why do A-Level Students Look Down on BTEC's?
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Original post by IamLiquid
And how many times can you retake an A level exam? I’ll give you the answer: there is no limit. Whereas with a BTEC you have 2 chances to submit a piece of work.
Are you serious? You can't retake any a level exams more than once?!
You can only have an exam once at the end of june and then again next year at the end of june if you choose to retake it and that's it( btw you have to pay for the retake yourself). And if you choose to retake you have to learn the whole context again and study for your other exams at the same time. But even if you do your exam once in AS in summer- the grade you get on that will be sent to the unis you are applying to so if you do **** that's it.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by yt7777
Just passed every exam at uni this year actually
I'm not talking about uni I'm talking about A level exams.
This is seriously ridiculous.
How about if everybody, A-Level and BTEC students alike, stop being so full of it? Which qualification is better entirely depends on what you want to do in future. For example, it is generally considered that if you want to be a lawyer, you should do A-levels but if you want to be an engineer, a BTEC is probably more useful.
This discussion was started with saying about how A-level students "look down on BTEC students" but it doesn't appear to be about what subject you do, it's about the kind of person you are. To see what I mean, look at the first page on posts 3 and 4 where, right next to each other, you have an A-level student saying that BTEC students are generally "less able" and a BTEC student claiming that they're the ones getting university offers and not A-level students. So it's not that all A-level students look down on BTEC students, some do, but clearly some of you do that to us as well, and anyone who does that is wrong.
Whether or not coursework or exams is easier to do is a matter of personal preference. For example, many people say that they find exams to be very hard and coursework to be easy, but personally I find exams preferable to coursework by far. Hence why I took A-levels - you take subjects that suit you as a person and you shouldn't look down on other people doing the same.
A-level exams may be hard but the students here saying about how BTEC students couldn't do them aren't seeing the point of these qualifications. In our courses, we're taught the necessary skills for our examinations, so of course somebody who hasn't done the course would struggle. However, equally, BTEC students are taught the skills for their coursework and you don't know how to do that either.
For people saying that A-levels aren't useful past getting into university - that isn't true. Employers still look at your A-levels/BTEC no matter your degree of education. They still look at your GCSEs, especially in things like English and Maths, so why would they not look at your further education? Some employers lay out specific GCSE, A-Level, and/or BTEC requirements for a job, and others simply view it as something that acts as a credit to your ability to do a given job, but either way it still matters in employment.
It's also not true that either A-levels or BTECs are conclusively better for university as it depends on the course. Some courses are exam-based and others are more orientated around coursework. Therefore, again, it's a matter of what you want to do and you should choose your qualification accordingly.
Tl;dr: Neither BTECs nor A-levels are superior, it depends entirely on you and your plans, and anybody claiming otherwise (be they an A-level or a BTEC student) is probably just being childish.
How about if everybody, A-Level and BTEC students alike, stop being so full of it? Which qualification is better entirely depends on what you want to do in future. For example, it is generally considered that if you want to be a lawyer, you should do A-levels but if you want to be an engineer, a BTEC is probably more useful.
This discussion was started with saying about how A-level students "look down on BTEC students" but it doesn't appear to be about what subject you do, it's about the kind of person you are. To see what I mean, look at the first page on posts 3 and 4 where, right next to each other, you have an A-level student saying that BTEC students are generally "less able" and a BTEC student claiming that they're the ones getting university offers and not A-level students. So it's not that all A-level students look down on BTEC students, some do, but clearly some of you do that to us as well, and anyone who does that is wrong.
Whether or not coursework or exams is easier to do is a matter of personal preference. For example, many people say that they find exams to be very hard and coursework to be easy, but personally I find exams preferable to coursework by far. Hence why I took A-levels - you take subjects that suit you as a person and you shouldn't look down on other people doing the same.
A-level exams may be hard but the students here saying about how BTEC students couldn't do them aren't seeing the point of these qualifications. In our courses, we're taught the necessary skills for our examinations, so of course somebody who hasn't done the course would struggle. However, equally, BTEC students are taught the skills for their coursework and you don't know how to do that either.
