Sixth Form, With No GCSEs

Hey everyone. Something’s been bothering me recently and I need to get it off my chest.

I’m a seventeen-going-on-eighteen-year-old student currently studying the first year of a Level 3 BTEC Degree at college. Last year, I received a Level 1 BTEC Diploma in a different subject (yes, I jumped! There were no spaces left on the Level 2 courses that my college offers and the course leader thought I’d fare fine on L3).

So, time for the disastrous details. I’m doing quite well; the only problem is... I’m taking the wrong subject. 😒 My course is very practical, but I am and always have been academic. I was an overachiever at school, I love writing, and I don’t dread textbooks. I know, deep in the BTEC-stuffed recesses of my brain, that I should be studying my A Levels.

But that’s fine, right? Just apply for the subjects you want to take — psychology, sociology, and law — and move to a sixth form in September; you’ll be eighteen, but you still have time.

Great idea! But I don’t have the certification. Despite loving learning, I dropped out of school in Year 9. I don’t have any formal high school qualifications. I got into college on my above-average English skills and enthusiasm alone, but I don’t have anything to prove that enthusiasm. I’ll likely have passed my English GCSE by the end of this year, however I don’t have the normal requirements most A Level providers ask for.

I’ve always loved social sciences, but I can’t back that adoration up academically. I can only support it with my own personal research (which isn’t substantial at the moment, because I thought I’d never be able to pursue it as a career) and the affirmation that I want nothing more than to work in the area. I can only reassure them that the sole reason I haven’t considered this before is because I did — and still kinda do — think it’s borderline impossible I’ll be accepted anywhere.

This turned out to be a whinge haha, but that’s the dilemma! So, my questions are thus:

1. What are the chances of me taking an A Level course without formal qualifications?

2. Will a centre be willing to offer me a place based on personal interest alone?