Managing absences in BTEC external assessment - Reminder and update to guidance on use of Remote Invigilation

As you will be aware from our previous communications, the Secretary of State issued this letter to schools and colleges on 16 December confirming that exams are set to continue. However, we know from your feedback that this may be challenging given concerns around the level of staff and learner absence. During the Christmas break, we received more announcements from government on self-isolation times changing and updates to public health guidance in relation to running exams. The government have also announced that confirmatory PCR tests are to be temporarily suspended for positive lateral flow test results.

We have updated our guidance to support the continuation of timetabled BTEC assessments from January (note that this is now version 2, with clarifications on the use of remote invigilation), and have created this infographic to guide you in managing absences, in relation to learners taking external assessments. All our support and further information is available from our main Vocational Teaching, Learning and Assessment Support Page.

If we can support you further on this, please contact us and let us know.

Support material for external assessment

We wanted to let you know that additional teacher support videos for BTEC external assessments are being continuously added to the main Vocational Teaching, Learning and Assessment Support Page.

Recent and soon to arrive additions include:

• How to use examWizard (a training guide)
• Preparing learners for external assessment (a video overview)
• Understanding BTEC External Assessment Mark Schemes (coming soon)

Digital submission of external assessments

We have recently written to you to confirm which units have been selected for digital submissions for the January series. The relevant links have now been sent to the person named as being responsible for uploading learner work, on the form you completed.    

In addition, we have produced a step-by-step guide which will take you through how to access and upload learner work to your secure OneDrive folder. Confirmation of the submission method will also be reiterated in the unit’s Administrative Support Guide (ASG), which will be updated to reflect these changes.  

If you haven’t provided contact details for the person in your centre the link should be shared with, please complete this form as soon as possible.

If we can support you further on this, please contact us and let us know.

Accessing Part A tasks for Jan series - Reminder

The release of Part A BTEC external assessments has now begun in line with the confirmed exam timetables. All Part A materials that are web-releases are available to download from our website.

For the 2022 exam series, we have continued to deliver adaptations to extend Part A or research windows for our task-based assessments, which can be seen in the exam timetables. We have not changed or adapted the amount of supervised, controlled or unsupervised hours needed. Please refer to the External Assessment Overview document, task booklet, Administrative Support Guide (ASG) or Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs) for further guidance on this.

You can find the ASGs and SAMs by selecting the External assessments button on the left of the Course Materials tab, which is found at the top of each qualification’s webpage.

Results Days for the January/February/March series

In November 2021, we let you know about the alignment of future results days with equivalent GCSE and A-Level results days. We want to confirm when you will receive results from us for the spring 2022 series, and when they can be released to your students.

As you can see from the table below, although centres will have access to the results on the preceding Wednesday (day before), these results must be embargoed until the following day, in line with how A Level and GCSE results are issued.

You may have noticed that some U-TAG grades have been visible in EOL over the last week, following your U-TAG submissions and as outlined in our timelines. This is an ongoing activity that will continue until results day on 13 January, when we will have completed our quality assurance checks for all on time submissions, and you can release these results to your learners.

Any centre that has results outstanding will be contacted to discuss next steps. Outstanding results may be due to incomplete quality assurance activities (where requested evidence has not yet been provided) or where U-TAGs have not yet been provided. As previously explained, any grades affected by these reasons will not be issued until resolved.

Appeal process

There will be an appeals process for U-TAGs submitted for top-up and mid-flight learners following results on 13 January 2022 for Vocational Qualifications following the U-TAG process. We will be sending a separate email to centres later this week which outlines the appeals process, but we have outlined the timeline below for your information.

There will be an appeals process for U-TAGs submitted for top-up and mid-flight learners following results on 13 January 2022 for Vocational Qualifications following the U-TAG process. We will be sending a separate email to centres later this week which outlines the appeals process, but we have outlined the timeline below for your information.

Timelines and deadlines for Centre Reviews and Appeals

Due to the nature of the Teacher Assessed Grade process, it is not expected that learners will need to access the appeals process. However, to make things as easy to understand as possible, we’ve put together U-TAG Appeals Guidance for BTEC learners which details the BTEC appeals process, the timelines for the process, and also how to contact us should they have any questions. We hope this supports you in your conversations with learners.  The U-TAG Appeals Guidance be shared with you later this week; and we would be very grateful if you could pass this information on to any of your learners who require it.

Late U-TAG and U-TAG amendment requests

As you may be aware, the U-TAGs submission deadline was 10 November 2021. We have continued to communicate with you all over this period and wanted to let you know that the ‘Z flag’ function is now closed, meaning no further U-TAG judgements can be added into the systems. If we have identified any missing units from your centre, we will contact you directly.

It is not expected that any further U-TAGs will be submitted for 2020/21. However, should you identify an eligible learner, you will need to make a late U-TAG request by completing this form. Please ensure that you submit all the documents set out in the form to enable us to consider your request. We will not be able to guarantee results on the 13 January for late U-TAG submissions.

If your late U-TAG request is for an external unit, please ensure you include the learner evidence to allow us to complete our checks and that you include three pieces of evidence for no more than five learners to support the U-TAG awarded for the unit.If your late U-TAG request is for an external unit, please ensure you include the learner evidence to allow us to complete our checks and that you include three pieces of evidence for no more than five learners to support the U-TAG awarded for the unit.