For people saying that A-levels aren't useful past getting into university - that isn't true. Employers still look at your A-levels/BTEC no matter your degree of education. They still look at your GCSEs, especially in things like English and Maths, so why would they not look at your further education? Some employers lay out specific GCSE, A-Level, and/or BTEC requirements for a job, and others simply view it as something that acts as a credit to your ability to do a given job, but either way it still matters in employment.
It's also not true that either A-levels or BTECs are conclusively better for university as it depends on the course. Some courses are exam-based and others are more orientated around coursework. Therefore, again, it's a matter of what you want to do and you should choose your qualification accordingly.
Tl;dr: Neither BTECs nor A-levels are superior, it depends entirely on you and your plans, and anybody claiming otherwise (be they an A-level or a BTEC student) is probably just being childish.
Original post by Holly-JW
This is seriously ridiculous.
How about if everybody, A-Level and BTEC students alike, stop being so full of it? Which qualification is better entirely depends on what you want to do in future. For example, it is generally considered that if you want to be a lawyer, you should do A-levels but if you want to be an engineer, a BTEC is probably more useful.
This discussion was started with saying about how A-level students "look down on BTEC students" but it doesn't appear to be about what subject you do, it's about the kind of person you are. To see what I mean, look at the first page on posts 3 and 4 where, right next to each other, you have an A-level student saying that BTEC students are generally "less able" and a BTEC student claiming that they're the ones getting university offers and not A-level students. So it's not that all A-level students look down on BTEC students, some do, but clearly some of you do that to us as well, and anyone who does that is wrong.
Whether or not coursework or exams is easier to do is a matter of personal preference. For example, many people say that they find exams to be very hard and coursework to be easy, but personally I find exams preferable to coursework by far. Hence why I took A-levels - you take subjects that suit you as a person and you shouldn't look down on other people doing the same.
A-level exams may be hard but the students here saying about how BTEC students couldn't do them aren't seeing the point of these qualifications. In our courses, we're taught the necessary skills for our examinations, so of course somebody who hasn't done the course would struggle. However, equally, BTEC students are taught the skills for their coursework and you don't know how to do that either.
For people saying that A-levels aren't useful past getting into university - that isn't true. Employers still look at your A-levels/BTEC no matter your degree of education. They still look at your GCSEs, especially in things like English and Maths, so why would they not look at your further education? Some employers lay out specific GCSE, A-Level, and/or BTEC requirements for a job, and others simply view it as something that acts as a credit to your ability to do a given job, but either way it still matters in employment.
It's also not true that either A-levels or BTECs are conclusively better for university as it depends on the course. Some courses are exam-based and others are more orientated around coursework. Therefore, again, it's a matter of what you want to do and you should choose your qualification accordingly.
Tl;dr: Neither BTECs nor A-levels are superior, it depends entirely on you and your plans, and anybody claiming otherwise (be they an A-level or a BTEC student) is probably just being childish.
How about if everybody, A-Level and BTEC students alike, stop being so full of it? Which qualification is better entirely depends on what you want to do in future. For example, it is generally considered that if you want to be a lawyer, you should do A-levels but if you want to be an engineer, a BTEC is probably more useful.
This discussion was started with saying about how A-level students "look down on BTEC students" but it doesn't appear to be about what subject you do, it's about the kind of person you are. To see what I mean, look at the first page on posts 3 and 4 where, right next to each other, you have an A-level student saying that BTEC students are generally "less able" and a BTEC student claiming that they're the ones getting university offers and not A-level students. So it's not that all A-level students look down on BTEC students, some do, but clearly some of you do that to us as well, and anyone who does that is wrong.
Whether or not coursework or exams is easier to do is a matter of personal preference. For example, many people say that they find exams to be very hard and coursework to be easy, but personally I find exams preferable to coursework by far. Hence why I took A-levels - you take subjects that suit you as a person and you shouldn't look down on other people doing the same.
A-level exams may be hard but the students here saying about how BTEC students couldn't do them aren't seeing the point of these qualifications. In our courses, we're taught the necessary skills for our examinations, so of course somebody who hasn't done the course would struggle. However, equally, BTEC students are taught the skills for their coursework and you don't know how to do that either.
For people saying that A-levels aren't useful past getting into university - that isn't true. Employers still look at your A-levels/BTEC no matter your degree of education. They still look at your GCSEs, especially in things like English and Maths, so why would they not look at your further education? Some employers lay out specific GCSE, A-Level, and/or BTEC requirements for a job, and others simply view it as something that acts as a credit to your ability to do a given job, but either way it still matters in employment.
