Our volunteer Youth Ambassador Daniela got her BTEC grades during the pandemic, and discusses what that means to her.
I got my BTEC grades in a simple email – but those grades mattered.
On Tuesday the 10th of August, I was one of the many people receiving their grades. It wasn’t A Levels. However, receiving my BTEC grades was a big deal to me, as someone who moved to the UK in 2018 and had to adjust to a completely new learning environment and language.
It was sad to see most of the excitement focused only on A Level results and the posts on Instagram of people holding their grades. Meanwhile, I had received my BTEC results in my email – and that was it. Nevertheless, I still celebrated with my friend and had such a fun time! I earned a triple star distinction and couldn’t be more proud of myself!!! I’ve worked so hard on all of my assignments for the past two years, trying to navigate during such times, so I’m ecstatic.
The pandemic can make you double-guess your grades and achievements. It’s frustrating.
Because of the pandemic, sometimes I feel like I didn’t deserve this. I was supposed to have two assessments as well as an exam during my first year, but they were cancelled. I managed to do one mock exam, however I failed it, because I didn’t do one of the tasks. Turns out you can’t leave it empty. Never being able to know my exam gradesstill makes me doubt myself a lot.
So many missed opportunities during these two years, because we never knew what was coming. So many missed college trips. Basically no work experience during my second year, which could have benefitted me. Was excited to go on the Erasmus programme to Portugal, however that never worked out. I was also supposed to be part of a cabin crew training opportunity with British Airways, and again that didn’t happen.
The good news? Cancelled BTEC assessments meant I could focus my energy on learning.
Now looking at some positive points from my college experience. One being that because exam and assessments were cancelled, I could focus energy and time on my assignments and the actual learning process. This benefited me massively as I really don’t like exams due to the pressure in such a short amount of time. Even though leaving things to the last minute can motivate me, it’s different when it comes to exams. My brain just goes blank.
When it comes to assignments, I’m given the time to think about the criteria and come up with some kind of plan. I don’t know how I would have done, if I had the chance to do A Levels, but I’m impressed by what I achieved in my BTEC course.
Vocational courses like BTECs build your skills and open doors to university, further education and careers.
I am excited that more and more universities are open to accepting BTEC qualifications, even Russell group universities. There are still many courses that don’t or ask you to combine with one or two A Levels – this just means you have to research your options, which can be stressful.
I believe that a vocational course can really develop your written skills so they’re really useful and will help you to adjust to the university course. You do have to do a lot of research for your assignments, especially if you’re aiming for the higher grades.
In my opinion, vocational courses are brilliant as they develop strong skills and a well rounded individual, with usually less stress and more time to write up your assignments. However, before deciding whether you want to do A Levels and/or a vocational course, I’d suggest thinking about any potential courses you’d want to do after further education so you can kind of understand what they’re looking for and what’s your option, however I also understand that many people aren’t even given the chance to do A Levels.
