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

If there so easy why did u do a btec

Okay that's nice and all, but if I was doing BTEC's, I wouldn't have been able to even visit the mathematics open day at Cambridge. Hell they don't even talk about BTECs on the official site lol. And the same goes for, oxford, bath, imperial, etc. So NO, BTECs are in no way equal, and sure as hell aren't better, than A-levels. And please don't give me that Disney fairytale story that "all unis are the same, oxbridge students aren't better, and they're probably less suited to work environments" lolololol.

So? BTEC students have just the same right as A Level students to attend uni


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Each to their own. Every student should do what is best for them, whether that be A Levels or a BTEC. If you want to go to Oxford or Cambridge, that's brilliant, but it doesn't make you any more superior than anybody else. I never once stated that BTECs are equal, but they do cover more course specific information.

I'm just stating that I am actually must better off studying a BTEC compared to A Levels because of the course I want to do.

Okay that's nice and all, but if I was doing BTEC's, I wouldn't have been able to even visit the mathematics open day at Cambridge. Hell they don't even talk about BTECs on the official site lol. And the same goes for, oxford, bath, imperial, etc. So NO, BTECs are in no way equal, and sure as hell aren't better, than A-levels. And please don't give me that Disney fairytale story that "all unis are the same, oxbridge students aren't better, and they're probably less suited to work environments" lolololol.

Yh I hate the people who think' oh a degree is a degree' people who get into oxbridge are posh wealthy kids who have been spoon fed which majority of the time is not true. My school is pretty bad.


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Sorry I should have clarified that this post wasn't just for you. Also I never said I or anybody was better than anyone. But a person doing A levels and studying their ass off getting As and a student who gets Ds and Cs in A levels then gets transferred to BTECs and stars getting Es and Ds (or whatever letters they use for top marks), are not equal. Doesn't mean they are "superior", but it does mean they are BETTER in academics than that other person. My example here is based on my two friends in maths class. So yeah maybe if you do art or something, btecs are better, but not for science.

RIGHT? Same, although my teachers are good, but I have to study most of the things on my own if I wanna get into Cambridge for Maths. Btw congrats on the offer, wish you all the best.

I've experienced both A levels and BTECs, so I feel experienced enough to actually pose the argument. You on the other hand seem to just need to give yourself a little bit of self gratification because you have studied A Levels.

BTECs provide more life experience, give you more in depth knowledge on the subject you want to pursue a career in. They provide work experience placements which make you more employable if the individual chooses to go straight in a job from their studies. However, a lot of universities like the idea that you have had experience working within your chosen sector, it also shows a little bit of determination that you have worked there unpaid too.

Thanks, Good luck to you to, I believe your sitting STEP with us this year? Yh I have learnt everything this year by myself except for S2. I had to be fluent for C3/4 very early so i self taught them aswel as fp2/3 m3/4.Posted from TSR Mobile

Ok I will accept that are more specific to the the subject (if that makes sense ) but a levels are hard and stressful but I guess it's up to the student if they take the stressful option or the less stressful and more enjoyable option. We are all different ,so academic so vocational it depends on the person but as a more academic person and defenaitly not vocational (I am rubbish at hands on stuff (I am very clumsy)) I can say I can see y people may think that btecs are easy because to people doing a levels it seems like you are only doing one subject and they are doing 3/4 subjects (a levels ) and that's why I believe aleck students look down on Btec students. Just so people know I am in year 10 studying my maths as level and physics next year (year 11) I have nothing against btecs I may take btecs when I leave school but that's in the future. Sorry if I offend anyone but I do believe that btecs are vocational and a levels are more academic but that's what I have be brought up to believe by my school.

I understand your point, however, I fully understand that A Levels can be hard, however with a BTEC, you actually study 9 units alongside each other (if you study an extended) not 3 or 4. Although it is one subject, there is a heck of a lot of work which needs to be put in. I have roughly 6 essays for one unit, meaning that I have 54 essays to hand in each academic year. Each of these essays is at least 5 pages long, and can easily be 10 - 15 pages +. So I would not consider a BTEC to have a lower work load.

Okay that's nice and all, but if I was doing BTEC's, I wouldn't have been able to even visit the mathematics open day at Cambridge. Hell they don't even talk about BTECs on the official site lol. And the same goes for, oxford, bath, imperial, etc. So NO, BTECs are in no way equal, and sure as hell aren't better, than A-levels. And please don't give me that Disney fairytale story that "all unis are the same, oxbridge students aren't better, and they're probably less suited to work environments" lolololol.

Having done both AS and coming to the end of my BTEC extended diploma in medical science I can safely say that none of this is true.

