Pearson International Vocational Qualifications Bulletin
21 June 2022 |
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We hope you have had a productive spring and summer. In this bulletin, we’re providing a reminder of the key actions your centre must complete in order to ensure timely results for your learners.
We will also do our best to support you as we will start to send centre-specific communications which we hope will enable you to focus your time on any outstanding actions for your learners. You can continue to help us by keeping your BTEC registrations up to date, with accurate completion dates, and by withdrawing learners who are no longer on a programme.
Finally, where you have been allocated a Standards Verifier, please ensure you send your samples to them as soon as possible (if you haven’t already). Late submission can impact on our ability to release results in a timely manner. If you’re experiencing any issues with this, please let your Standards Verifier know.
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We’ve spoken to some centres who have asked for consolidated guidance on how to ensure that BTEC Full Award Claims are processed in a timely way this summer. We know that many Examinations Officers and Quality Nominees may be new, or simply appreciate the reminder after a couple of years of having alternative processes in place.
Here are some key points to note:
- BTECs are modular qualifications, meaning multiple unit grades must be submitted by centres, and exam results achieved, in order to meet ‘eligibility’ requirements. These requirements are always outlined in the specification, Q-TAGs will not form part of qualification results this academic year – all learners with affected assessment from 2020/21 must have U-TAGs submitted from their centre, or they will not be eligible for a qualification result. If you have not completed that process you will need to use the late U-TAG submission process.
- It’s essential you achieve a Standards Verification ‘Release’, otherwise certificates will not be issued, and grades will not be sent to centres, or (where relevant) UCAS.
- You must submit a ‘Full Award Claim’ once all internally assessed grades are submitted, where learners are expecting a qualification result this summer.
- All ‘ineligible’ claims will appear as such and must be resolved before we send learner certificates.
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In the table below, you will find a list of key activities that must be completed by centres: |
Assessment Type |
Task |
Further Information |
| Internal assessment that was due to take place in 2020/2021 |
Submit all Unit-level Teacher Assessed Grades for assessment that was ‘reduced’/due but not assessed in 2020/2021. |
All centres should have taken this step, using this guidance.
Please contact us with any late submissions as soon as possible and we will do our best to support you. |
| Internal Assessment that was due to take place in 2020/2021 |
Ensure all learners who have continued onto larger sizes of the qualification have their Q-TAG (from 2021) converted into Unit-level Teacher Assessed Grades. |
All centres should have taken this step, using this guidance.
Please contact us with any late submissions as soon as possible and we will do our best to support you. |
| Internal Assessment (either one or two units) |
Submit ‘streamlined assessment’ grade, for units where you have used this adaptation. Note: these unit grades will not appear any differently on the Notification of Performance, the streamlined ‘flag’ is required for our own records and reporting processes. |
You can find a list of qualifications where you can use Streamlined assessment in our guidance.
Information on how to input these unit grades is on pg 20 of our BTEC guidance. |
| Internal Assessment |
A Standards Verifier will have been allocated to each of your BTEC programmes. Samples must be submitted to the SV within agreed timelines so that the SV can generate a quality report and confirm the certification status of your programmes. |
All sampling must be completed by the agreed date. If this will not be possible, please liaise with your SV to agree a suitable date. |
| Internal Assessment |
All relevant unit grades must be submitted by the centres, with the relevant ‘rules of combination’ followed.
You should have ensured that all planned units have been taught and assessed this year. You must also ensure that any learner Topping up, has had their Q-TAG from 2021, translated into Unit grades (U-TAGs) otherwise claims will not be eligible. |
Please check specifications to ensure correct pathways for eligibility. |
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We are aware that some of the BTEC alumni, who completed their QCF BTEC Level 3 National in 2021 and received a Qualification Teacher Assessed Grade (Q-TAG) may be applying for HE in the UK or internationally for the coming academic year or may plan to apply in subsequent academic years.
Whilst UK universities were able to waive unit requirements for 2021, due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, we know that this is not the case for applying to HE in 2022 onwards. Therefore, we recommend that you retain assessment records relating to QCF BTEC Level 3 Nationals for 2021, principally the assessment plan with details of:
- Units studied
- Unit grades not on EOL (which may already exist).
This means we will be able to work with you to support any BTEC 2021 alumni with their HE applications in the UK or internationally. As we will be able to provide alumni (that require it) a letter detailing their notional unit grades, which we can work out once we have confirmation of units studied and any existing unit grades you may have. If you have alumni that require a letter, please contact us using the Pearson Support Portal.
Please be reassured that this will not involve or require you to retrospectively determine U-TAGs or retain learner work beyond the requirement above. We would be grateful if you could retain the assessment plan as a minimum, so we can correctly identify which units students studied as part of their course, when we provide a letter. It is advised that you retain the assessment plan for as long as possible, we expect most queries from alumni over the next 2-3 years, with diminishing queries in subsequent years.
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As always, we have a large selection of Knowledge Articles that have been designed to help Exams Officers and Quality Nominees. You can look through our most-viewed articles or use the search bar to help you find the specific information you’re looking for. |
We know many of you will be coming to the end of your delivery for 2021/22 and we wanted to remind you that External Examination will be completed remotely this year, via a “remote visit”, as outlined in autumn 2021 BTEC Centre Guide to External Examination. In line with Ofqual regulations, no Unit Level Teacher Assessed Grades (UTAGs) can be awarded for students completing assessments after 31st August 2021.
Please follow your internal Assessment Board process as usual. Your External Examiner is no longer required to complete a separate Assessment Board check report. Further information can be found in our online guide. |
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