Following feedback and discussions with centres, UCAS and other bodies, the decision has been taken to align the BTEC Results Day with those for General Qualifications.

From this academic year, BTEC results for the external assessments within our reformed (RQF) qualifications will be released to learners on the same day as the GQ equivalent qualification (A level and GCSE). Although centres will have access to the results on the preceding Wednesday (day before), these results will be embargoed until the following day, in line with A Level and GCSEs.

If you have made ‘full award’ qualifications claims for learners due to receive examination results, their qualification results will become available at the same time and should also be embargoed.

We are aware that some centres already choose to release results on the same day as the GQ equivalent and Pearson has made the decision to align with this formally.

Please note that results for qualifications that are 100% internally assessed and externally verified will have results released as normal, when eligible claims are processed in the weekly awarding run.

If you deliver Pearson’s General Qualifications, you will have heard from us regarding the General Qualifications consultation response from DfE and Ofqual regarding contingency arrangements in the event that A-Level or GCSE examinations are cancelled in summer 2022, due to Covid-19.

In light of the above, we wanted to remind VQ centres of the relevant Vocational Qualification contingency arrangements, already in place, should examinations, or other assessments be cancelled or impacted.

Adaptations: DfE and Ofqual consulted on arrangements for awarding VTQs in 2021/22, with outcomes noted in August. (This permitted for Awarding Organisations to continue to adapt assessments in 2021/22). You can find our permitted adaptations for all learners due to be assessed in 2021/22 on our Teaching and Learning page – please note that adaptations are currently only permitted for this academic year.

Contingencies in the event that examinations are cancelled or there is widespread disruption: DfE issued contingency guidance in Autumn 2021 following the above consultation outcome. This document outlines the arrangements that could be put in place if examinations and other assessments are no longer viable:

• TAGs being reintroduced for qualifications most similar to GQs
• Delayed assessment for competence-based qualifications
• Continued assessment with adaptations such as remote assessment for qualifications with mixed purpose (i.e. for FSQs)

The use of Teacher Assessed Grades: As you will be aware, although Teacher Assessed Grades are not currently permitted, and all teaching learning and assessment planned for 2021/22 should be taking place, Ofqual’s Vocational Contingency Regulatory Framework (VCRF) would be used to switch to Teacher Assessed Grades should these be required, i.e. in the event of widescale disruption or examination cancellation. We will of course keep you updated with any decisions relating to this, and any additional guidance that is released to support centres should it be deemed necessary to return to Teacher Assessed Grades.

Standards setting in 2021/22: On 30 September 2021, Dr Jo Saxton (Ofqual) wrote:

“Our regulatory framework requires awarding organisations to secure, as far as it is possible, that VTQ learners are not disadvantaged nor advantaged compared with their GCSE and A level peers. To do this we expect them to take account of the approach for GCSEs and A levels when setting standards in their own qualifications.”

With the above in mind, we continue to review GCSE and A Level information and guidance relating to adaptations, contingency planning and standards setting. We will continue to update you on how we intend to achieve alignment, where relevant, to ensure that all learners can progress with confidence this year.

Our records show that there are still some grades outstanding for Internally assessed U-TAGs where a Z-grade was reported last year. The U-TAGs for any completed Internal assessments need to be submitted via Edexcel Online either individually or using the Bulk Grade Reporting Tool.

We would kindly ask you to please check your EOL inbox as you will have received a report in your mailbox confirming if the upload was successful or not. It may be that when these grades were submitted via the Bulk Grade Reporting Tool, there was an error preventing the upload to Edexcel Online.

The format of the bulk upload spreadsheet should be as per the example below, no other variations are accepted by Edexcel Online. You can check the format of each sheet in the Bulk Upload screen.

If you have received a report in your EOL mailbox alerting you that the upload was unsuccessful you will need to complete the upload again. Our guidance detailing the process can be found here on page 8. Please note this functionality should be used for internal assessments that are eligible for U-TAGs, i.e. these are for units where a ‘Z grade’ was reported in the last academic year.

