| Vocational Quality Assurance Manager Newsletter |
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Dear Colleague,
With Easter fast approaching, this is a busy time to ensure everything is on track for successful certification and learners’ progression. This month, we're giving you our top tips to ensure a smooth journey to certification.
If you have any questions about quality assurance, please contact the team via live chat or the Pearson Support Portal. If you're not already a member, join our QN Community where we share the latest information, and you can network with other BTEC centres.
Features this month include: |
- Book on to your QN face-to-face network event
- Review progress with standards verification
- Check cohort details in the VQ Tracker
- BTEC Tech Awards update teams on early release dates
- Review the new bitesize video: Reasonable Adjustments for BTEC Internal Assessments
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We’re going on tour! We’re running face-to-face network events all over the country this summer, and we’d love to see you there.
This will be a fantastic opportunity to meet your VQAM, spend quality networking time with QN colleagues from a range of other centres, understand what is happening with qualification development at level 2 and level 3 and share best practice on quality assurance topics.
We'd recommend booking onto your most convenient event as soon as possible to secure your place.
We will prioritise bookings for quality nominees; additional bookings for other staff roles in your centre will be moved to a waiting list. |
We've heard your feedback and are excited to announce a key improvement to the release schedule for the BTEC Tech Award Pearson Set Assignments (PSAs) used for internally assessed components. PSAs will now be available three months earlier, giving you more time to plan, prepare, mark, and upload assessments.*
New PSA release rates
- 2 June 2025: PSAs for the December/January 2025/26 assessment series
- 1 September 2025: PSAs for the May/June 2026 assessment series.
*these changes do not affect Art and Design Practice, which does not have a December/January assessment series.
In line with this news, we’ve updated our support videos on moderation and quality assurance:
We’ve also updated our guidance documents and the template for the learner handbook, which are all available to download now from our BTEC Tech Awards quality assurance page.
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We're sure your teams are doing all they can to proceed with standards verification, so this is just a friendly reminder for your lead internal verifiers to work with your allocated standards verifiers as soon as possible to ensure first samples are submitted by the deadline of 15 May. |
If you are required to submit a second sample, this must be done by the deadline of 15 June.
We are here and ready to support you through this process, especially if there has been any delay in reports being shared or a breakdown in communication. |
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Contact us if you have any questions about the standards verification process or if you have not received an SV allocation for any BTEC programme. |
If standards verification is new to you, please remember our standards verifiers will contact you via a personal email, not a Pearson account. You can check the authenticity by looking at their details on Edexcel Online.
If your programme requires a visit the standards verifier will need to sign in and be escorted as a visitor under your centres safeguarding policy.
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Our new online booking system allows you to see our availability to book a 15-minute time slot for a face-to-face Teams meeting. This gives you the opportunity to quickly seek support, advice and discuss any quick questions you may have.
If any of your lead internal verifiers have questions about the standards verification process, this is the ideal way for them to get support.
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Whether you’re new to the role of quality nominee or just want a refresher, our online Roles and Responsibilities of a Quality Nominee event will give you an overview of the key responsibilities of your role and set you up for success. See our upcoming dates and book on to an upcoming session that suits your schedule.
Use our bitesize video library on our dedicated YouTube channel and on-demand materials to develop your staff CPD. The latest additions include ‘BTEC Standards Verification 2024-25’, BTEC Standards Verification; What if Qs January 2025’ and ‘Reasonable Adjustments for BTEC Internal Assessments’.
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Kind regards,
Helen, Bill, Lee, Liz, Sally, & Sue
Vocational Quality Assurance Managers
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