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BTEC vs A Level college help???!

Hi, basically I have just finished my GCSEs and got better results than expected. I now meet the standards to do A levels but I think I’m opting to do a BTEC but... the college near me only does a standard level 3 BTEC which is a 1 year course. How many A level equivalents is this because it’s not an extended course or anything? And if it’s a one year course will it mean I can apply to do another course the year after of will I have to go on to find a full time job? Thank you
honestly i’m not one that knows much on BTEC, since i am going into A levels, how ever if you have achieved good grades I would recommend A levels, as much as other people don’t want to admit it A levels are thought to be harder than BTEC and mostly chosen by those of higher abilities, but it all depends on the job you are thinking of doing, I’m doing veterinary, so I need my A levels for biology and chemistry, however if you wanted to chose something like hair dressing, you are recommended to do BTEC, so overall it’s mostly depending on the job you are doing, and for would you be able to do another course sorry but i honestly have no idea ahha
Reply 2
Avatar for yt7777
yt7777
18
Whats the full name of the BTEC?

BTEC Subsidiary = 1 A level
BTEC Extended Certificate = 1 A level
BTEC 90-credit = 1.5 A levels
BTEC Diploma = 2 A levels
BTEC Extended Diploma = 3 A levels

You'll want to be doing the Extended Diploma or any of the others combined with A levels (or other BTECs) so that you total 3 A levels equivalent.

Hope this helps :smile:
It depends on what you want to do. If you think there's a possibility of you wanting to go to uni then I'd do either A Levels or IB. Every uni I've looked at accepted either of those, but it was far less common for them to accept BTEC and you don't want to back yourself into a corner at all
Reply 4
Avatar for yt7777
yt7777
18
Original post by notveryoriginal
It depends on what you want to do. If you think there's a possibility of you wanting to go to uni then I'd do either A Levels or IB. Every uni I've looked at accepted either of those, but it was far less common for them to accept BTEC and you don't want to back yourself into a corner at all


Over 95% of UK unis accept BTEC for at least some courses, with the exception of just Imperial College and some Scottish unis.
Original post by yt7777
Over 95% of UK unis accept BTEC for at least some courses, with the exception of just Imperial College and some Scottish unis.

That's why I said depends on what you want to do. Depends on the course. If you want to do something creative then BTECs are amazing for unis. I'm doing law, it's a lot more difficult, and I'm saying this as I've met people who have been extremely upset to discover that they can't do what they want to because they didn't realise their BTEC wouldn't be accepted by the uni. I'm just saying it's worth looking
Original post by username4225394
honestly i’m not one that knows much on BTEC, since i am going into A levels, how ever if you have achieved good grades I would recommend A levels, as much as other people don’t want to admit it A levels are thought to be harder than BTEC and mostly chosen by those of higher abilities, but it all depends on the job you are thinking of doing, I’m doing veterinary, so I need my A levels for biology and chemistry, however if you wanted to chose something like hair dressing, you are recommended to do BTEC, so overall it’s mostly depending on the job you are doing, and for would you be able to do another course sorry but i honestly have no idea ahha

Thank you so much! Honestly I think I’m just going to stick to a BTEC because I find exam periods really hard and with GCSEs I was just confused half the time aha I didn’t get great results but personally I’m happy with them however they do now allow me to do A levels and no resits so I’m happy and I’m happy I have the option of A-Levels if I find BTECs not for me because I have till October to change. But I’m more concerned about my BTEC bc my college doesn’t offer any other BTEC level 3 apart from “BTEC level 3” which means no extended dimpomas or anything so I’m not too sure how many A level equivalents I’ll get but if not I’ll just swap college aha
If you want to go to university = BTEC level 3 extended diploma ONLY at a top level achieved or A levels.

Or if university isn’t for you, you could do a different type of BTEC for the year & get a job straight afterwards. Like users have said above, all depends on the career you want.
Original post by yt7777
Whats the full name of the BTEC?

BTEC Subsidiary = 1 A level
BTEC Extended Certificate = 1 A level
BTEC 90-credit = 1.5 A levels
BTEC Diploma = 2 A levels
BTEC Extended Diploma = 3 A levels

You'll want to be doing the Extended Diploma or any of the others combined with A levels (or other BTECs) so that you total 3 A levels equivalent.