As the deadline for submissions has passed, U-TAGs submitted late cannot be confirmed in line with the timelines set out in our guidance, but will be processed and Quality Assured as soon as possible. If you have U-TAG submissions outstanding, please submit the missing grades as soon as possible.

If you need support in completing this process please contact the Customer Services team.

NEW - You are now able to report ‘Streamlined’ Assessments on Edexcel Online and we’ve updated our guidance to confirm how to do this. This relates to qualifications where one learning aim is permitted to be assessed for one or two internally assessed unit(s). Full teaching and learning must take place. Please ensure you follow the guidance.

Thank you to all those centres who submitted U-TAGs to meet the 10 November deadline. These are currently undergoing quality checks and, this week, we expect to be in touch with the majority of selected centres as part of the quality assurance of these U-TAGs, to provide further details and next steps where relevant.

External assessments – Part A release

The release of Part A BTEC external assessments has now begun in line with the confirmed exam timetable found on our website.

Digital submissions

New for January 2022: A communication went out to Exams Officers earlier this week to confirm that we will be utilising an online digital submission process for relevant selected externally-assessed units this coming January. We anticipate that this will be a welcome change, which is more sustainable and efficient in reducing the need for postal services and USB pen drive submissions.

Links to Lead Examiner reports

As we approach the January external assessment series, it seems the perfect opportunity to highlight and signpost the wealth of support material for both you and your learners. Lead Examiner reports are produced for each unit after every examination opportunity and give an in-depth insight into the marking of the external assessments. Full of helpful hints and real examples of learner responses, they support the development of effective exam technique.

You can find these Examiner Reports by selecting the External assessments button on the left of the Course Materials tab, found at the top of each qualification’s webpage.

ICEA and ASG guidance

Our policies and guidance for conducting external assessments can be found in the BTEC Instructions for Conducting External Assessment (ICEA) document. Policies for the conduct of examinations and General Regulations, plus other useful information to help you in your role as an exams officer, can be found on the JCQ website.

Further support on conducting our task-based assessments can be found in the individual unit’s Admistrative Support Guide (ASG). You can find these ASGs by selecting the External assessments button on the left of the Course Materials tab, found at the top of each qualification’s webpage.

It is required that assessments are delivered in line with the guidance provided and failure to administer external assessments appropriately could lead to further investigation and results being withheld.

BTEC Assignment Checking Service

The Assignment Checking Service will close on Friday 3 December 2021 for the Christmas Break. You will still be able to submit Assignments for review during this period, however cases will not be assigned until the service re-opens on Monday 10 January 2022.

Pearson are running customer briefing sessions over the coming weeks to give centres the opportunity to:

• discuss adaptations for 2021/2022 of ‘streamlined assessment’ and the gathering of evidence
• learn more about our existing resources which support external assessment and mock exams
• discuss any issues that you currently face
• exchange best practice with the sector team facilitating the session.

You can find a full list of these sessions by typing ‘Customer Briefing’ into the keyword search on our Live Training page.

In the new year we’re running a series of free training events to give you an overview of the revised BTEC Tech Awards specifications for first teach September 2022. The sessions will count as 2 hours of CPD.

These events will give you an overview of the course as a whole, alongside assessment and grading. You’ll also have an opportunity to interact with the presenter and ask questions.

Events are available for each sector – just select BTEC Tech Awards and your sector, or type Getting Started in the keyword search on our training portal.

Book onto an event for your sector

Last week the Secretary of State for Education, Nadhim Zahawi announced the good news that there would be an extra year before the Level 3 reform timetable is implemented. This means:

• De-funding of existing Level 3 qualifications, which are deemed to overlap with wave 1 and 2 T Levels will start from academic year 2024/2025 onwards, on a phased basis.
• The introduction of the new Level 3 ‘Academic’ and ‘Technical’ qualifications will start from academic year 2024/2025 onwards on a phased basis.

