A Level/BTEC Diploma

[JemsThaCooliest]

Ok so, I'm currently in year 11 but I go to college one day a week to do Level 1 BTEC Diploma in Performing Arts... I've always been convinced acting was what I was going to do and nothing else. I never even thought of A Levels or uni but now I'm actually having to decide what I want to do when I leave school this year I'm so confused!

I was hoping doing this level 1 course would help me decide if its what I want to do but as I'm only there 1 out of 3 days I haven't been able to see what the whole course is like and our teacher moved countries after about 2 months of us starting so we've had about 4 different teachers and we'd have no classroom and we'd start work which we'd never finish. We now have a teacher who we all hate! It's been a pretty bad experience and I'm trying to not let it put me off because I LOVE acting!

I thought about doing A Levels because I'm interested in communication & culture, english, media & sociology but if I did that then the only drama option would be A Level drama and theatre studies which is more written work and completley different to the BTEC diploma (I think) and the description of drama and theatre studies A Level doesn't interest me much...
(I've also heard media is really boring?!)

There's also a journalism course which sounds interesting but do I really want to commit to doing 2 years journalism and giving up the drama when I have no idea if it's something I'll enjoy?

Someone help meeee, I'm so confused and all this keeps going round and roundin my head! ARGH

[Nicola]

My DS is just finishing a BTech National in Media studies, and although it will probably be of little use in the "real" world, he's absolutely loved every minute of it (and it's kept him in the education system for another 2 years!!!)

He's done short films, script writing, radio production, photography, and animation, and is in the process of putting together a music video for a well-known (although not by me!) trance band that will be used to promote the song!

I don't think there's much acting in it (although they do appear in their own productions occasionally) but it's a great way to dip your toes into the murky waters of the industry to see if there's anything out there that appeals.

[Welsh Mum]

My DD did BTEC in Performing Arts - full time 2 years, equivalent to 3 A levels. She really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. She is now studying in a vocational drama school for a dgeree in Acting, and has said she thinks the BTEC was a much better preparation for this course that A levels. Like you she was not interested in the academic side, so the practical emphasis suited her. Howevere, your post sounded warning bells for me - the quality of teaching on the BTEC (which is highly practical) is extremely important (I know its important for all subjects, but with more academic subjects you can at elast try and get the information etc elsewhere). If the BTEC is taught badly it very poor. You should ask some searching questions about the course - what maodules are taught and what expereinec do the teachers have. Also how many of their students get places at Drama college (if that's the route you want to go down eventuallY). What preparation do they give you for the audition process. There have been seceral other threads on this topic so its worth ypou doing a searchm

[JemsThaCooliest]

Thanks for that guys!
I think I'm going to do the performing arts with a level english or media along side, just to keep my options open

[paulears]

Hang on - there's something not quite right here. The people recommending BTEC Nationals I believe are quite right, they can be excellent courses BUT they are considered full-time, taking broadly the same hours as 3 conventional A levels, which makes sense if they have the same UCAS points attached. However - practically, they actually involve more hours, because most will have proper productions on the go, so much rehearsal time is outside 'class time' - it's extra!

If the timetable allows you to do A Level English and Media at the same time - the hours do not work - at all! The only way you could fit these in would be if the version of the BTEC you are signing up for is a smaller one. BTEC qualifications are split into two elements, depth and width. A Level 3 is deeper than a Level 2 (Imagine A Level vs GCSE) - but the number of units you study can be variable - usually 6, 12 or 18 units over the period, although there is now a 3 unit tiny one too. So it would work if you did a Level 3, 6 unit BTEC and 2 A Levels - still the same UCAS points - but you will have what's often called a 'skiny' BTEC. Deep, but not really very varied, and frankly, less useful.

You mentioned going to college for a Level 1 Performing Arts BTEC. What ever for? You are in year 11, and heading for A Levels/BTEC Nationals. Level 1 is lower than the GCSEs you've been doing, and for somebody at Level 3 standard (nearly), a long way below you!

