Hey, I am about to take my GCSEs and I am wondering whether just to choose A Level Music or go for this National Diploma in Music.
On the prospectus for Norwich City College it says the Diploma is worth 3 A Levels!!
If anyone knows anything about the course please tell me, thanks

I would say go for A-Level Music and choose a nice broad base of other subjects to keep your options open as well. If you really, really enjoy music, do A-Level Music Technology as well!

This course is run at the school that I work in. The course at our school has a strong popular music focus. The details from the BTEC website can be found here.

It is very different from A level music, from what I understand, and so is accepted more for popular music degrees and similar than for more classically baised music degrees. A levels are still more widely recognised, and offer the chance to study a wider range of subjects in the future. Some high profile universities and employers will always regard A levels as the qualification of choice. However, I have seen students with BTEC Nationals in music go to music colleges as well as to study music degrees at university.

Hope that helps.

Lis

The A level was a lot of fun, I would go for that.

I'd go for the A level.

Sometimes this 'equivalent to so many A levels' ..or 'equivalent to a degree' is nonsensical. Also, as has been pointed out, it would give you wider options. Perhaps the work involved in this Diploma is like doing more than an A level but at the end of the day, they need students on the course so selling tactics come in!

It is important to be aware of how well recognised certain qualifications are before embarking on all that work, if only to be fair to yourself.

Also, what work would they be covering?

A levels are highly recognised and well researched and give such a good grounding to moving on to further education.