Hope this helps :smile:

Thank You so much! This honestly helps a ton! I’ve been looking for something that explains it like this but I couldn’t find one aha but thank you so so much! Also I’m wishing to study uniformed public services at a 3 A level equivalent but on the website to my college it’s just listed as “level 3” and they have nothing higher than that. Does this mean it will just be 1 A level equivalent? When I ent for my interview it totally didn’t cross my mind to ask argh! But if anything I’ll might look into a different college that offers more equivalents only thing is I’ll have to get 2 buses and a longer journey sigh :/ but thank you so so much! :smile:
Original post by notveryoriginal
It depends on what you want to do. If you think there's a possibility of you wanting to go to uni then I'd do either A Levels or IB. Every uni I've looked at accepted either of those, but it was far less common for them to accept BTEC and you don't want to back yourself into a corner at all

I was looking to do law at uni but I’ve just read your reply’s. Tbh I would like to go to uni but I’ve seen how hard the subject law is (my sisters been doing it the past 2 years) and it kinda puts me off abit as if I don’t do law I’m not too sure what else I’d like to do! I was thinking after college if I don’t go to uni I might join the armed forces. Btw Uniformed public services is what I’m wanting to study at BTEC. However if I was to change to A levels I would wish to pick - Criminology, Phycology and law but i probably won’t end up doing that :smile:
Original post by Evangelinexoxo
I was looking to do law at uni but I’ve just read your reply’s. Tbh I would like to go to uni but I’ve seen how hard the subject law is (my sisters been doing it the past 2 years) and it kinda puts me off abit as if I don’t do law I’m not too sure what else I’d like to do! I was thinking after college if I don’t go to uni I might join the armed forces. Btw Uniformed public services is what I’m wanting to study at BTEC. However if I was to change to A levels I would wish to pick - Criminology, Phycology and law but i probably won’t end up doing that :smile:

Just in case you didn't know because I didn't until like year 13, you don't have to do a law degree if you want to be a solicitor or a barrister. You can do any degree and then a conversion course if that helps any. Either way, good luck!
Reply 11
Avatar for yt7777
yt7777
18
Original post by Evangelinexoxo
Thank You so much! This honestly helps a ton! I’ve been looking for something that explains it like this but I couldn’t find one aha but thank you so so much! Also I’m wishing to study uniformed public services at a 3 A level equivalent but on the website to my college it’s just listed as “level 3” and they have nothing higher than that. Does this mean it will just be 1 A level equivalent? When I ent for my interview it totally didn’t cross my mind to ask argh! But if anything I’ll might look into a different college that offers more equivalents only thing is I’ll have to get 2 buses and a longer journey sigh :/ but thank you so so much! :smile:

No problem at all :smile:

Well, I believe you have to be studying 3 A level equivalent to be classed as full time student so I can only speculate that this will be the Extended diploma, contact the college and find out though. i doubt that they'd allow you to enrol on just 1 A level equiv.
Original post by Evangelinexoxo
Hi, basically I have just finished my GCSEs and got better results than expected. I now meet the standards to do A levels but I think I’m opting to do a BTEC but... the college near me only does a standard level 3 BTEC which is a 1 year course. How many A level equivalents is this because it’s not an extended course or anything? And if it’s a one year course will it mean I can apply to do another course the year after of will I have to go on to find a full time job? Thank you


Call them to find out. You need it to be extended diploma. If you’ve received any letters it could say Yr1 90 credit or something, that would also be correct. Otherwise you might have to look into travelling further
Original post by yt7777
No problem at all :smile:

Well, I believe you have to be studying 3 A level equivalent to be classed as full time student so I can only speculate that this will be the Extended diploma, contact the college and find out though. i doubt that they'd allow you to enrol on just 1 A level equiv.

Thank you so much :smile: I’m going to double check with the college now because I wouldn’t see why just a standard level 3 would be the highest course they offer but if so I’ll sort something else out thank you! :smile:
Original post by notveryoriginal
Just in case you didn't know because I didn't until like year 13, you don't have to do a law degree if you want to be a solicitor or a barrister. You can do any degree and then a conversion course if that helps any. Either way, good luck!

Thank you! This helps a ton I didn’t realise you could do that :smile: thanks guys
I have done BTEC . Both A-levels and BTEC are equivalent. That’s what I was told and that what enabled me to get into uni . But if you want to do BTEC , you need to be good at course work . Because most of the courses entail students to do coursework as well as exams . But to be honest it’s what subjects intrigue you. Not all of the subjects that you like would be from the same board .
Original post by Unknown....212
I have done BTEC . Both A-levels and BTEC are equivalent. That’s what I was told and that what enabled me to get into uni . But if you want to do BTEC , you need to be good at course work . Because most of the courses entail students to do coursework as well as exams . But to be honest it’s what subjects intrigue you. Not all of the subjects that you like would be from the same board .

Thank you! :smile:
Hey guys, thank you for all your help! It’s honestly helped a ton! I’ve found out now my course is a 90 credit course they just didn’t state that on the website and I havnt really gone into the college as I’ve just moved area so I’m new to the town. But thank you all! My enrolments next week :smile:

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