1 year gap need vocational course help

eskimo26

theoretica wrote: »

I suggest that your brother gets in contact with the universities he is most interested in applying to and learns about their entry requirements, and how they are adapted for people with non-standard backgrounds. A summary is here, and the first to mention the BTec (Bournemouth) requires a biology A level B grade in addition. (At least I assume they wouldn't like a PE Alevel and sport BTec as too much duplication.)
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/content.php?r=16025-physiotherapy-degree

Does he not have his maths GCSE because he doesn't have the maths skills, or simply because he wasn't in this educational system to sit the exam? As you say, it is a competitive subject. Can he get a relevant job? First aid training and volunteering with St Johns Ambulance would probably be useful too.

Hi,
Although his maths skills aren't great he could have got the C he needed for uni but at the time he found the formal english language in the Maths exam questions difficult to understand and that's really what hurt his chances the most.

Thank you for your post, i'll suggest he volunteers but we hardly see him as he works 24/7 to get by [and quite happy to do so]. But obviously he doesn't have much spare time and often skips meals as a result. It's a typical teenager thing i suppose, his always been a fussy eater which is amusing because his quite built being a semi-professional footballer. I will make sure he gets work experience as this pretty much a requirement for most physio course if your serious about getting a place.

Thank you for your help have a nice Christmas and New Year.

GlasweJen

See if he can get a job in the NHS as a healthcare assistant or health support worker in the physio or occupational therapy department. These jobs are low level (band 2 or 3) but will get him experience of using aids such as hoists, standing frames and he will see a physios caseload which will all help when he fills out a UCAS form. I'd also get the GCSE in maths and English if possible as although there will be entry for non-standard qualifications health workers are expected to have a good level of English so the GCSE will also help get employment at the end of the course.

eskimo26

GlasweJen wrote: »

See if he can get a job in the NHS as a healthcare assistant or health support worker in the physio or occupational therapy department. These jobs are low level (band 2 or 3) but will get him experience of using aids such as hoists, standing frames and he will see a physios caseload which will all help when he fills out a UCAS form. I'd also get the GCSE in maths and English if possible as although there will be entry for non-standard qualifications health workers are expected to have a good level of English so the GCSE will also help get employment at the end of the course.

I'll let him know thank you, as far as i know all universities require a C grade in english and maths for any course, I think one of these dumb Governments introduced it as a compulsory measure?

have a nice christmas.

ohreally

eskimo26 wrote: »

I think one of these dumb Governments introduced it as a compulsory measure

I guess you should develop some humility (in general -govts, foster care team) especially if there is an expectation of being employed within healthcare. I hope its not a family trait.

eskimo26

ohreally wrote: »

I guess you should develop some humility (in general -govts, foster care team) especially if there is an expectation of being employed within healthcare. I hope its not a family trait.

Or maybe you should develop a little less naivety? Government cutbacks have DESTROYED budgets across local councils and this has had a terrible impact, including on social workers and foster carers. They don't pay my Mum for months on end, she's asked three times this time around and they've promised three times and still nothing and yet she is still giving it 100% and being an AMAZING foster carer.

Mental health, social care, elderly care to name a few are on there knees and have been for a while actually, your precious NHS has been part privatized by stealth without so much as a bleat. They're now talking about cutting the NHS bursary. That will probably go through too because of naive people like you who don't seem to know [or care]. They screw over nurses and trainee drs, meanwhile the politicians give themselves a massive 11% pay rise that they shamelessly dress up as a public interest reform.

I've studied it on my access course and lived through it too, not sure what kind of bubble you live in. Maybe sharpen your trolling skills instead of posting lazy drivel like governments = foster care teams and healthcare. These public services are working IN SPITE of Governments not because of them.

Oh listen to that, just heard on the news that 'agencies are taking 50% of agency Nurses salaries.' Oh don't worry the Government will save us! :rotfl:

zagubov

Physiotherapy is a very competitive course. It's worthwhile doing some homework on what they require. As theoretica points out, many (maybe most) courses that accept a BTEC diploma need it to be in Sport and Exercise Science rather than general sport. They also usually require at least DDM. And the killer is they also usually need a B in Biology A level which is pretty serious going - it was the third hardest A level till now and the government have just boosted the maths content.

It'll be difficult to find some way of doing the A level in one year. In the whole of London I can only think of one place offering it in the pubic sector. Plus if the BTEC isn't mainly Ds, it's difficult to upgrade it later.

And then there's competition against people with relevant work experience -you're right when you say you need to get some. There's a legion of mega-keen people getting good grades at first sitting trying to get on the course, so he'll need to plan his application really carefully.

He'll have to be totally open-minded about where he goes in the country to study it; but all the people keen enough to be in the running for a place will know this already.

Sorry if this makes it seem like a real challenge but he really needs to get his thinking hat on and focus on the very few course providers that will be flexible about entry qualifications. If he goes to an FE college next year he may want to find if he can take Functional Skills or other equivalents of GCSE English and Maths, and he also has to be crystal-clear about whether they will be accepted by the universities he's planning to target.

Good luck to the guy! He'll need your support, and I hope he appreciates it.

eskimo26

zagubov wrote: »

Physiotherapy is a very competitive course. It's worthwhile doing some homework on what they require. As theoretica points out, many (maybe most) courses that accept a BTEC diploma need it to be in Sport and Exercise Science rather than general sport. They also usually require at least DDM. And the killer is they also usually need a B in Biology A level which is pretty serious going - it was the third hardest A level till now and the government have just boosted the maths content.

It'll be difficult to find some way of doing the A level in one year. In the whole of London I can only think of one place offering it in the pubic sector. Plus if the BTEC isn't mainly Ds, it's difficult to upgrade it later.

And then there's competition against people with relevant work experience -you're right when you say you need to get some. There's a legion of mega-keen people getting good grades at first sitting trying to get on the course, so he'll need to plan his application really carefully.

He'll have to be totally open-minded about where he goes in the country to study it; but all the people keen enough to be in the running for a place will know this already.

Sorry if this makes it seem like a real challenge but he really needs to get his thinking hat on and focus on the very few course providers that will be flexible about entry qualifications. If he goes to an FE college next year he may want to find if he can take Functional Skills or other equivalents of GCSE English and Maths, and he also has to be crystal-clear about whether they will be accepted by the universities he's planning to target.

Good luck to the guy! He'll need your support, and I hope he appreciates it.

Thanks for your post zagubov, i'm 3 months into an occupational therapy degree at Brunel myself and these courses are definitely competitive.

His BTEC is listed as an acceptable alternative qualification but he is one grade short of what most places want [one of the merits needs to be a distinction]. This year his doing a BTEC in health and social care because I thought it would help make up for the slipped grade in his other BTEC and because he needed to resit his GCSE math and english anyway.

So by the end he should have 2 relevant lvl 3 BTECS and i'm going to stress to him how essential the work experience is.

They're also talking about cutting the nhs bursary so I guess it's time sensitive, strangely enough they move quite fast when it comes to cutting things, even something as established as the nhs bursary.