To be honest, the English A Level alongside your performing arts BTEC would be good for the CV, and a good support for the acting unit in BTEC - Media A Level in my humble view is useful if you want to work in the media, but there are few links with BTEC Performing Arts, and is a bit of a subject mis-match. I worked in Theatre for years, then accidentally became a college lecturer in Media, then I moved to Music and Performing Arts, where I stayed for 15 years - so I've taught A Level Media and BTEC. I don't know how flexible your head is, but the system for A Level and BTEC is very different, and it's easy to become very confused as the work is quite different. I remember very few Media students who could cope with doing both of these at the same time - too many conflicts of time. Perf arts need you for a rehearsal, but the media people need you to work on one of their projects - you only have limited out of class time, and it will be a pain.

If you really want to do performing arts, then do a full-time version - working with the same people over and over again on a wide range of units. You will have a much wider skill base at the end. The slimmer versions of Perf Arts BTEC that fit a timetable probably have acting, dance and a general unit - or some other similar combination. If you did the full-time version - you'll find many much more interesting things on offer. Physical Theatre, Musical Theatre - and even things like costume and makeup at some places, plus maybe music and production units. Acting versions usually have some dance and music in them, dance versions have a bit of music and acting - it just depends on the exact combination.

It sounds like you could be making decisions, important ones, on faulty or incomplete information. If you don't know the questions to ask, you can't recognise dodgy choices.


Quick question. Are you going to leave school and go to a college, or are you staying on in the 6th form? Colleges have much, much wider choices and specialist staff to teach them - schools often choose the slimmer versions and teach them with poorer facilities and non-industry experienced teachers, rather than people who have actually done the job.

This is tricky - but if your 'dance teacher' did dance locally while at school, then went to uni and became a teacher, returning to teach at your school - what actual experience of how it really is done do they have? Somebody who went to uni, then danced on cruise ships, theatre tours and dingy, dirty venues and then got a job teaching in school is a much better source of info and professional practice.

I've seen schools doing dance where not a single one would stand a hope in a pro audition - because their teacher had never done one herself. I've been to colleges where the dance teacher pushed the students so hard, because she wanted to make auditions much easier? Dancers get treated really badly in the industry and must be really tough. What other kind of job involves travelling hundreds of miles, standing in a room watching the choreographer going bam, bam, bam, then having to repeat it first time, perfectly - then even though they were good, going home because they were not good enough? How about a school programme where a full length show is never attempted, because the rules don't require it - then having got a nice certificate you go to an audition, get the job and then when the director says "scripts down" you've never finished the first scene?

The people on this forum strike me as really dedicated people who actually are quite pushy, because that's what the industry needs. If your school or college do not prepare you, what is the point? Perf Arts is not just an ordinary subject - to be successful, it takes over your life - and it simply can't, being studied alongside two other subjects - something will have been removed, and you need to know what it is!

Good luck
Paul

[Welsh Mum]

I agree with Paul. The course my Dd did was a full time one. Hours were long - much longer than 3 A levels. She would not have been able to do an A level alongside it, there would not have been enough time. Productions added extra hours.

As I said ask questions. My DD was lucky: Many of her teachers had direct experience of the industry and/or drama college. At least 3 of them also taught part of the week in prestigious London colleges (Arts Ed and Mountview). Others were also performers or had been them selves. It meant they were well placed to both teach, advise and prepare her.

[pg]

Media A Level in my humble view is useful if you want to work in the medial

I agree with most of what you've written paulears - but not the above.

I think Media Studies is interesting to study (I know my son enjoyed it) but generally sneered at by those in the media. Or at least, anyone who considers that it could open doors for them in "the media" would be regarded as naive I think. It can provide a useful "taster" as Nicola says. I've probably taken you too literally though!.

Jemsthecooliest may be considering an A level in Performing Arts, along with English and Media Studies. I beleive that Performing Arts A level allows you to take part in more practical "on your feet" work than Theatre Studies A level. Perhaps this is what she is now exploring as a possibility?

[amanda]

This is all so hard isn't it ? Really tough decisions being made so young.
My dd is very academic but loves to perform and wants to make that her career.

My preference as a Mum is for her to take academic A levels which would secure her a place at a good university if that is her choice in 2 years time. In the mean time we would support her dance, drama and singing lessons out of school and she can audition for NYT and NYMT etc to build her skills and experience. At 18 she can try for Drama schools (and we can panic about how we could afford it if she did get in!)

