College or Sixth Form? - Sheffield

Hey!

Im currently in Y11 sitting my GCSEs, i've applied for High Storrs 6th Form and Castle College, but i dont know where to go in september? :s-smilie:

High Storrs:
1) Bio, Chem, IT and Product Design (if i gt B in science)
2) IT, Product Design and Business Studies (reserve: Sports Studies)

Castle College:
BTEC: IT Practictioners Diploma (worth 3 A-Levels)

The truth is i dont really want to do a-levels as there are to hard, i would much prefer a course...but the thing thats putting me off is that i'm not sure if uni's take a-level students over course taking students.

And the only reason i'm picking the sciences is because i really like them, but a-level chem and bio may be 10x harder than GCSE? :s-smilie:

Plus i'm more likely to do a dagree in an IT field!

Non of my friends are going to castle college because they say its full of chavs and thugs? :s-smilie:

...i went for the interview and the people there with me waiting were all disleksik or deaf etc.?

I'm really stuck on where to go? Can someone please advise me???

Reply 1

jellyellie

If you don't want to do A-Levels and have other options open to you, then don't do them. There is no need. Universities go on UCAS points, which take into account A-Levels and BTECs equally. There is absolutely no preference for A-Level students over BTECs in the majority of universities. And as you say you are likely to do an IT degree, this may give you a head start, as it will show potential universities you are really focused on your chosen career (but at the same time an IT BTEC would be worthwhile if you choose to do something different at university).

About the college thing though... this is a tough decision. I have been at a tech college this year taking a couple of AS Levels, and it has its advantages and disadvantages. The positive things are that you're treated like an adult, with no 'homework' or detentions etc. If you turn up late, you turn up late; it's up to you to catch up. But on the other hand, I know what you mean about the people; as the entry requirements are a lot lower than normal colleges and the college itself offers a wide variety of courses that are often taken by less intelligent people, you do generally get a lower class of people. That being said, it depends what course you're on; if you're doing an IT BTEC, there's a fair chance a lot of your peers will be doing it for exactly the same reasons as you. So it's not all bad.

Whatever you do, don't do A-Levels just because you feel you have to.

Reply 2

VK-91

thanks alot mate...you've cleared the uni problem...

would have been better if you lived in sheffield then you could have told me more about the college, but thanks

Reply 3

Aksan

Hey, I live in Sheffield as well and go to Longley. If I were you, I would go to High Storrs and not Castle. The people that go to Castle generally don't care at all about their work and are just there for the sake of being there. I wouldn't be put off by the fact that A levels are harder. They probably are indeed harder than the BTEC course, but there is still a lot of memorization and just reading from the book the same as GCSEs (well, at AS anyway). Ultimately, it's your decision though. If Castle had better students and higher standards, I would say go to Castle. But it's not and I doubt you would be happy there.

Reply 4

VK-91

thats the main thing i've also heard!

People there are genrally tossers? :frown:

...i only know this one person goig there to do a cooking course, which he wont need to go to uni for?

have you got any more colleges in mind? that have high expectations and good learning enviroment?

Reply 5

Aksan

Well, in terms of colleges there are only branches of Sheffield College. None of them have that good of a reputation to be honest. I go to Longley Park, which is a sixth form college and has elements of both a sixth form and college. I'd say the learning environment here is great and all of my teachers really try to push me to do my best. This is for A levels however. I do maths, further maths, physics, chemistry, and computing. I don't know about the quality of the BTEC courses here, but they are available.

Reply 6

Of the Standard of Taste

I my self had this problem !

But at the end of the day i chose sixth form because:
you wont find many tossers and chav's there
and you are a pushed to the limit!
you will know most the people!
you will know your way around

what would you rather say to people '' i have a BTEC '' are say i have four ''A-Levels''.

I raise this point because any old tosser can get into a BTEC course but for A-Levels its a diffrent story.

You also said that you dont know many people going to castle , surely you could make friends with people who coudnt get into A-Levels and you could your self become a thug and sell drugs to people.

i know many people who go to castle (and who have been) and they are doing nothing with there lifes!

thing about it its your own school you've been there for 5 years , im sure you know all your teacher's and im sure they will be willing to help you in there own time , but with castle collage im sure you will have todo more running around!

But still at the end of the day i can also persuade you to a limit , as this my friend is your choice to make.
Will you play your best hand ?
Are will you fold and walk away ?