To do A levels or not

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Hilltop
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To do A levels or not

Post by Hilltop »

My DD is in Year 10 and we’ve started having discussions about whether my DD does A levels or not. I know we have some time to decide but at the moment we’re all thinking that she tries for a performing arts 6th form college for musical theatre. This is because she really wants to move away from academic subjects and she wants to increase her chances of getting into a college later on.

I know there has been lots of discussion on this topic and people often say that their DC do A levels so they have something to fall back on, but I wondered what happens to the DC that don’t have A levels? Have any of your children that have gone through the performing arts training either supplemented their performing career with other income/jobs or have changed career completely? Does it really limit your options later on to not have the traditional A levels?
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jasmine2
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by jasmine2 »

Hilltop wrote: Sun Mar 14, 2021 5:02 pm My DD is in Year 10 and we’ve started having discussions about whether my DD does A levels or not. I know we have some time to decide but at the moment we’re all thinking that she tries for a performing arts 6th form college for musical theatre. This is because she really wants to move away from academic subjects and she wants to increase her chances of getting into a college later on.

I know there has been lots of discussion on this topic and people often say that their DC do A levels so they have something to fall back on, but I wondered what happens to the DC that don’t have A levels? Have any of your children that have gone through the performing arts training either supplemented their performing career with other income/jobs or have changed career completely? Does it really limit your options later on to not have the traditional A levels?
Hiya.. My dd did not do A levels and has a thriving career, both performing and teaching (performing arts/dance). She was a full timer at SY and could have done A Levels on a scholarship, but her argument was that she wanted the performing arts route, and she could do A levels at a later date if she wanted/needed to. She has got a dance teaching qualification and a level 6 Diploma in MT, and has not looked back. In fact, one of the place she teaches at is where she trained and got her diploma! xx good luck with whatever your DD decides to do..
I believe that children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.......
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icantdance
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by icantdance »

I think it depends on your DD. DS auditioned at 15, got 2 DaDA offers but stayed to do A levels, only he loves learning and is extremely academic. A friend of his got a place at Urdang at 16 but he was not academic and that suited him far better. The "right" answer will be whatever is best for your child. In hindsight DS made the right decision in staying at school but it didn't seem like that at the time.
islandofsodor
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by islandofsodor »

It's a very individual decision and depends what is available to you in your area.

My dd did A levels alongside her vocational training (Level 6 Trinity Diploma). There are only a couple of places that allow this option though. She did A levels because she is highly academic and has a genuine interest in the subjects she chose to study. She wasn't ready at age 16 to totally give up academic study. However if she had taken up the option of going to a "normal" school/6th form and studies the traditional 3 A levels there she would have found it incredibly difficult to combine that academic study with the high level of dance training needed to audition. There just are not the classes available. Locally, most young people who are looking to apply for vocational training aged 18 tend to study the 2 year Level 3 Btec course run by a local dance school.

My son, whilst very clever (he was accepted at an academically selective school but chose to move after year 8 ), is not academically inclined and could not wait to stop studying traditional academic subjects. He's doing a Level 3 Music Btec and will hopefully go onto university. If he'd done A levels it would have been a disaster.

The only advantage I think that A levels has had for my dd is that it allowing her to prove her academic worth and some universities/Conservatoires are allowing her to apply for Post Grad MA courses without having to top up her diploma to a full degree. I could also see it as being an advantage if a child thinks they might want to go onto a non arts related career where science based A levels rather than an arts based diploma might be useful in the future (I'm thinking along the lines of physiotherapy).
Hilltop
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by Hilltop »

Thanks for the replies.

My DD is worried about what she would do if it didn’t work out performing wise with no A levels, but recognises that a performing arts 6th form would give her a good boost. How do people survive generally in the performing arts industry, ie inbetween jobs and what happens if it does fall through completely and they have no other qualifications? Are the performing arts qualifications enough for other work?
Harry2003
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by Harry2003 »

In between jobs - waiters, bar staff, front of house, mixologist, personal trainer, Pilates teacher, performing arts teacher......whatever floats your boat really.
My oldest son did a trinity level 6 diploma in dance, after 2 very serious hip surgeries she decided dance was no longer for him (still training). He got into a degree apprenticeship programme as a project manager for a construction company in London in his last year of training. While he managed to get 2A levels in the one year once he realised dance wasn’t going to workout, he actually got his place on the degree programme from his diploma, not the A’levels. He got the job because he’s an incredibly hard working, driven, intelligent, highly organised and confident young man way beyond his years - all because of his dance training.

They have to do what feels right to them. Anyone can be successful in life if they want it hard enough - it just doesn’t always look like we thought it would. There is no way my youngest would ever do A’levels - just not in the slightest bit interested in that kind of study - perfectly intelligent- just all he wants to do is performing arts and he is very happily in his first year at EDA 6th form.
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Shabby
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by Shabby »

My DS went to a PA school in London to do a level 6 diploma at 17 with just GCSEs - graduated at 20 went straight into a UK tour, when Covid hit he applied and got into a Uni (UAL) and is now studying Film. Diplomas can have as much standing as A levels I feel, my DD is going to do a BTEC sixth form course in September, it’s equivalent to 3 A levels so I feel if she wants to change direction later she can.
Elle’smom
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by Elle’smom »

BTEC or OCR extended diplomas are equivalent to A-levels and enable entry to degree courses - when we looked strong GCSEs combined with a good extended diploma would enable entry to not only the vocational degrees, but also dual honours such as history and drama. As history A- level is not a requirement for all history degrees, a strong GCSE in the subject was enough.
I come from an academic background so considering a vocational sixth form was out of my comfort zone. But despite good GCSEs my daughter did not enjoy traditional academic learning, after two terms on the extended diploma she is so much happier and better suited to this type of learning.
lawn
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by lawn »

You don't have to do A levels to get a level 3 qualification. Both mine have done an extended diploma that carries UCAS points for them to do degree courses.

My eldest is at Uni (he didn't study PA) Youngest does a musical theatre extended diploma. Neither were interested in studying academic subjects beyond GCSEs and wanted to do vocational courses instead. Older students on DD's course have gone to Uni to study things not musical theatre. Am sure one went to do a Primary teaching degree last year.

The reason DD wanted to study PA at 6th form is she knew when auditioning for degree places , she'd be up against those who had been at the drama schools who had sixth forms, she wanted to make sure she was getting sufficient training and didn't think that possible where we live to just get it outside of school times on evenings and weekends.

Having said that, I wouldn't have sent daughter to our local college because the calibre isn't at a high enough standard. Instead she commutes which means a daily total of 3.5 hours travelling time each day she attends. So I'd also say you need to throw what is available/affordable to you into the mix
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Shabby
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Re: To do A levels or not

Post by Shabby »

My DS went to PA college and did a Diploma at age 17 with no A levels - went on to his first professional job then COVID struck and is now at UAL doing a Degree in Film so I definitely think that A levels are not the be all and end all. My DD is going to do a BTEC in MT this September I also feel this will give her enough if she decides to change paths later, it’s equivalent to 3 A levels. At UAL they definitely took my DS’s qualifications seriously ☺️
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