Contingency Planning - Reminder

Our most recent update on contingency planning was shared in VQ Bulletin Issue 32. We will continue to keep you updated in relation to any additional guidance or support that becomes available. 

ESFA’s Covid-19 2021 Qualification Claim Fund and Guidance 

ESFA have published their guidance and claim form for the Covid-19 2021 qualification fund. This is relevant for centres who offered GCSEs/A Levels, VTQs (including BTEC) and Functional Skills qualifications in 2021. The guidance outlines how your centre can claim financial support from the ESFA for costs associated with: 

• Private candidates deadline: 10 January 2022
• Priority appeals in 2021 deadline: 10 January 2022
• Autumn 2021 exam costs undertaken between 1 October 2021 and 25 February 2022 deadline: 4 March 2022
• Autumn 2021 exam costs undertaken between 28 February 2022 and 31 March 2022 deadline: 6 April 2022 

Please read the ESFA’s guidance for details on eligibility and how to claim.

Annual Centre Declaration (ACD) Forms

The review of submitted ACD forms is almost complete and we would like to thank you for submitting, and in some cases amending, this document.  

We will be writing to centres that have not submitted an ACD, as well as those centres who have not responded to requests for amendments to be made. The ACD indicates your acceptance of our Terms and Conditions for BTEC qualifications (Tech Award, BTEC L2 and L3) and is required for certification to take place. You will not be able to receive BTEC results from us until this is complete. 

Your uploaded ACD will remain visible on the ACD page of Edexcel Online, so you can easily check that it has been submitted and is complete. If you believe there has been a submission but cannot see the document, then please contact us, as we may have notified someone else at your centre of an error and we are waiting for an amendment.  

As a reminder, signatures can be actual, scanned or electronic, but electronic signatures should be in the form of the person’s centre email address. A typed name is insufficient. 

If you need further support to complete you Annual Centre Declaration, you can access our video tutorial or our guide on our website. 

Quality Assurance of U-TAGs Update  

The first group of programmes to be selected for the quality assurance of U-TAGs was sent out last week. Selected centres will receive a communication directly from Pearson, followed by an email from their Pearson-appointed U-TAG Reviewer for the programme(s).

Thank you in advance for your support in helping us to meet the deadlines for this activity, which ensures we can confirm all U-TAGs (that were submitted on time) by 13 January 2022. 

Streamlined EOL Functionality - Reminder 

You are now able to report ‘Streamlined’ Assessments (these are the assessment adaptations available this academic year, 2021/22) on Edexcel Online and we have 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 available on our Teaching and Learning page, under the ‘Internal Assessment in 2021/22' menu option.

Accessing Part A Tasks for January 2022 series - Reminder  

The release of Part A BTEC external assessments has now begun in line with the confirmed exam timetables. All Part A materials that are web-releases are available to download from our website.  

For the 2022 exam series, we have continued to deliver adaptations to extend Part A or research windows for our task-based assessments, these can be seen in the exam timetables. We have not changed or adapted the amount of supervised, controlled or unsupervised hours needed, please refer to the External Assessment Overview document, task booklet, Admistrative Support Guide (ASG) or Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs) for guidance on this.

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

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.

All BTEC RQF Nationals (2016–2020) last registration dates have been extended across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

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. The #ProtectStudentChoice Campaign team have created this short guide and checklist on how to support signatures of the petition and boost numbers. We thank you all for your continued support for the BTEC Level 3 Nationals. 

Update on Performance Tables and Assessment 

We expect to hear from the Department for Education (DfE) in December about the inclusion of the BTEC Tech Awards in the 2024 Performance Tables.   

In the meantime, following your feedback, we will be including a January moderation window for our internally assessed components (with the exception of Art and Design). This means you will have two assessment opportunities each year.  

We are currently in the process of updating our specifications and support materials. These changes will be reflected in the final published versions once they are approved by DfE for performance tables.

Getting Started’ Training Events starting in January  

In the New Year, we are 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, alongside assessment and grading. In addition, you will 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 

Late Registrations  

The deadline for registering BTEC Higher National students on Edexcel Online passed on 15 November. Please note that any registrations made after this date will be charged accordingly, as outlined in the BTEC Registration Fees, Timelines and Refunds document.

If you need support or help with making your registrations, please contact the Pearson Support Portal.

CMA guidance for HE providers   

The Competition Markets Authority (CMA) has recently restated its guidance to Higher Education providers in relation to withdrawing places or cancelling programmes once an offer has been made to a student. The statement sets out how consumer protection law applies in those situations and it applies to all institutions offering Higher Education programmes. 

FS Paper based on-demand bookings over Christmas - reminder

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. 

Centre Self-Assessment (CSA) and Annual Centre Declaration (ACD) 

With Lead Standards Verification activities commencing, just a reminder that if you have already completed an ACD for your BTEC programmes, you do not need to complete the Centre Self Assessment.

Please ensure that the ACD is made available for your WBL LSV or PQA advisor once complete, to help support you in the upcoming year. 

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

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.

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.