As I say, this is my preference - but it has to be her choice in the end.

[JemsThaCooliest]

Ok, I'll try and reply to everything you just said

I'm not really sure how the whole timetable thing works but I know the btec performing arts courses are 2 and a half days a week. The college said it's possible to do 1 or 2 A Levels aswell, if it fits into your time table. I don't know if the course is 'skinny' but it involves, acting, dancing, sound & lighting, costume, make up, musical theatre and other stuff too, so it pretty much covers everything?
I realise that media isn't exactly linked to performing arts but it's another career I'm interested in and I'd like to keep my options open which is why I'm looking into it.
I realise level 1 is a lot lower than what I'm capable of but this is something set up through my school so it was either that or nothing.
I understand that both media and performing arts would take up a lot of time so it wouldn't be ideal so I probably won't end up doing that but it's just an option.
Yes, I'm going to college rather than staying in school.

I'm someone who thinks TOO much, my hearts telling me to just do performing arts because it's what I want to do but on the other hand so many people are telling me otherwise which has made me think long and hard about courses.

On another note, I applied for a performing arts school and got a letter yesterday to say I have an audition next month, that would just solve the problem!

Oh and sorry for all the short sentences, maybe it's a sign I need to do a level english! Haha :')

[Welsh Mum]

I am very suprised the course is being taught in two and a half days

My DD was mostly 9-4.30 everyday, with a lunch hour. She did have 2 "free" hours a week, but that was often lost in rehearsing. As an example she had 5 hours of dance, the same of singing. You should ask how many hours are allocated for each module covered in the course. As I said before, the course only really works when its done well.

[paulears]

Something is definitely wrong with the information here. The current version that is being taught is brand new last September and is split clearly into Performance and Production versions. Lighting, sound, makeup, costume and scenery/stage management are in one 'pathway' and acting, singing, dancing and a few others are in the other. It is not impossible to get a production unit into performance, but they were deliberately split up. There is a remote possibility the odd technical unit can be squeezed in but the college would have to make a special case, and use some local need for it. In Level 2 (GCSE Level) production and technical units are available together, but this is not the A Level standard version - that is the Level 3 where there is an expectation of specialisation. Some colleges run production AND performance but they cannot be studied together. 2 or 3 days a week is common - because they can squeeze the hours into 3 full days. 16-18 hours a week is considered full time! However - my own experience is that very few students can cope with one or two A Levels along side - frankly, it is too much, and again, from personal experience, their work suffers. It's very common when the BTEC people are working towards a production for them to come in voluntarily on their days off - and the A Level people cannot do that. Sadly, it's also common for other departments to do their own timetabling with common subjects enabled - so English, maths, science etc can happily co-exist, but very rarely does it work when perf arts is squished into three days. The college covered themselves with the "if it fits" caveat - and if it does, I'd be very surprised.

A Level performing arts has proper performance in it - subject to the very few hours it has on the timetable, so rarely do major productions - and those they do might well be very 'drama-ish' - so expect Brecht, Stanislavsky, Ibsen and other solid and traditional material. Metamorphosis and Blue Remembered Hills seem very popular (with the teachers). Theatre studies has much less performance - and most performy style kids hate it.

Media covers tv, radio, film, the press and contemporary media products - hence why it's popular - however, it's a quick dip into all these with little scope for specialism. Truly worthwhile media skills are of course in the BTEC version.

If people want/need to do A Levels, then Maths, English, Languages and Sciences are the really worthwhile ones - Law is still popular. The facts of life are very simple. Performing Arts, as a career probably means long spells of unemployment, and while working, grotty wages. Cruise ships might pay £300-350 a week, cheap touring productions not much more. Very few people are actually good enough/lucky enough to make a decent living - and let's face it - out of each group of performing arts or music students, a very small percentage end up working in the business. I'm still in touch with many of my students, and I get invites to their weddings - San Francisco was my last one, just before christmas - and I do see those working in the business - but the majority don't! I have to say that the skills they have do them well in many areas otjher than performing.

Dancers are the worst. Very short career (too old at 30+) even if excellent. A good friend loved dancing, but the jobs fizzled out at 30. Auditions got tricky - and now they are not allowed to ask age, they just want to see a passport, in case a european tour is possible - what do passports have in them? Age!