I left after a year of AS due to illness and bad quality teaching and as it was so late in the year I was not able to get into another sixth form for September entry, I was able to get a place on a BTEC course that would allow me to progress onto my chosen degree course.

Shortly after beginning my BTEC I discovered the limitations of A-levels. The syllabus is extremely limited and only really skims the surface of the subjects, you are not encouraged to learn and think for yourself as the main priority is getting you to churn out the same information as everyone else in the country in the exact same way the examiners want. A levels are not a test of knowledge but a test of how well you can regurgitate the syllabus.

I found that a BTEC challenged me much more, I was free to do background reading and research for assignments and I could make them as detailed and as complex as I wished them to be and I would not be penalized for it. My knowledge on the subject only grew and it quickly surpassed those of my peers still doing A-levels. My practical experience is far more detailed than those doing A levels, in A-levels the nice technician will set everything up for you and then at the end you are not even expected to write it up properly. I have been able to write professional, well-structured and properly researched lab reports (including referencing other scientific papers) r 2 years now whilst my peers that went to uni struggled with that aspect. The experiments are relatively basic with A-levels (mainly because the syllabus does not require complex experiments and the majority of schools are limited in terms of facilities) whereas the experiments are a lot more complex and are actually applicable in a real lab environment. Last year one of my modules involved us having to plan, write up and conduct our own experiments with no teacher involvement whatsoever, a lot of people I know doing A-levels would have struggled with this as there was no teacher safety net to tell them what to do. I ended up choosing a microbiology experiment (investigating antibiotic producing colonies in soil samples) that would not have been possible in a school environment, In a school lab I would not have been allowed to use E.coli or S.albus or to even open the plates that contained colonies of bacteria but because our labs have the necessary equipment and we are encouraged to work independently, I successfully completed the experiment and got the highest grade in the class.

The argument that we do just one subject is not entirely true, we just go into more depth and detail than an AS does in that particular subject. For instance the degree I have applied to do required A-levels in Chemistry, Biology and another science subject. The modules for my particular BTEC include Maths/statistics, Physics (including medical physics), Biology (Physiology, Genetics, Regulation of body systems, reproduction and we touched on many other subjects such as Biotechnology and immunology), Biochemistry, Chemistry, Health and safety in laboratories (applicable for the industry we are being prepared to go into), How these large scale scientific companies work and the processes behind how they are managed and run (so essentially we have done a little Business) and we've even done a little philosophy. So essentially I am quite well covered for my degree and I have a much broader and in-depth knowledge than when I did AS.
as a result I have 4 offers from Uni's (3 of which are Russell group universities) and i am well on my way to meeting these offers.

BTECs set you up far better for later life and as a result I have learnt a lot of skills that will help me at uni. I am able to work independently and do not require a teacher to tell or show me what to do. I am able to think for myself. I have more practical experience and my skills in the laboratory are far more developed than those doing A levels. I am also hugely effective at managing my time (having 4 assignments due in one one day and having 2 weeks to complete them all is common).

In response to the BTECS being easy argument all I can say is they are as hard as you want them to be. Some people in my class do not care for their final grade so they do minimal effort whereas the people that want to work hard constantly work hard throughout the 2 years instead of in the weeks leading up to exams. Timing is very tight and in order to do well you have to work hard, far harder than I worked at AS. The majority of my assignments are over 10,000 words which is practically a dissertation whereas the homework I got for AS was a couple of pages at most. Generally, I do not find the work difficult but I am a dedicated student who puts in a lot of hours to background reading and research and have worked hard from the beginning. However, some of the content in the modules was touched on briefly at AS so perhaps that is why I don't find it difficult as I have already done it before.

I just find it funny how I and many other people I know doing BTECS are easily getting uni offers including those from Russell group universities whereas the majority of people I went to school with not only missed their firm but their insurance choice too.

Why shouldn't we be allowed to go to Russell group uni's? We are not against working hard, we are very much used to it. Perhaps more than you A-levels lot are. Just because we are dedicated and able to succeed does not mean we should be penalized because we are going about it the alternative way. We haven't taken the 'easy way out'! All this whinging about us stealing your university places is ridiculous! either be quiet or go work harder to improve your grades, just like we have worked hard to improve ours.

A levels are a walk in the park really

Yeah, although I'm only doing I and (probably II). Wait so what A levels are you doing this year?

Just Maths, FM and Physics. Was going to do FM additional but dropped it as I don't have enough time.


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Wow really? Are they okay with that? I would love it if I had only three A levels, I mean this year is hellish, i'm not studying but still. Gosh imagine just doing three a levels next year. I am actually tearing up :'). lol But seriously, I'm doing way too much now that I think about it.

Yh it does not matter how many a levels you do it just how good you are at maths that matters.


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