Transferring from BTEC to A levels

4

Hi i am currently in my first year BTEC applied science extended diploma and i am thinking of doing A levels next year but i am not sure whether i should do it or not. I did not do well at GCSE at all and on the result day they put me in for this course. I didn't really enjoy it that much and decided to re sit my Biology and Chemistry GCSE in which i had previously gotten Cs. In the re sit i got a B in Biology and an A in chemistry and i am not so sure now.

Reply 1

999tigger

19

Original post by Sof193

Hi i am currently in my first year BTEC applied science extended diploma and i am thinking of doing A levels next year but i am not sure whether i should do it or not. I did not do well at GCSE at all and on the result day they put me in for this course. I didn't really enjoy it that much and decided to re sit my Biology and Chemistry GCSE in which i had previously gotten Cs. In the re sit i got a B in Biology and an A in chemistry and i am not so sure now.

Weigh things up.

Pros and cons.

Will your BTEC get you to where you want to go i.e acceptable on the uni courses you want? How are your marks going?
Will your school let you switch to A level?
Will you cope better with exams rather than coursework?

Reply 2

Sarah_g_24

13

OMG I did this!! Since year 9 I knew what A-Levels etc I wanted to do, I got BB in science and the college I went to put me into BTEC Medical Science because I was “really good at course work” I ended that year with a D* but couldn’t get into University with that course so I was practically begging to move to Bio and Chem A-Level.
I would say only do it if you really have to. Email admissions to the universities or wherever you want to go about your chosen courses. I wouldn’t do it if you can get away with the subjects you’re studying now, good luck!!
What is it you want to do after college?

Reply 3

user488949439

19

Original post by Sof193

Hi i am currently in my first year BTEC applied science extended diploma and i am thinking of doing A levels next year but i am not sure whether i should do it or not. I did not do well at GCSE at all and on the result day they put me in for this course. I didn't really enjoy it that much and decided to re sit my Biology and Chemistry GCSE in which i had previously gotten Cs. In the re sit i got a B in Biology and an A in chemistry and i am not so sure now.

btec in applied science is accepted by most universities for nearly all courses except Medicine. There are about half a dozen who dont accept it. Sometimes they also require Maths A level in addition for Engineering or Computer Science. However the key questions are do you enjoy it and would you be more likely to get high grads in that or A level. You also have the option of taking Chemistry A level in addition to your Btec.

What subject do you intend taking at university. When you have ideas for this check a few university courses and see whether they accept Btecs

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/applications/entry-requirements/uk-entry-requirements/

https://university.which.co.uk/advice/ucas-application/can-you-get-into-university-if-youre-studying-btecs

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jul/21/will-taking-a-btec-help-or-hinder-your-university-application

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

Sof193

OP

4

I have looked at a lot of universities requirement for the courses i might want to do and they all said i need an additional a level biology or chemistry and my school is not letting me do that. furthermore i have emailed a few other uni and they said that they do not except Btec for that course or that i need a level with it , now i feel like my options are very limited as i am not really interested in the courses that are available to me.

Reply 5

user488949439

19

Original post by Sof193

I have looked at a lot of universities requirement for the courses i might want to do and they all said i need an additional a level biology or chemistry and my school is not letting me do that. furthermore i have emailed a few other uni and they said that they do not except Btec for that course or that i need a level with it , now i feel like my options are very limited as i am not really interested in the courses that are available to me.

you might not want to hear this but maybe you should consider leaving your school and finding a college that will allow you to do this. What course are you looking to do and where

Reply 6

Sof193

OP

4

Original post by swanseajack1

you might not want to hear this but maybe you should consider leaving your school and finding a college that will allow you to do this. What course are you looking to do and where

Thanks for replying i am thinking of doing neuroscience in the future.
Will other collage/sixth form accept me after the re sits?

Reply 7

user488949439

19

Original post by Sof193

Thanks for replying i am thinking of doing neuroscience in the future.
Will other collage/sixth form accept me after the re sits?

probably the only way of knowing is to contact a few

Reply 8

user488949439

19

The other issue is the very high grades required for this. Given you achieved a B on a GCSE resit doesnt suggest you achieving a high grade in that subject at A level. Have thought of other courses like Psychology or maybe something like this below from Swansea

http://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/#

Reply 9

yt7777

18

Original post by Sof193

Thanks for replying i am thinking of doing neuroscience in the future.
Will other collage/sixth form accept me after the re sits?

You have plenty of options with the BTEC Applied Science Extended Diploma alone:

Nottingham - Accept BTEC Applied Science on an individual basis - https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ugstudy/applying/access-btec-entryrequirements.aspx

Sussex - DDD in Applied Science - http://m.sussex.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/neuroscience/neuroscience-bsc

Royal Holloway - D*D*D - https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/psychology/psychology-clinical-and-cognitive-neuroscience.aspx

Aberdeen - DDM - https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degree-programmes/806/B170/neuroscience-with-psychology/#what_you_study

Leicester - DDD -https://le.ac.uk/courses/biological-sciences-neuroscience-bsc

Essex - Individual basis (DDD standard) - https://www.essex.ac.uk/courses/ug00362/1/bsc-psychology-with-cognitive-neuroscience

Middlesex - 112 UCAS points

Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 10

888ayg

10

Original post by Sof193

Hi i am currently in my first year BTEC applied science extended diploma and i am thinking of doing A levels next year but i am not sure whether i should do it or not. I did not do well at GCSE at all and on the result day they put me in for this course. I didn't really enjoy it that much and decided to re sit my Biology and Chemistry GCSE in which i had previously gotten Cs. In the re sit i got a B in Biology and an A in chemistry and i am not so sure now.

2 years late but I'm a first year in college doing exactly the same thing because I want to further onto bio and Chemistry alevels for dentistry but my teachers keep saying that I need to go through a different route but realistically speaking even If I do a non-science related undergrad degree, dentistry courses are still going to want to see bio and Chemistry alevels. makes it harder since I got Bs and Cs at GCSE. any tips? I'm going mad over here😖

Reply 11

greeyce

4

Original post by 888ayg

2 years late but I'm a first year in college doing exactly the same thing because I want to further onto bio and Chemistry alevels for dentistry but my teachers keep saying that I need to go through a different route but realistically speaking even If I do a non-science related undergrad degree, dentistry courses are still going to want to see bio and Chemistry alevels. makes it harder since I got Bs and Cs at GCSE. any tips? I'm going mad over here😖

3 years late here 😭. Were you able to figure it out? I'm kind of in a similar situation and I'm really stressing out about it.

Transferring from BTEC to A levels

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