing youve horribly oversimplified it.

I'm not saying you do...some student's appreciate BTEC's highly some are just well I 'll keep that to myself lol. It just angers me that BTEC gets looked down on a lot just because it doesn't require "exams" well next year this/next they'll be introducing exams for BTEC so the a-levels students shouldn't complain anymore.

Equally, there's significant reforms going on for A level exams - no practicals/no resits etc. Both are difficult for different reasons. From what i hear, BTEC is more challenging as you have to go beyond the syllabus and work to expand your knowledge, but you don't have to do an exam on it. A Levels are more stressful as even though you have the confines of a syllabus, you have to remember it all.