Parents' Information

For your child Year 11 is a time for big choices, at 16. Although it's sometimes necessary to make last-minute decisions, the best time to start thinking about choices at 16 is a year ahead.

Your guide to qualifications

Changes in learning mean that courses are more flexible and there is a broader choice available. AS and A levels, BTEC Nationals, vocational A levels or AVCEs, Key Skills

There are lots of qualifications to choose from its up to you and your child to mix and match to suit their needs. Here are the choices:

AS and A levels
Vocational AS and A levels (or AVCEs) and new GCSEs in vocational subjects.
BTEC Nationals, City & Guilds qualifications, other certificates and diplomas
National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs)
Key Skills

AS and A levels

AS (advanced subsidiary) and A levels are designed to offer flexible ways to learn. You can mix and match AS and A levels with vocational A levels and other qualifications to suit what you need. In Year 12, there is a large range of AS courses to select from.

Then, in Year 13, your child can:

Specialise in three or four of those subjects at A level
Take more AS courses instead

This means that an AS level (made up of three units) can form the first half of a full A level, or it can be a qualification on its own. Whole A levels are made up of six units. Final assessment is based on coursework and end-of-course tests which determine the grasp of the subject as a whole.

Three-Unit Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education

In many schools and most colleges, you can take vocational A levels or Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education (AVCEs). These courses are designed to develop the knowledge and skills needed for jobs in a broad field of work such as, hospitality and catering, leisure and tourism, or engineering.

Edexcel BTEC qualifications

These are nationally recognised occupational qualifications.

The main courses are:

First Certificates (part-time study) and Diplomas (full-time study), which last one year. Your child may need a few GCSEs at grades D-G to start.
National Certificates (part-time study) and Diplomas (full-time study), which take two years. Your child will usually need four GCSE at grades A-C, a first diploma or an NVQ level 2 for entry.
Higher National Certificates and Diplomas (HNCs and HNDs) are available in subjects such as business studies, engineering and IT. This is usually taken at 18+ after getting a level 3 qualification.

Besides BTEC qualifications, Edexcel also awards NVQs, key skills, Foundation and intermediate GNVQs, new GCSEs in vocational subjects, GCSEs, vocational and general academic AS/A levels.

You can obtain more information by calling 08702 409 800.

City & Guilds

Nationally recognised occupational awards in a variety of work areas from floristry and ceramics to information technology and journalism and radio. For more information on City & Guilds qualifications, NVQs and key skills, phone 020 7294 2850.

National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs)

What's different about National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) is that they relate to real work, testing how competent you are in carrying out the tasks of a particular job. Normally your teenager will need to be in work to take an NVQ. The work should relate to the NVQ subject area. There are NVQs for almost every industry and kind of occupation in service industries and management, as well as construction and manufacturing.

Key skills

Key skills are the essential skills you need to do well in education and training, to succeed at work and to get on in life. They're available to all young people in full-time learning at school/college or in work-based learning and include:
• Communication
• Application of numbers
• Information technology
• Working with others
• Improving your own learning and performance
• Problem-solving

The key skills qualifications attract points of entry to university degree courses through UCAS (University & College Admissions System). The wider key skills of improving learning and performance, problem solving and working with others only require a portfolio of evidence and are usually studied as part of other awards and qualifications.

To find out more information, phone the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) enquiry line on 020 7037 5400.