Could I Still Go To University L With Level 3 Btec

Am I better off doing BTEC or A level? What do universities and employers really think (as opposed to the "official" standpoint)?

Thank you for the request to answer, firstly.Having done both, I can say that it depends on what you want to do later in life.BTEC is a very practical alternative to A level and is aimed at skilled workers. You have to achieve level 3 in your chosen subject to be qualified to a satisfactory benchmark. The older universities are quite sniffy about BTEC as they don’t believe the academic rigour is sufficient, but the former Polytechnics like them if you’re going on a practical skills course, as the practical skills involved in A level are far less well-explored than in BTEC.In employer terms, if you want to be a skilled worker in a trade discipline, then BTEC is the better option. If you want to sit in an office at a desk all day, A-level is usually better. If it’s an engineering discipline, you can go either way to degree level. You often find that the BTEC students are not as good at maths as the A level lot, but the A level lot are not as good at creative thinking and solution finding as the BTEC are; BTEC students usually get work experience in their subject feeding in too whereas A level is usually only rarified academia. This also results in BTEC being very deeply schooled in their field but not too broad in others, whereas A level tend to learn more topics but not to such a great depth in the specific field that BTEC does.Personally, I find the BTEC approach much better, but that’s because I am a natural shop-floor worker rather than a laboratory whizz. If you want to do a degree ( though one of the top universities probably won’t accept BTEC), then it’s up to you whether you prefer the dirt and swearing on the shop-floor or the more tranquil environs of lab/office. If it’s the former, BTEC, if the latter, A level.Whichever you do, you’re in for a year or two of hard slog and frustration, but stick with it, put the effort in, and after a while it crystallises in your head and you find you can do it, regardless of what you may have thought earlier. Good luck, whichever way you decide to go.

Do American universities accept IGCSE?

Yes, they do. Some universities will accept you with only IGCSEs or O levels, so that means you will need 5 grades with a C or higher (5 passes) to meet the entry requirements and some will require you to have studied further by completing A Levels or BTEC in addition to your IGCSEs. Basically, it just depends on the entry requirements of the university you apply to. All this means that you can go straight into a university without having to transfer from a community college or you can still join a community college and transfer to a university, it’s all dependent on your choice.Cambridge has a recognition database which you can use to find out some of the colleges and universities that accept IGCSEs as meeting their entry requirements:Search Recognitions | CIE Search RecognitionsI don’t think the database has the full list of universities that accept IGCSEs but in case you want to know specific information about the entry requirements of a certain university, you could just contact them directly and enquire.Long story short, IGCSEs or O levels are sufficient for entry into American universities.I hope this was helpful :).

What are A levels and O levels, in the U.K.? This is a different system than the USA’s, and I am curious about how it works.

O Levels were replaced by GCSEs in 1988 so now we have GCSEs and A Levels.First of all, we don't “graduate high school” in the way you do so the first thing you have to do to understand our system is to get that idea out of your head.A GCSE is a qualification taken by people between the ages of 14 and 16 (school years 10 and 11) in one particular subject usually consisting of course work during the two years and then a final exam in year 11 when the person is 16 years old. Grades are are given historically from A* to A through to G with A*, A, B and C being considered equivalent to an old O Level, lower grades being considered a pass but not being considered as good. From this year these are being replaced with numerical grades from 9 to 1 with 9 being the equivalent of an A*. People at school normally take a GCSE in each school subject and the number of subjects taken has gradually increased over the years. For example I took and passed 9 GCSEs but it's not uncommon to come across kids taking quite a lot more than that these days.You can take a GCSE as an individual qualification at any time of life if you want, my mum did one in human biology when she was in her 40s so they aren't just for school children.You can leave school at 16 having passed (or failed) your GCSEs but if you if you want to continue with your education and got good enough grades you can then take A or AS Levels. You do these from the ages of 16 to 18 in years 12 and 13 (historically called lower and upper 6th form by oldies like me).An AS Level is considered equivalent to half an A Level and can be done as a stand alone qualification or as the first half of a full A Level. They work similar to GCSEs in that they consist of course work and final exams and are in individual subjects, but they are considerably harder, more academic and are supposed to lead you towards university. They are graded from A* to E. People usually take between 3 and 5 A Levels.Assuming you pass enough A Levels with good enough grades you can then apply to university at age 18 but you don't have to.It is unusual but not impossible for people to take A Level courses outside of normal school age. People tend to skip them and go straight into being mature students at university.

Is A-level study different than O-levels?

GCSEs and O levels are the same thing. What was used to be called O levels are now called GCSEs. GCSEs are taken at age 15/16 in the UK. While A levels are taken age 16-18. Both are a two year course. A levels are taught and taken in the last 2 years of high school while GCSEs are taught in the first in the 2/3 years before A levels start. A levels are harder than GCSEs. GCSEs are compulsory for 16 year olds, especially if you want to leave school at 16 and get a job. You need to get a C grade or higher in maths and english language in order to get a job or to get into a sixth form colleges. I think job-wise you need 5 GCSEs grade in between the passing range of A*-C. So for example if you got 6 A*s in GCSE but got a D in maths you would still need to re-take your maths exam.Students normally take around 10 GCSEs.A levels are taken after GCSEs and you start preparing for them the year after your GCSEs. People who take A levels normally want to go to university  or another form of higher education after, but you can still go out and get a job afterwards if you want. A levels are not compulsory unlike GCSEs. The full A level is comprised of 2 parts. In the past you take part 1 which is known as A.S (advanced subsidiary) at the end of the first year of A levels. It is normal to take 4 A.S subjects. At the end of year one you drop a subject and continue with 3 of the subjects which you later complete for the full A level.So by the time you finish you will have 3 A levels and 1 A.S (half an a level).This now has changed that you have to take all your exams at the end of the 2 year course.It is common to think that A levels are the only post-GCSE qualification you can get before going to university there are other options, such as IB and BTEC qualifications depending on what you want to do in the future.