GCSE retakes in an FE College

divadee

Spirit wrote: »

She has the two at C , which was why i thought she needed five.

No as missbiggles says the level 2 she is doing now is the equivalent of 5 gcse's so she won't need to retake them at all. If she had got 5 she would of gone on straight to the level 3 course.

divadee

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

I would try and get more than 2 O level passes at GCSE if possible if she wants to keep her options open. Would evening courses be possible?

Again, when she passes her level 2 next summer she will have the equivalent of 5 gcse's so she won't need to resit anything!! Then she will have the equivalent of 7 GCSE passes without having to take any resits. Just what she is doing now.

missbiggles1

Spirit wrote: »

She has the two at C , which was why i thought she needed five.

The level 2 course she's enrolled on is equivalent to 4 grade Cs if she achieves Merits.. (I'm sure it used to be 5:o)

"The BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Public Services is a full-time vocational qualification that is equivalent at Merit level to 4 GCSEs at grade C. The programme is designed to enable students to gain a better understanding and help prepare to meet the demands of the Uniformed Services recruitment criteria."

http://www.lincolncollege.ac.uk/courses/btec-first-diploma-uniformed-public-services

That's why I suggested she concentrate on doing well on this course rather than spreading herself too thinly.

The level 3 course is equivalent to 2 or 3 A levels.

http://www.waltham.ac.uk/course-finder/public-services/351-level-3/2065-public-services-btec-national-diploma-level-3.html

This would qualify her for HE in a related area.

Alternately, she could do a different level 3 course after she finishes the level 2 course if her interests have changed.

missbiggles1

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

I would try and get more than 2 O level passes at GCSE if possible if she wants to keep her options open. Would evening courses be possible?

A route to disaster, I think - and quite unnecessary.

.Gigolo_Aunt

divadee wrote: »

Again, when she passes her level 2 next summer she will have the equivalent of 5 gcse's so she won't need to resit anything!! Then she will have the equivalent of 7 GCSE passes without having to take any resits. Just what she is doing now.

Looking at some of those GCSEs, these are not difficult subjects. In fact I don't honestly know how someone reasonably bright could NOT get an O level pass in RE.

The question of the course being equivalent to x amount of GSCEs is a bit of a red herring if the girl does not want to pursue a career in the course she's doing. If she does, then yes, there may be no need for re-sits. But I got the impression from the OP that she wants to keep her options open, and to get the grades of which she is truly capable rather than have a load of mediocre Cs and Ds on her educational record.

divadee

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

Looking at some of those GCSEs, these are not difficult subjects. In fact I don't honestly know how someone reasonably bright could NOT get an O level pass in RE.

The question of the course being equivalent to x amount of GSCEs is a bit of a red herring if the girl does not want to pursue a career in the course she's doing. If she does, then yes, there may be no need for re-sits. But I got the impression from the OP that she wants to keep her options open, and to get the grades of which she is truly capable rather than have a load of mediocre Cs and Ds on her educational record.

She could go on to a different degree!! My daughter did a levels in totally unrelated subjects to what she wants a degree in! The degree course will ask what interest she has in the subject she wants to study. Of course it's always preferable to do your level 3 qualification in something you want to study at uni but also career plans change at such a young age, not all fe and sixth forms offer all subjects so you can do a level 3 in IT and go off to uni to study media or history for example even if you hadn't taken them at level 3.

And technically a D is a pass anything over a G is a pass. It's just classed as a good pass above a C.

I'm all for giving students as many options as possible, but, I'm more for encouraging students to do their best in what they are doing now and not putting more pressure on them by doing additional courses that are not needed alongside normal studies.

duchy

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

Looking at some of those GCSEs, these are not difficult subjects. In fact I don't honestly know how someone reasonably bright could NOT get an O level pass in RE.

The question of the course being equivalent to x amount of GSCEs is a bit of a red herring if the girl does not want to pursue a career in the course she's doing. If she does, then yes, there may be no need for re-sits. But I got the impression from the OP that she wants to keep her options open, and to get the grades of which she is truly capable rather than have a load of mediocre Cs and Ds on her educational record.

Gosh aren't you a sweetheart.
Do you work in education ? (No thought not)
You clearly don't have any experience of what level 2 means.

Level 3 NVQ will get her into uni OP if she gets good enough grades (eg pass gets fewer UCAS points than distinction)
My opinion is diluting her efforts with adding extra study for retakes would be damaging to her studies for the course and results that actually matter.

.Gigolo_Aunt

divadee wrote: »

She could go on to a different degree!! My daughter did a levels in totally unrelated subjects to what she wants a degree in! The degree course will ask what interest she has in the subject she wants to study. Of course it's always preferable to do your level 3 qualification in something you want to study at uni but also career plans change at such a young age, not all fe and sixth forms offer all subjects so you can do a level 3 in IT and go off to uni to study media or history for example even if you hadn't taken them at level 3.

And technically a D is a pass anything over a G is a pass. It's just classed as a good pass above a C.

I'm all for giving students as many options as possible, but, I'm more for encouraging students to do their best in what they are doing now and not putting more pressure on them by doing additional courses that are not needed alongside normal studies.

It is absolutely impossible to fail a GCSE, other than not turning up to the exam, which is why employers, colleges and universities only acknowledge grade C and above as a reasonable pass mark.

Your daughter did A levels, which is very different from a 'Not Very Qualified' course at a college.

duchy

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

Looking at some of those GCSEs, these are not difficult subjects. In fact I don't honestly know how someone reasonably bright could NOT get an O level pass in RE.

You do know O levels went out a generation ago......with such out of date knowledge it is as surprising you'd know the syllabus as it is that you'd know the level of knowledge the OPs niece has in the subject (and indeed what religions if any she has knowledge of , are you assuming she has a Christian background rather than Muslim, Jewish or even Wiccan.?)

divadee

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

It is absolutely impossible to fail a GCSE, other than not turning up to the exam, which is why employers, colleges and universities only acknowledge grade C and above as a reasonable pass mark.

Your daughter did A levels, which is very different from a 'Not Very Qualified' course at a college.

No, no, no. I see hundreds of students every year who go on to university from a 'not very qualified' course as you call it!!!!

A level 3 course is a level 3 course!! It doesn't matter if it's not 'a levels.'

I have last year had a business level 3 student go off to a good uni to study Italian!!! That is the same standing as public services courses.

The niece has the gcse's in the important subjects. If she didn't have English and maths then my advice would be totally different. Universities look at English and maths gcse's not what you got in RE or cookery!! Hence why most FE colleges will make students retake English and maths gcse's alongside the course if they didn't get them. If it was important to have RE, history and anything else we would make the students retake those as well!! We are monitored on progression rates which counts towards Ofstead etc....