A Levels or BTEC - are they really equal?

crazy_guy

Hi

My brother is currently in his last year at school and choosing what subjects to choose at college/ 6th form. The issue here is that he's good at sports and MAY want to carry this on to a career. However he's not sure on what he eventually wants to do.

At his local 6th form they offer a 6 unit BTEC in sports science which is the equivalent to an A Level.

The 6th form has advised that he has to pick either 3 A levels or 2 A levels and the BTEC due to timetabling.

He's asked me on what to do, would the BTEC be considered by universities as worthy as a A Level or would it be frowned upon as a lesser qualification.

My general thoughts are that if he decided to continue onto a academic degree at university his BTEC would not be looked upon favourably and he would be put at a disadvantage compared to A Level students. I've looked at a number of uni websites and on the subject of entry requirements they ask that you contact them if you have done a BTEC rather than A Level which doesn't sound too positive in itself.

However i feel that i don't want to tell my brother my thoughts, and to alter his decision on his subjects without seeing other people's views on this, i may be totally wrong.

go4it

It depends what he wants to do at Uni and which Uni.

If he wants to apply to a Russell Group University (the 'Ivy' league - Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, Bristol), then do 3 A-Levels.

Other Universitites (the old Polytechnics) may allow a BTEC. The thing is that a lot of the BTEC syllabus is covered in A-Level PE, so if A-Level PE is an option do that.

BTEC is the vocational route. If the University course is Vocational it could be an option.

lellie

It's up to him. If he wants to do sport or something vocational at uni - the BTEC is fine. However A levels give him more option - academic degrees will expect A levels. If he can do A level PE - do that instead.

Cypher

When I left school, many moons ago, I went into technical college to do A levels in Surveying and Building Construction with a view to going on to university to do a Surveying degree. My alternative path would have been standard academic subjects at sixth form, Maths, Physic and Geography.

On applying to University after going the Surveying / Building Construction path I found that these weren't recognised by the university but if I had done traditional A levels I wouldn't have had a problem. I ended up having to get a real job and never went to University at that time

I'm not sure on things nowadays but I think I would advise on not specialising at this stage as you mention your brother is not sure what he wants to do, 3 A Levels tends to be what the Uni's look for, but it is best to always pick subjects that really interest him, he will get better grades than trying to do things he doesn't really want to do.

I would also advise ringing a couple of universities and discussing it with them before deciding anything, I wish I had back in my day.

savvy

Hi there, I'm an ex Btec student and now a college lecturer.

crazy_guy wrote:

At his local 6th form they offer a 6 unit BTEC in sports science which is the equivalent to an A Level.

You need to check the level of the course. Our 6 unit Btecs are First Diplomas (level 2 quals) and are equivalent to 4 GCSE's, the National Diploma (18 units and Level 3 quals) is Equivalent to 3 A Levels, then the National Certificate is 2 A Levels and the Award (6 units at level 3) is 1 A Level. You can find out more on the Edexcel Website

crazy_guy wrote:

He's asked me on what to do, would the BTEC be considered by universities as worthy as a A Level or would it be frowned upon as a lesser qualification.

Not at all, I personally did a Btec National Diploma in Sports Science and went on to Uni and got a degree in Sports Science. Not only that many of our Btec National students go on to university with no problems at all. It's all run on a points system anyway, and you can collect further points when doing additional quals whilst on your Btec.

HTH

gagglesdad

Nope, alevels r better

Sausage_Roll

gagglesdad wrote:

Nope, alevels r better

Judging by your well thought out and response you definitely know what your talking about.

A BTEC is as everyone has said a very practical qualification, and depending on the Degree course your going into, it is in a few cases better than traditional A levels. I'm in my second year of a 2 year BTEC HND in Architectural Technology, and all University's that I've contacted have told me It's likely i can get advanced entry into third year depending on my final results.

I'm not too sure about your course, but it sure sounds like a practical qualification would come in handy!

Acc72

I think that there are 2 issues here - your brother MAY want to pursue a sports studies type career, plus the BTEC / A Level issue.

I personally studied for a BTEC National Diploma and then a HND (in Business and Finance), and then went on to the second year of a degree in Accounting and Finance (got 2:1 at a former Poly) and then took professional Accountancy exams (CIMA).

The BTEC route never held me back - I was happy to go to a former Poly and always wanted to work in finance in industry (I am sure that even today, the big accountancy firms frown upon such vocational courses).

However, my BTEC course was relevant to my career - if I did a BTEC in Sports, then I am sure this wouldn't have helped me get on an Accountancy degree course !!

If your brother is sure of the field he wants to work, then a BTEC is a good option.

If he is not sure, then he may be better off taking 3 A levels and keeping his options open.

lazymoezy

From my point of view I think a BTEC is better but I think it will depend on many things such as course, Uni you want to go to etc etc.

I am currently doing a BTEC National Diploma in Business which is equiv to 3 Alevels, I know many student who do A level business and either hate it or think they are not learning enough.

In yr 11, at school, I done a As-Level and due to problem with teachers leaving I was only able to end up with an AS and not the full A-level which would have been something spectacular. I really like the AS and I knew a few other who did do the full A-level and they liked it but to me you never learn as much and BTEC is more hands on.

That may sound confusing but its my day off so oh well!

SunnyBrighton_2

Many of the newer universities have entry requirements online for those courses which focus more on the practical side, and these accept BTEC equivalents to A levels. If the university is asking you to contact them about BTEC then I would assume, as you do, they might consider that someone with a BTEC isn't up to that course?

Also look closely at the course description - even some courses which are sports based can be very academic, and A level experience would be more helpful on these. Others are continually assessed, with fewer essays and no exams.

As he hasn't decided what he wants to do yet, A levels will probably give him a wider range of uni courses to choose from.

There are some 6th forms offering A level Sports Studies!

lleck

I work in exams at a FE college and the scores for the exams are put on your UCAS application form so it's those that are looked at as opposed to the award. The overall point score depends not only on the award but on the level you get your qual at i.e. GCE D grade = 60 points A grade = 120 points.

I personally think it is an old fashioned view that it's A levels or nothing, you can get into University with BTECs and CACHE Diplomas etc. Plus with the BTEC you are actually gaining some knowledge on the subject area, they are definately not the soft option.

http://www.stcoll.ac.uk/?p=/sl/courselist&m=2&c=spo