This means you can continue delivering your BTEC Level 3 Nationals with confidence in 2022/2023 and 2023/24, as there will be no changes to funding. We will continue to update you on any news about the reform.

We are keen to see that BTEC Level 3 Nationals and other Applied General qualifications are funded in the longer-term future beyond these dates. Therefore, if you have not already, please consider signing the #ProtectStudentChoice petition, set up by the SFCA and its 24 partners, so that the potential de-funding of many existing Level 3 qualifications can be properly debated in parliament once 100,000 signatures are obtained.

You can sign as an individual, and multiple people within one organisation can sign. So please do encourage your colleagues, current BTEC students and BTEC alumni to sign too, if this of interest to them. Every signature counts. We thank you all for your continued support for the BTEC Level 3 Nationals.

We are carrying out research as part of our ongoing monitoring of the impact of Level 3 BTEC National qualifications. We'd like to find out about how the pandemic has affected the way you teach BTEC and how you think BTEC delivery will evolve in the future. This short survey will take around 5 minutes to complete. Please feel free to pass this on to any of your colleagues delivering Level 3 BTEC Nationals this year.

With options evenings and open days drawing closer, we’re here to support you in your conversations about BTEC with new and existing students.

Our BTEC Options tool is easy to use and interactive; designed specially to help you talk to learners and parents about next steps. What’s more, you can easily focus on the specific BTEC courses offered by your college to get customised information that will help you recruit and retain learners.
You can access:

• Subject and course information
• Employability skills students will develop on the course
• A range of career options after studying BTEC
• Stories from BTEC alumni in your subject area.

You will be aware that we had some technical issues with our Online Standardisation of Centre Assessors (OSCA) platform which meant we had to ask Lead IVs not to attempt the Functional Skills OSCA training during October. These issues have now been resolved so your Functional Skills LIV should be able to complete the OSCA training.

OSCA accreditation is set up in monthly windows with approval being given, for the subsequent twelve-month period, at the end of the month in which your LIV passes the training. Once accredited, your centre will be ready for certification claims. Following this, an SV will be assigned to your centre and will then be in touch to conduct our annual monitoring.

You can make test bookings for paper based on-demand Functional Skills tests at any time up to 14 days ahead of the planned test date. However, during the Christmas period we must make some changes to ensure test papers can be dispatched and received securely.

This means that in the period from 14 November 2021 to 28 December 2021, when making a test booking for a paper based on-demand test, you will not be able to select dates in the period from 29 December 2021 to 12 January 2022. All other dates can be booked as normal.

After 28 December normal availability will be resumed.

To help ensure learner registration data is accurate, and to help with future quality assurance activities, please ensure that only active learners are registered within Edexcel Online. This will help reduce Standards Verifiers contacting and trying to organise a sample where no active learners are present. You can find more information in our knowledge article.

Lead Standards Verification (LSV) allocations have been released and your allocated LSV will be in touch to organise your first sample. Should you require urgent certification, please do not wait for your Lead Standards Verifier, instead, please contact your Standards Verifier to arrange sampling. The details of your allocated LSV and SV can be found within Edexcel Online under the External Verification tab.

As a reminder, there is no requirement to complete OSCA (Online Standardisation of Centre Assessors) or Centre Standardisation Materials (CSMs) as part of Work based learning quality assurance. You do not need to register your Lead Internal Verifiers on Edexcel Online (EOL). However, personnel will be recorded on your verification reports, and it therefore remains important that you have a named person to undertake this role. You can still access some reference OSCA and CSMs for Introductory and Entry Level through our website under the relevant qualification pages.

Pearson’s November E-Bulletin was published and included the following:

• Q&A Networks for the Autumn and Spring terms
• Key Dates Schedule 2021 – 2023
• Registrations and Entries
• 2022 Provider Approval window

Read the 11 November Bulletin

For further information on our general qualifications for 2022, please visit our Summer 2022 support page. We’ll be updating this page regularly.

Please sign up to receive our regular Pearson Qualifications Bulletin on our website where you’ll also be able to read past issues.