A Levels, Btec National Dip or Access course????

Question

Hey guys, I'm 18 years old and I'm gonna be 19 in December.

I'm currently on a Motor Vehicle engineering BTEC National Diploma gaining distinctions all the way through. I'm so stressed deciding what to do in September. The BTEC is not a great preparation for uni due to the fact the maths and physics taught is not enough compared to a mechanical engineering btec or a levels, so it would not be in my view enough preparation for a automotive engineering degree. I'm planning to leave with a BTEC National Certificate which will equal two A Level A grades due to my DISTINCTION DISTINCTION grade in the 12 units I would finish with.

I have always wanted to do A Levels but now I'm behind my mates in terms of time and I do not wanna stay at college for another two years doing them although I know they are preferred. I would love to do em but I'm so down and depressed at staying at college for another two years because I would stay altogether for four years at college.

In addition, I have been thinking of starting an Access course to do Politics and Law etc as its only 1 year. My worry is that I think Access students get accepted by unis due to their experience in addition to the course, but I dont have any due to me being 18, furthermore, on the Access course they apply to unis soon after starting so how do unis decide as there is no predicted grades or that I believe? Thats why I think they decide on experience a lot instead.

Please help ! Can anyone tell me from their experience doing Access in responce to my questions and if any can help as to what I should do because I now wanna study Politics, Law or economics at Uni so I believe the A Level or Access route is better.

Also how is the Access graded? Exams? and how comes some courses have loads of credits like Medicine and some only require a smaller amount to pass?

Is there a set number of credits for all courses but some just require you to get more out of that total? like are they all out of a 120 credits?

Finally if I did the Access, as it is not included in the UCAS tariff, could I apply to unis using both the btec national certificate and the Access to make my application stronger or will they just use one or the other due to one being used in the UCAS tariff and one not??

Outside college I'm into Politics and have joined the Local Association to become a member of a Political Party.

Many Thanks

Alex

Answer 1

There is no way on earth a BTEC first national will be treated by anyone as two A level equivalents.
My advice is to stay on and finish the full BTEC national diploma.

I found this very good preparation for Uni and I went to quite an analytical one. Sure there were some gaps in my maths but hey whilst the A level students were studying to grasp the engineering priciples i already had under my belt from BTEC national, I had the time to fill the gaps in my maths