It's also not true that either A-levels or BTECs are conclusively better for university as it depends on the course. Some courses are exam-based and others are more orientated around coursework. Therefore, again, it's a matter of what you want to do and you should choose your qualification accordingly.
Tl;dr: Neither BTECs nor A-levels are superior, it depends entirely on you and your plans, and anybody claiming otherwise (be they an A-level or a BTEC student) is probably just being childish.
Thank You..
Someone reasonable!!
Original post by manlikem
I'm not talking about uni I'm talking about A level exams.
Logical, i tell you that i pass an academically higher level exam with more challenging content and you still focus on A level because i chose the BTEC route which was more suitable for my subject (proved by my university results) and also i have taken A level Computing, Comp Sci and ICT exams when i was at sixth form and they were easy with the knowledge i took from my BTEC
I did AS levels but my choice was not influenced by my interests but mainly by having to stay at school for an extra 2 years which I loathed so I decided not to do A levels because 1. 2 out of the 3 A-levels I was studying was to just fill in the gap because I couldn't just study one subject and 2. the timetables would clash if I were to choose what subjects I wanted to do, which also was coupled with the fact there were only 8 A-levels to choose from, only 4 were able to be chosen due to my low GCSE grades, 2 A-level subjects happen to be the ones people criticise for being a joke aka Media Studies, as far as difficult A-levels went, had I done good at GCSE, Further Maths is pretty much as complex as it would get, so my school was very limited in its options at that time. But I was to choose between psychology or media studies, I was assured media would involve some IT so I went for that but now I never look at films the same again..
So it's not down to choice but rather being forced out of it by undesirable situations, especially for me, mainstream school was just pure hell, purgatory for my sins if you will, I found college to be much more open and relaxed which is what I needed to boost my intellect and do my BTEC of course.
So it's not down to choice but rather being forced out of it by undesirable situations, especially for me, mainstream school was just pure hell, purgatory for my sins if you will, I found college to be much more open and relaxed which is what I needed to boost my intellect and do my BTEC of course.
Original post by manlikem
Are you serious? You can't retake any a level exams more than once?!
You can only have an exam once at the end of june and then again next year at the end of june if you choose to retake it and that's it( btw you have to pay for the retake yourself). And if you choose to retake you have to learn the whole context again and study for your other exams at the same time. But even if you do your exam once in AS in summer- the grade you get on that will be sent to the unis you are applying to so if you do **** that's it.
You can only have an exam once at the end of june and then again next year at the end of june if you choose to retake it and that's it( btw you have to pay for the retake yourself). And if you choose to retake you have to learn the whole context again and study for your other exams at the same time. But even if you do your exam once in AS in summer- the grade you get on that will be sent to the unis you are applying to so if you do **** that's it.
That's why you defer your UCAS application and progress with another year of study (resit year), then reapply for university the following year..
BTEC student: I made my choice, I succeeded doing my BTEC because reasons ... don't be hating on BTEC because you think you are superior.
A-level student: ignorance is bliss.
A-level student: ignorance is bliss.
Original post by scorpius14
BTEC student: I made my choice, I succeeded doing my BTEC because reasons ... don't be hating on BTEC because you think you are superior.
A-level student: ignorance is bliss.
A-level student: ignorance is bliss.
Ignorance is bliss you say?
"VCE A Levels, Applied A Levels, GNVQs and BTECs do not provide an appropriate preparation for most Cambridge courses, where the emphasis is more academic than vocational. As such, these qualifications cannot, unless otherwise stated, be used to replace the 'essential' and 'highly desirable' A Level subjects listed for each course."
I am not saying they are worthless, but A levels are superior and more difficult.
Original post by Yellow636
Ignorance is bliss you say?
"VCE A Levels, Applied A Levels, GNVQs and BTECs do not provide an appropriate preparation for most Cambridge courses, where the emphasis is more academic than vocational. As such, these qualifications cannot, unless otherwise stated, be used to replace the 'essential' and 'highly desirable' A Level subjects listed for each course."
I am not saying they are worthless, but A levels are superior and more difficult.
