Son wants to go into teaching – which route to take?

[geek84]

Good Morning folks

 

I hope you're all well. My son will be sitting his GCSE exams this summer. However, he is not confident that he will achieve the required minimum 5 GCSE grades between A and C in order to progress to A level study.

 

This is going to have a domino effect because in the long run he wants to become a secondary school teacher and in order to get there, he would need to study for a degree at university, In order to study for the degree, he would need to achieve his A levels. And as stated in the previous paragraph, he may not be able to get on to the A level study programme since he may not achieve the 5 GCSE passes.

 

I know most of you would say wait until he sits the exams and the results come out then plan ahead. But we both want to plan as far ahead as possible. If he achieves his 5 GCSEs then great he would be able to progress on to the A level study. However, what if he doesn't achieve his GCSE passes? What would you suggest?

 

I think one route is going on to the BTec course which has less strict entry requirements. However, I get the feeling that most teaching courses at universities do not look favourably on BTec applicants. Is that true? If my son does take the BTec route, would any particular Btec be more suited if he wants to progress on to a university degree teaching course? Or is it just a matter of ringing around local universities and finding out which Btec courses they would allow entry on to their university teaching courses?

 

Finally, another option would be to retake the GCSEs for another academic year, in order to make sure he achieves his required 5 GCSE passes and progress on to the A level course and then the university teaching course.

 

What would you suggest?

 

Thank You.

[geared]

find out the entry requirements at various universities first, he might be able to do the Btec teaching and resit a couple of GCSE's at the same time.

[lectrolove]

Why does he think he might not get his grades? Are you sure he's really cut out for teaching?

[Jinkyj]

Frankly, if someone struggles to get 5 GCSE's including English and Maths, I'm not sure i would want them teaching any child of mine, particularly at secondary level. Has your son discussed his future with his teachers or careers advisors? As an ex-teacher and mentor of sixth form students I would advise him to do so as soon as possible.

[the_bloke]

You don't need to do a teaching degree to be a teacher, that's what the PGCE is for; you can do any degree you want. So you don't have to cut your GCSE and A level and degree path to obtain a 'teaching' degree, you can cut the path that draws on his strengths and enables him to do a degree that works for him.

 

By the time he gets to that point, he might not even want to go into teaching so to limit yourself to a teaching degree makes things difficult.

[alchresearch]

Considering how so many are getting out of the profession, how many NQTs do only a year or two before quitting, and how difficult it is to encourage people to go into teaching, I reckon they'll drop the requirements.

 

Its been a while since I last checked, but I'm sure if you have poor GCSE grades you can re-do them while taking a PGCE or GTP.

Edited March 10, 2017 by alchresearch

[Bargepole23]

Good Morning folks

 

I hope you're all well. My son will be sitting his GCSE exams this summer. However, he is not confident that he will achieve the required minimum 5 GCSE grades between A and C in order to progress to A level study.

 

This is going to have a domino effect because in the long run he wants to become a secondary school teacher and in order to get there, he would need to study for a degree at university, In order to study for the degree, he would need to achieve his A levels. And as stated in the previous paragraph, he may not be able to get on to the A level study programme since he may not achieve the 5 GCSE passes.

 

I know most of you would say wait until he sits the exams and the results come out then plan ahead. But we both want to plan as far ahead as possible. If he achieves his 5 GCSEs then great he would be able to progress on to the A level study. However, what if he doesn't achieve his GCSE passes? What would you suggest?

 

I think one route is going on to the BTec course which has less strict entry requirements. However, I get the feeling that most teaching courses at universities do not look favourably on BTec applicants. Is that true? If my son does take the BTec route, would any particular Btec be more suited if he wants to progress on to a university degree teaching course? Or is it just a matter of ringing around local universities and finding out which Btec courses they would allow entry on to their university teaching courses?

 

Finally, another option would be to retake the GCSEs for another academic year, in order to make sure he achieves his required 5 GCSE passes and progress on to the A level course and then the university teaching course.

 

What would you suggest?

 

Thank You.

 

I would suggest that he is going to struggle at A level, if he is struggling at GCSE.

 

Why do you think he is struggling, lack of ability or lack of effort or some other reason?

[geared]

Frankly, if someone struggles to get 5 GCSE's including English and Maths, I'm not sure i would want them teaching any child of mine, particularly at secondary level. Has your son discussed his future with his teachers or careers advisors? As an ex-teacher and mentor of sixth form students I would advise him to do so as soon as possible.

 

Can always teach PE :hihi:

[ez8004]

This is kind of a back door way of doing it.

 

Get an apprenticeship with a blue chip company. They generally send their apprentices to university part time as part of their job. It will take five years to get a degree, but it is usually an engineering degree from a company like Rolls-Royce. Once he's got the degree then getting into teaching from that should be straightforward.

[Becky B]

This is kind of a back door way of doing it.

 

Get an apprenticeship with a blue chip company. They generally send their apprentices to university part time as part of their job. It will take five years to get a degree, but it is usually an engineering degree from a company like Rolls-Royce. Once he's got the degree then getting into teaching from that should be straightforward.

 

Plus it might make him more resilient in teaching (based on some of my experience of teachers).

 

I'd agree that if he's struggling for 5 GCSE A-C then he's going to struggle at A-level and further study.