Ofqual announced on 12 July 2021 that they were consulting jointly with the Department for Education on arrangements for the assessment and awarding of vocational, technical and other general qualifications: 2021 to 2022.

Ofqual and the Department want to hear the views of students of all types of assessments and external exams, their employers, parents and carers, their teachers and trainers, college and school leaders and others who have an interest, including further and higher education providers.

We’re aware that many of you will be finishing this week for a very well-earned break but, should you wish to participate in the consultation, please do share your views before 11.45pm on 26 July 2021 when the consultation will end.

We will confirm what this means for arrangements for vocational qualifications in 2021/2022 as soon as possible. 

As you’ll be aware from previous updates, we will be issuing results for BTEC qualifications (where a Q-TAG judgement was submitted) to your registered Examination Officer’s EOL mailbox by 10am on Wednesday 4 August. These results will only be issued to one Examination Officer via their EOL mailbox.

We have contacted the registered Examinations Officer to advise them of this, so please check with colleagues if you have not received a notification. If you wish to check or change who will receive these results, please contact us via our customer service portal.

Results must be handled securely and continue to be embargoed until the relevant learner release date(s):

• Tuesday 10 August 2021 – Level 3 (BTEC Nationals)
• Thursday 12 August 2021 – Level 2 and below (BTEC Tech Awards, Firsts and Technicals) 

These must not be shared with learners until the relevant learner results day, from 8:30am.

We’ve added a short guidance video for the use of ‘Z Flags’ for mid-flight learners which collates all relevant information. We hope you will find it useful.

You can find the video on our Teaching and Learning support page.

In recognition of the Q-TAG process in place this year early certification will not be available for ‘B1’ qualifications (those most like GCSEs and AS/A Levels).

All B1 certificates will be printed and in centres by 7 November 2021, following the completion of the Appeals process.

In recognition of the Q-TAG process in place this year Course Assessment Reports (CARs) will not be being provided to centres.

All learners completing the Extended Certificate (360GLH), Foundation Diploma (540GLH) or Diploma (720GLH) in 2021 and planning to top up in 2021-2022 must achieve a pass in all the mandatory units before certification in Summer 2022/2023.

A Teacher Assessed Grade or reduced assessment cannot be accepted for mandatory units that confirm the licence to practice. That means, that learners must be fully taught and assessed on the licence-linked mandatory units and these should be claimed before certification on the larger, licence to practice qualification.

Work placement hours should also be achieved to claim the qualification. 

On Wednesday 7 July 2021, we hosted the 11th annual BTEC Awards online.

We celebrated the vocational excellence of learners, teachers, tutors and providers from over 30 countries and included our own Thank You to all of you for everything you’ve done to support learners’ learning over the last 16 months.

If you missed the ceremony, or just want to re-watch our celebratory afternoon, you can view the full event on the Awards website or visit our YouTube channel for the individual stories of all our winners.

Q-TAGs for B2 categorised BTECs qualifications are only available as a last resort, as assessment is expected to continue.

For centres who have applied for a Q-TAG, if your request has been approved, you will then be permitted to claim the learner's certificate through Edexcel Online.

Where reduced unit assessment has been applied, please ensure that you indicate this using the Z flag function. A grade will also need to be input (against the unit) to ensure the eligibility of the claim can be confirmed.

NB – for graded qualifications (pass/merit/distinction), please ensure that the individual unit grades match the qualification structure requirements. This will ensure the correct overall grade requirements have been met and reduce the risk of an ineligible claim.

Information on grades can be found within the qualification structure section of the specification. 

We have also produced a screenshot on how to use the Z flag function. 

For the latest information on our general qualifications and to see how we are supporting schools and colleges, teachers, learners, parents and carers for summer 2021, please visit our dedicated webpage.