By Donat Szotak, 22 Feb 2022
Introduction Hi! I would just like to briefly introduce myself and provide you with a small insight of my experience in the hopes that some of you may find it relatable or useful. I am a BTEC student studying L3 General Engineering in College, with an AS Level Maths. However, I am also in distance learning with an External College, studying A-level Maths. With this blog post I hope to shed some light on different options you may be viable to choose depending on what stage you are in, in your academic life. Opinions of the UK educational system as a second-generation immigrant and fitting in being the new kid moving schools a handful of times, anything in between and further! If any of these topics is of interest to you and you would like to discuss, please comment! I would just like to mention this is my first blog, so excuse my novice tendencies - I hope to improve - any feedback is appreciated! I just want to make clear this is purely my student experience and should be taken with a grain of salt...as they say! Choosing your options during GCSE? You have several paths here, depending on your GCSE results. Let’s start with the scenario where you didn’t get the results that you would have wanted; you are able to contact your secondary school and re-sit anything you would like to. However, colleges (especially in my case) require you to pay for re-sitting anything higher than a pass in Maths or English. Regarding readers that sat higher GCSEs, I'm interested to see what options you guys had if you wanted to do re-sits. Now for a bit of motivation - I promise it is worth doing your re-sits straight away, otherwise it will be a lot more difficult during your course and you may be required to pay a fee which, if you were anything like me, you may not be financially stable enough to afford! Another path may be that you choose to go straight into the big wide world with a full-time job. Or perhaps you’re thinking of going to a college or starting A Levels instead, which brings me onto my next point. Thinking about the next two years of your life: A-levels So, now we finally come to your fresh options; for me I had 3 options (later finding out there are even more!). The common route after GCSE is A-levels, which are academic and widely known. Typically you pick 3 A-levels (sometimes even 4 and an EPQ (Extended project qualification, which I have not had personal experience with)). A-levels are recognised by universities as a standard route to get in. If I could go back, I would have chosen A-levels as they are more favoured than vocational qualifications, but also test more of your true understanding of the subject than a BTEC for example (at least with my Engineering aspirations). This is an exam-based qualification. Personally, I would choose Maths, Physics (Further Maths as well - if I were given the option) and to switch it up, I would take a humanitarian subject as I am quite keen on them and I believe it would be a nice segue from the more academically rigid subjects. I just want to add, Further Maths is not necessary but sought after to stand out in university applications particularly for STEM subjects, such as engineering. But it all depends on what you aspire to do later, finding that can be tricky but I would like to explore in future blogs on how to find what you enjoy academic-wise and what to do when it comes to picking your university… but that is still a while away so don't fret, it will be just fine when you get to it! IB (International Baccalaureate) This is also an internationally recognised qualification and, similar to A-levels, it keeps your options open (in contrast, within a BTEC you only have one subject). I have not had much experience with this qualification, but I have heard it is very challenging, and gives you a wide range of skills. You study 6 at standard level in your first year and I believe you study 3 at a higher level. This qualification allows you to choose from those 6 categories:
I would have personally considered this choice as well, depending on what you intend to study this is also a very interesting qualification! BTEC Extended Diploma This qualification prepares you for both the industry and University, but as mentioned before, it is vocational, with fewer academic aspects. For example, in engineering some universities require an A-level beside the BTEC which is already equivalent to 3 A-levels, or even two. The University of Edinburgh requires a BTEC and an A-level in Maths and Physics, altogether equivalent to 5 A-levels! If you are aiming for a deep understanding and hope to be well prepared for Engineering at university, you have the option of doing what I did, which was to lean towards distance learning and taking on another A-level although it is not free and can be a hassle. Alternatively, you could take an A-level after finishing your BTEC. This is also quite difficult as a lot of Sixth Forms do not take 18+ year old students (at least that’s the case in Cambridgeshire). So distance learning might be the last option, which means covering fees from exams to course materials. But I will cover these topics, suggest platforms for distance learning, and any other options that may be available to the best of my understanding and research in an upcoming blog! Please leave any feedback or what you would like me to explore, can be outside of academia! Until then, stay safe, stay in school, and don’t forget to have fun along the way! References: The Complete List of IB Courses and Classes (prepscholar.com)
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2/1/2022 0 Comments An introduction to journey2lawHello and welcome to our blog: Journey2Law! Journey2Law is a platform founded by a student for students. Our founder, Basma El Hayani, is currently an Undergraduate Student studying International Politics and Sociology, keen to pursue a career in law and technology - 'legal tech'. Basma launched this initiative in hopes to inspire and help young students who do not have the opportunity to gain an insight into various careers. This initiative will provide students with work experience opportunities, events with top employers in their industry, competitions and much more. It’ll also be a place where they can increase their commercial awareness and read about the latest news, debates and affairs & that’s where the articles come in! We have a team of students interested in various careers including, law, technology, politics, business and engineering. They'll be sharing tips on how to secure top work experience and internship placements, current affairs and news as well as further career prospects. Journey2Law will also be hosting numerous events with law firms, chambers, technological companies and more, including, Clifford Chance, Travers Smith, IBM and Atos. This will give prospective students an insight into the sector and career they'd like to pursue. Our first event will soon go live, follow our Instagram: @journey2law_ for updates and subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know about our updates, competitions and more exclusive content! Thank you for all of the support on behalf of our Journey2Law team. Keep sharing and spreading our platform to your teachers, friends and family! Journey2Law INSTAGRAM: @journey2law_ |