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Dear Quality Nominee,

This is an extremely busy time in the academic calendar and so we hope this newsletter will serve as a quick reminder on the key focus points to ensure you move effectively through this term to successful summer certification.

If you have any questions about Quality Assurance, please contact the team via Live Chat or the Pearson Support Portal and, if you are not already a member, hop over and join the QN Community where we for share the latest information and you can network with other BTEC Centres. 

To fully prepare yourself and your vocational delivery teams please ensure you make full use of our extensive portfolio of online events; whether you are new or experienced as a Quality Nominee it is important that you stay up to date and fully aware of the quality assurance processes to have a successful year.

Our full schedule of Live Support sessions for January to July is published, places can be booked by going to Quality Assurance Events & support. Our On Demand CPD packages remain available to you for use at a time that suits you and your staff.

We continue to offer weekly half hour QA Catch-ups so that you can ask any questions you have and get a very quick headline update to keep you on track. The links to join these are on our events webpage using the link above. If you have not attended these before this short video explains their importance and value of these catch-ups.

Most importantly, your VQAM team are back on the road and are looking forward to supporting more centres with individualised support, whether that be through visits to your centre or centre specific online activity. It’s been great to see so many of you in person again as well as online so please do contact us via the Live chat or the Portal to let us know how we can help you to support your vocational teams.

The allocation of standards verifiers (SVs) to the BTEC Level 2 and Level 3 programmes delivered in centres is underway. Standards verification is an integral part of our quality assurance model and must be completed fully and in a timely manner to ensure the successful issue of learner results.

SVs will contact the quality nominee in the first instance to introduce themselves, their role and the sampling process. Please ensure that this information is shared with the relevant lead internal verifier(s), who will then be responsible for working with the SV to get the process underway.

The deadline for samples to be shared with your SV is 15 May, although we recommend that this takes place at the earliest opportunity. This will be agreed with your SV upon review of your assessment plan(s).

Please note remote samples for both Standard and Enhanced control measures should be submitted via the LWT, accessed via Edexcel Online.

Our team is here to support you through this process. 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 by 31 January.

To support you with standards verification, the updated Centre Guide to Standards Verification is now live on the BTEC Quality Assurance webpage in the useful documents section and join us for the standards verification online support session that you will see in the events list.

As the December/January assessment series is coming to a close, this is a reminder that final moderator reports will be available from results day – restricted release to centres on 20 March and to learners on 21 March. If you have concerns about your results having reviewed your moderator report and final marks, you may request a review of moderation (RoMM Service 3). You can find details of this service on the Post Results Page.

We have updated the Learner and Assessor declarations on the Assessment Record template to include reference to the use of Artificial Intelligence in evidence and when assessing. This is to be used from this point forward and can be located on our quality assurance webpage and on each qualification’s webpage in the course materials – internal assessments section.

Please see the updated Centre Guide to Quality Assurance for the BTEC Tech Awards 2022 for the latest additions linked to which outcome counts towards the overall qualification if a learner retakes an internal component or resits the external component, and new guidance on the certification process for your year 2 cohorts.

If you are looking to begin T Level qualifications this coming September, the approval window is open with effect from Monday 26 February until Friday 28 June. You can find all the documentation you need to submit an application for approval under the Provider Approval tab. The breadth of subjects available continues to grow and provides exciting options for your learners.

For centres where T Levels are already underway, the review calls for Term 2 are now under way, with a deadline for completion of 15 March. Please work with your reviewer to ensure that the calls are completed in time.

Reminder - The BTEC Higher Nationals section of the Annual Quality Declaration includes the Annual Programme Monitoring Report (APMR) that is required for all centres that deliver BTEC Higher National qualifications (L4 and L5).

The deadline to submit this section in the 23/24 academic year is 23 February.

Thank you for your support in completing the Annual Quality Declaration this academic year. We are always looking to improve, so would like to hear your thoughts and feedback on the Annual Quality Declaration and its supporting documents.

Please can you take some time (no more than 5 minutes) to provide us with feedback of your personal experience of the platform. The feedback given will help us improve our offering and ensure we are delivering the best possible experience for our customers.

Annual Quality Declaration Survey

Please complete this survey by Friday 16 February.

We’ve recently been in touch to ask centres to complete their cohort declarations to meet our term-time checkpoint of 9 February. Your head of centre and exams officer may require support in checking your learners’ estimated completion dates.

Read our cohort declaration message for more information and links to support and guidance available.

Kind regards

Helen, Bill, Lee, Liz, Sally, & Sue
Vocational Quality Assurance Managers