BTEC Higher Nationals FAQs

If there has not been enough time or scope to conduct any summative or formative assessment, then the students should not be given any Centre Assessment Grade. It would be up to the centre to decide whether that unit should be derogated or delayed as appropriate. 

No. Centre Assessment Grades can only be awarded based on summative or formative assessment evidence from gathered from within the unit.

In line with usual practice, centres must retain all evidence supporting assessment decisions for a minimum of three years.

Attendance of the Virtual Assessment Board should be determined by the Centre’s terms of reference. Where a required member of staff cannot attend, a replacement member of staff with equivalent seniority and qualifications should attend in place. This should be recorded in the Assessment Board minutes. Where this is not possible, the centre should contact their External Examiner for guidance.

Yes. Your External Examiner will need to review the Virtual Assessment Board template and minutes to ensure that the correct procedure for producing Centre Assessment Grades has been followed. All grades must be inputted using the drop-down menu on the cells. Additional rows can be added manually by copying a row.

If you have students looking to certificate in time for confirming University places, then we recommend the Virtual Assessment Board is completed by the end of June 2020 and the Virtual Assessment Board Template sent to your External Examiner by this date, to allow the External Examiner to conduct the review and confirm that your grades are in line with Pearson requirements. Centres should also consider the timing of re-submissions.

Yes. If both parts are ready, these can be submitted to your External Examiner at the same time.

No. As their final grades need to through the External Examiner processes in order for Pearson to then confirm the Calculated Results. 

Where units are undeliverable due to inability to access necessary resources and equipment, and NO teaching and learning has taken place for that unit, the following options are available:

1. If it is a Level 4 HNC unit, with intention for those student (s) to progress to the Level 5 HND year, that unit can be derogated. This mean that students can progress to the next level with the condition that the unit should be eventually completed prior to the final HND award.On the Virtual Assessment Board template, the centre must choose the ‘DRG’ option from the drop-down list for each student.
2. If the student is in their final year of Higher National study, and thus expecting to achieve their BTEC Higher National qualification in Summer 2020, there is no option but to delay teaching until the resumption of teaching, learning and assessment with the required resources is possible.

Where the units have become undeliverable, but some learning, teaching and assessment (formative and/or summative) has taken place, we encourage the adaptation of assessment where possible.

The existing student appeals process within your centre should be followed.

Where work placement in not mandated in the qualification, there is no minimum amount which needs to be undertaken. For further guidance please see the section on ‘How to approach work experience’ in the COVID-19 Teaching and Assessment Guidance for BTEC Higher Nationals.

We ask that 70% of the mandated work placement hours are completed in order to qualify for an award. Please see the guidance in Appendix 2 of the COVID-19 Teaching and Assessment Guidance for BTEC Higher Nationals.

No. Grades must not be claimed on Edexcel Online until the External Examiner has conducted their review of your Assessment Boards minutes and of student work (if applicable). This applies to both Centre Assessment Grades and grades for units already delivered and assessed within the centre.

We are looking into the provision of support for centres who would like this feedback in advance of next year’s EE process. Please contact us and we will do our best to support you.

If a centre disagrees with the outcome of the External Examiner review of the Assessment Board results and minutes, the Pearson Higher Education Qualifications (HEQ) team will review evidence to determine the final grade. 

We are keeping similar reporting timeframes as previous years, first sampling to be complete by 12 July 2020. We recognise that there is a shorter than usual sampling window, but we aim to be in a position for those with pending university places (or similar) to be able to progress under the normal timeframes

Yes. We do not anticipate changes to External Examiner allocations

Please wait for your External Examiner to contact you, as they will have been informed which sampling categories each of your BTEC Higher National sectors falls into. They will then begin to arrange for the relevant documents to be sent across to them, so they can conduct their sampling.

We would encourage the completion of sampling. However, we can arrange for a sample to be undertaken early in the next academic year to ensure you have feedback well ahead of the standard 2020/21 quality cycle.

In the first instance, you should you contact your External Examiner(s) and they will be able to provide you with support. If you require additional support, from Pearson directly, you can contact us via Pearson Support.

Yes, for Category A that received full remote sampling of student work, centres will receive an External Examiner report via Edexcel Online. For Category B, the centre will receive External Examiner feedback that:

1. confirms the centre assessment grades and that the centre has provided satisfactory Assessment Board minutes, or
2. provides feedback on further necessary actions for the centre to undertake before confirmation of Calculated Results

The step regarding the External Examiner agreeing grades put forward at the assessment board needs to be completed prior to any certificate claims being made. This step is the same if your EE visit has taken place or you have remote sampling coming up shortly.

Yes, for BTEC Higher Nationals, Pearson encourages the re-ordering of units or adaptation in delivery/assessment to suit student needs, in order to complete assessments, where possible. More guidance can be found in the COVID-19 Teaching and Assessment Guidance.

If centres have registered HNC students with the intention of progressing them onto an HND, there are two options available:

1. Complete HNC units using COVID-19 Teaching and Assessment guidance, including adapted assessments and where appropriate, Centre Assessment Grades. Following completion of the Assessment Board template and minutes and the external examiner review, centres can claim the HNC award and students will receive their HNC certificate as a complete award. Centres can then top-up students to the HND.

2. Transfer HNC registered students onto HND registrations. Students can then use the derogation to progress onto level 5 HND units, with any incomplete HNC units undertaken in the following year. Students will receive a notification of performance certificate rather than HNC certificate.

No. This is not required for BTEC Higher Nationals.

This will be shared with you by the end of May 2020.

In the first instance, you should you contact your External Examiner(s) and they will be able to provide you with support. If you require additional support, from Pearson directly, you can contact us via Pearson Support.

Yes. There is helpful and detailed support which can be accessed in the COVID-19 Teaching and Assessment guidance.

Please see page 76, of the Centre Assessment Guide.

Centres will have a policy for dealing with mitigating circumstances if students are affected by adverse circumstances, such as illness (and may include adverse impact due to Covid-19).

The student should be informed that they may wish to submit ‘mitigating circumstances’ case to the centre. A decision can then be made (following the centre’s own policy) as to whether any exceptional/mitigating circumstances are accepted. Decisions will be ratified by the centre’s Assessment Board or some form of Exceptional/Mitigating Circumstances Panel. These decisions should be noted on the Assessment Board minutes.

Whether a CAG can be used is determined in stages:

1. Starting point should be whether the assessment can be adapted and made available for students.
2. If adaptation can take place and the students take their assessment, CAGs do not come into consideration. The students are awarded the grades achieved, as would be the normal situation. 
3. If a student fails the assessment, then the normal rules would apply and this does not become a CAG situation.