You are now able to report ‘Streamlined’ Assessments (these are the assessment adaptations available this academic year, 2021/22) on Edexcel Online and we have updated our guidance to confirm how to do this.

This relates to qualifications where one learning aim is permitted to be assessed for one or two internally assessed unit(s). Full teaching and learning must take place. Please ensure you follow the guidance available on our Teaching and Learning page, under the ‘Internal Assessment in 2021/22’ menu option. Please note, these adaptations are currently only permitted this academic year.

We are aware that with disruption to learning last year and the alternative assessment arrangements that were in place for the summer, your students may have questions about how their UCAS applications this year will be affected.

We have created a guide for Level 3 learners currently in the UCAS application process, which we hope will reassure them and offer some guidance for completing their UCAS application. Please do share with them, as it reiterates guidance that we have previously shared with you in earlier issues of the VQ Bulletin.

Update on Performance Tables and Assessment

We are pleased to announce that the following BTEC Tech Awards, for first teach September 2022, have been included in the Department for Education, Key Stage 4 2024 performance tables.

The Pearson BTEC Level 1/Level 2 Tech Award in Engineering (603/7049/X) has not been approved for the 2024 Key Stage 4 Performance tables. We are asking the Department for Education to review the decision and will let you know as soon the outcome is available.

More information regarding our redeveloped BTEC Tech Awards for 2022 can be found on our website, alongside sample assessment materials (SAMs), Pearson-set assignments (PSAs) and Quick Guides for each qualification.

New January assessment window

As a reminder, we have confirmed that the BTEC Tech Awards will have an additional moderation window in January, the specifications have been updated to reflect this.

'Getting Started’ Training Events starting in January

In the New Year, we are running a series of free training events to give you an overview of the revised BTEC Tech Awards specifications for first teach September 2022. The sessions will count as 2 hours of CPD.

These events will give you an overview of the course, alongside assessment and grading. In addition, you will have an opportunity to interact with the presenter and ask questions.

Events are available for each sector – just select BTEC Tech Awards and your sector, or type Getting Started in the keyword search on our training portal.

Book onto an event for your sector

In September, we launched our new on-demand eLearning service for Exams Officers on our website. This is a fully interactive service, with pre-recorded guidance from our training team with mock webpages and systems so you can go through processes from start to finish. 
 
You can find our newly released BTEC bitesize modules on BTEC amendments and modified papers on our website now.

New Year, new look! Your familiar support events offer from the PQA team has taken on a new look for 2022. We now have a selection of both online ‘live’ events and pre-recorded 'on-demand' sessions for you and your teams to access.

Please check out our BTEC page on the Home of Quality Assurance for more details and to book a place on the forthcoming events.

Delivery of BTEC Higher National qualifications: Contingency planning

As the situation regarding COVID-19 infection rates develops, we will await updates from the UK Government regarding whether exams and assessments during 2021/22 could be cancelled. If Teacher Assessed Grades are reintroduced because exams and assessments cannot go ahead as planned, we will issue guidance on how this will affect BTEC Higher Nationals.  

Until any announcements are made, we encourage centres to continue delivery of BTEC Higher Nationals with current adaptations, as necessary, to maintain the quality of provision for the 2021/22 academic year. If you need any further guidance, please refer to our Teaching and Assessment Guide.

Submitting your APMR    

All centres delivering BTEC Higher Nationals are required to submit an Annual Programme Monitoring Review (APMR). The deadline for submitting your APMR for 2020/21 academic year is 28 January 2022. 

This year, each centre is issued a unique link to complete their report. If you have not received yours, or you would like to find out the status of your submission, please contact us at hnqa@pearson.com.

Centre Self-Assessment (CSA) and Annual Centre Declaration (ACD) 

Just a reminder that if you have already completed an ACD for your BTEC programmes, you do not need to complete the CSA. Please ensure that the ACD is made available for your WBL LSV or PQA advisor once complete, to help support you in the upcoming year. 

Lead Standards Verification activities should now be completed, and you should be engaging with Standards Verification activities to complete the verification process to ensure safe certification going forwards.

Data Cleanse - Edexcel Online  

We would like to remind you to ensure that you are cleansing Edexcel Online by removing any learners that are no longer active. This will help ensure that quality assurance activities are tailored to your centre.

Pearson’s December e-Bulletin was published and included the following:

• Q&A Networks for the spring terms
• Key Dates Schedule 2021 – 2023
• Registrations and Entries
• 2022 Provider Approval window

Read the 14 December Bulletin

Pearson have recently been approved by the ESFA to deliver the following new End-Point Assessments:

• Sports Coach Level 4
• Teaching Assistant Level 3
• Learning and Skills Teacher Level 5
• Information Communication Technician Level 3
• Data Analyst Level 4
• Early Years Lead Practitioner Level 5.

If you require further information, please contact your dedicated business development manager.

For further information on our general qualifications for 2022, please visit our Summer 2022 support page. We’ll be updating this page regularly. 

Please sign up to receive our regular Pearson Qualifications Bulletin on our website where you’ll also be able to read past issues.