"VCE A Levels, Applied A Levels, GNVQs and BTECs do not provide an appropriate preparation for most Cambridge courses, where the emphasis is more academic than vocational. As such, these qualifications cannot, unless otherwise stated, be used to replace the 'essential' and 'highly desirable' A Level subjects listed for each course."
I am not saying they are worthless, but A levels are superior and more difficult.
Thats from the Cambridge website, which is a very traditional university and prefer students to have a traditional education
A levels are not superior nor are they harder than BTECs, they both teach very similar content, and for degree subjects that generally more vocational and will ead to a specific career like Computer Science, Engineering, Business, Media etc. BTECs provide juat as good (if not better) preperation for further study in the subject, my first year of CompSci was very similar to my Computing BTEC and i was very wellprepared for uni and that is shown through me passing every module and achieveing firsts in most of the corsework assignments
Original post by yt7777
Thats from the Cambridge website, which is a very traditional university and prefer students to have a traditional education
A levels are not superior nor are they harder than BTECs, they both teach very similar content, and for degree subjects that generally more vocational and will ead to a specific career like Computer Science, Engineering, Business, Media etc. BTECs provide juat as good (if not better) preperation for further study in the subject, my first year of CompSci was very similar to my Computing BTEC and i was very wellprepared for uni and that is shown through me passing every module and achieveing firsts in most of the corsework assignments
A levels are not superior nor are they harder than BTECs, they both teach very similar content, and for degree subjects that generally more vocational and will ead to a specific career like Computer Science, Engineering, Business, Media etc. BTECs provide juat as good (if not better) preperation for further study in the subject, my first year of CompSci was very similar to my Computing BTEC and i was very wellprepared for uni and that is shown through me passing every module and achieveing firsts in most of the corsework assignments
Good for you.
However, I cannot see how btecs can be equal to a levels. Not only are they coursework based but they do not require any knowledge at all. You can literally research something, write it down, and never have to remember it. Unlike A-levels where you have to remember and understand your subject to answer questions in an exam. I am not saying they are worthless, Btecs have a place in schools but that place is as a route for people looking for a less academic route.
There are even exams being introduced into Btecs in order to increase their academic rigor!
Original post by Yellow636
Good for you.
However, I cannot see how btecs can be equal to a levels. Not only are they coursework based but they do not require any knowledge at all. You can literally research something, write it down, and never have to remember it. Unlike A-levels where you have to remember and understand your subject to answer questions in an exam. I am not saying they are worthless, Btecs have a place in schools but that place is as a route for people looking for a less academic route.
There are even exams being introduced into Btecs in order to increase their academic rigor!
However, I cannot see how btecs can be equal to a levels. Not only are they coursework based but they do not require any knowledge at all. You can literally research something, write it down, and never have to remember it. Unlike A-levels where you have to remember and understand your subject to answer questions in an exam. I am not saying they are worthless, Btecs have a place in schools but that place is as a route for people looking for a less academic route.
There are even exams being introduced into Btecs in order to increase their academic rigor!
Some BTECs require placements, which would come in handy for uni as students can relate to it for uni work and will be able to use that knowledge for uni work and if the course requires a placement
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Original post by ohhello92x
Some BTECs require placements, which would come in handy for uni as students can relate to it for uni work and will be able to use that knowledge for uni work and if the course requires a placement
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I am sure they do.
However, a lot of university courses are entirely, or mainly, exam based.
How well does Btecs support the candidate in preparing for these exams? They not only do not have the skills which A-level students have gained, from completing 2 years of exam based courses, but they are expected to compete against those who do.
If you are planning on doing a full coursework degree, then I am sure btecs are a great preperation, even better than A-level.
Original post by Yellow636
Good for you.
However, I cannot see how btecs can be equal to a levels. Not only are they coursework based but they do not require any knowledge at all. You can literally research something, write it down, and never have to remember it. Unlike A-levels where you have to remember and understand your subject to answer questions in an exam. I am not saying they are worthless, Btecs have a place in schools but that place is as a route for people looking for a less academic route.
There are even exams being introduced into Btecs in order to increase their academic rigor!
However, I cannot see how btecs can be equal to a levels. Not only are they coursework based but they do not require any knowledge at all. You can literally research something, write it down, and never have to remember it. Unlike A-levels where you have to remember and understand your subject to answer questions in an exam. I am not saying they are worthless, Btecs have a place in schools but that place is as a route for people looking for a less academic route.