Luckily, her mum and dad explained all this and she is a qualified physio - she still dances for fun, but has what her dad calls a 'proper job' and this pays real money.

The biggest work area for my old students is teaching. Off the top of my head I can think of at least ten who are now teachers - most teaching ...... BTEC.

I'm a BTEC convert - and hold my hands up to being very involved with it - but I've taught Media, Communications, Theatre Studies and Music A Level before doing BTEC Music & Perf Arts. I'm convinced that for real practical useful skills, BTEC is best. If people love studying, rather than doing - then BTEC isn't for them, and they should look at A Levels.

The test is easy. When kids used to tell me they love performing arts with a passion, I just asked them what shows they've been in. Some, at 16 would look blank and explain that was what they were applying for. Others would produce programmes and photos of them doing amdram since they were babes. These kids are the BTEC ones. The ones who 'love' perf arts but somehow never got around to doing it didn't love it enough and A Levels could be for them. If you want to perform, I reckon college at 16 is not the time to start - it's probably a fad, and these people drop out when the going gets tough.


Ask the college exactly what programme it is. The answer, for a full time A Level standard/UCAS point course should be a BTEC National Extended Diploma - if it says First rather than National it is GCSE Level 2!

Worth noting that colleges frequently offer Level 2 if the kids do not have 4 GCSEs at C or above - they do Level 2 for a year, THEN start the Level 3, spending 3 years, not two at college.

Hope this helps - sorry it is so boring and confusing.

If anyone needs some exact info, feel free to email me off forum - I'll try to help if I can. paul@earsmedia.co.uk

[amanda]

So Paulears - to clarify, do you think that my dd would have any chance of getting into a good drama school at 18 after a levels and high quality extra curricular drama, dance, singing since the age of 6? This includes NYMT already and we hope to include other national level groups by the time she applies.

[Welsh Mum]

Paulears, that's well expleined, but my DD definitely had way more than 18 hours a week!! Perhaps thery were just very thorough. She had modules in dance (jazz and ballet), Conditioning (piates and aerobics), Acting, Voice, Singing (ensemble and solo work), Health performer (diet, nutrition, avoiding injuries), Business (geared towarsd perfoming), Context (different genres and how tthey develpoed) and a coiple more I can't remeber. So far more than the hours you mentioned - perhaps thats just a guideline? My DD was told in no uncertain terms that an A level alongside was not possible. They were just worked too hard. However, now she is in full time post 18 drama training she is glad she did it that way - she has 10-11 hour days now, and she feels she has coped better with it because she was used to that sort of thing already. The course is very physically demanding, so the preparation she has done has paid off ( as well as her 5 hours of dance in college she was also doing 4 hours outside, as well as private singing lessons and youth theatre). She is also used to the type of approach - keeping logbooks/journals was an important feature of BTEC and she has to do the same now. I understand the point you make about making sure they can earn money in ways other than performing - that's why she is doing a 3 yr degree course, she is already qualified for some dance teaching and as a singing teacher, so that will be her "fallback".

[Welsh Mum]

So Paulears - to clarify, do you think that my dd would have any chance of getting into a good drama school at 18 after a levels and high quality extra curricular drama, dance, singing since the age of 6? This includes NYMT already and we hope to include other national level groups by the time she applies.

It is certainly possible to do this. there are students in my DDs class (and her drama school is a "good" one) who have taken that route. With us it was that my DD did not want to do A levels (apart from perhaps English) and she only wanted to do the more practical course. She had excellent GCSE's but was eager to do the practical training. She too had done dance classes since 3, singing lessons since 11 , local productions , YMTUK and NYT . The decision was also influenced by the high quality of the BTEc course at our local college - every year they get students into places like RADA, BOV, RWCMD, Central, GSA, Mountview, Arts Ed etc as well as the dance colleges like Laines, Bird and Urdang). My thinking as well was that if she tried the BTEC course and had a "taste" of what training could be like she may decide it wasn't for her. I must admit I was secretly hoping this may be the case, I am still worried about the precariuos route she has taken!

[Hecouldshine]

This thread is full of valuable info. Thanks all Could it be made a sticky perhaps ?