There are even exams being introduced into Btecs in order to increase their academic rigor!
Thank you,
But i disagree with what you say, they are worth A levels because they are the same level, you get taught the content and then you have to do a fair amount of research, thats for the theory side of it, and yes you do have to do written assignments but if you do them properly you will achieve the high grades and will ve able to retain information, i averaged 10,000 words per unit (i did 18 units aswell) on my BTEC and when you put that much work in you will be able to remenber it, i can still remember large paragraphs from assignments that i did 2 years ago almost word for word. And the written assignments cover the theory that you would learn at A level.
The great thing about BTEC is that you also get to do practical assignments that are so beneficial to re-enforcing understanding that you would never get to do in A level, so for example, in the unit that i did called Computer Networking we did 3 theory assignments (mine totalled over 12k words) and then we constructed a network using the old college hardware this included the configuration of servers, understanding how to use Windows Server 2012 OS, creating user accounts for people to be able to sign in to the workstations in the LAN and also running a multiplayer network game accross the Network allowing users to play through their own user accounts that we previously set up, and this is real, practical application of the theory that we learnt previously (Computing A level only covers the theory)
Original post by Yellow636
I am sure they do.
However, a lot of university courses are entirely, or mainly, exam based.
How well does Btecs support the candidate in preparing for these exams? They not only do not have the skills which A-level students have gained, from completing 2 years of exam based courses, but they are expected to compete against those who do.
If you are planning on doing a full coursework degree, then I am sure btecs are a great preperation, even better than A-level.
However, a lot of university courses are entirely, or mainly, exam based.
How well does Btecs support the candidate in preparing for these exams? They not only do not have the skills which A-level students have gained, from completing 2 years of exam based courses, but they are expected to compete against those who do.
If you are planning on doing a full coursework degree, then I am sure btecs are a great preperation, even better than A-level.
What if they do exam based courses alongside the BTEC? I'm doing a degree at uni and did a BTEC. Also did a couple of extra subjects which were exam based so either way I was prepared for uni. Did an exam at uni and got a great mark on it. Plus lecturers at uni HELP you prepare for the exam/s, mine sure did
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Original post by md_shamz
Distinction* = A*
Distinction = A
Merit = C
Pass = E
Distinction = A
Merit = C
Pass = E
Actually a merit is a 'b' and a pass is a 'c'
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Original post by ohhello92x
Nope.
A* = 140
A = 120
C = 80
E = 40
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/entry-requirements/tariff/tariff-tables/946
D* = 140
D = 120
M = 80
P = 40
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/entry-requirements/tariff/tariff-tables/1161
Loads of BTECs just seemed to be ones like Health and Social, hair and beauty, sport, dance sort of qualifications...
In my opinion I would consider these easier than the likes of Maths, Physics etc., but engineering does sound like a much better course though!
At my school, I was the last year that did GCSE music. Because so few people could do it, they changed it to BTEC music the year after because, and I quote from my teacher, "it's easier so more people will be able to do it"...
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In my opinion I would consider these easier than the likes of Maths, Physics etc., but engineering does sound like a much better course though!
At my school, I was the last year that did GCSE music. Because so few people could do it, they changed it to BTEC music the year after because, and I quote from my teacher, "it's easier so more people will be able to do it"...
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Original post by IamLiquid
Nope.
A* = 140
A = 120
C = 80
E = 40
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/entry-requirements/tariff/tariff-tables/946
D* = 140
D = 120
M = 80
P = 40
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/entry-requirements/tariff/tariff-tables/1161
A* = 140
A = 120
C = 80
E = 40
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/entry-requirements/tariff/tariff-tables/946
D* = 140
D = 120
M = 80
P = 40
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/entry-requirements/tariff/tariff-tables/1161
That's how I've been told it is, I got 'DDM' in my level 3, which is 360 UCAS points
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Original post by ohhello92x
That's how I've been told it is, I got 'DDM' in my level 3, which is 360 UCAS points
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You've been told wrong then.
DDM = 320 (120 + 120 + 80 = 320)
360 would be DDD.
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/entry-requirements/tariff/tariff-tables/1161
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