Reminder - Managing absences in BTEC External Assessment and Special Considerations

Earlier this year, we released guidance relating to managing absences in BTEC Assessments. Where reasonable to do so, learners who miss assessments due to COVID-19 (or another valid reason) should defer their assessment. Where this is not possible, Special Considerations can apply. If you need any further support, please refer to our guidance for more details.

Appeals Process 

Following the release of the U-TAG results, we shared our guidance for U-TAG Appeals as it has been updated since summer 2021. All the information you need to support any appeals you may receive can be found on the links below:

• BTEC U-TAG Appeals Guidance for Centres  
• BTEC U-TAG Appeals Application Form 
• BTEC U-TAG Appeals Evidence Checklist 
• BTEC U-TAG Appeals Student Guide

There are some important administrative differences from the summer 2021 process; namely there is no portal submission for submitting appeals. Instead, please use the BTEC U-TAG Appeals Application Form and send this to edexcelappeals@pearson.com by 14 February 2022. 
 
In addition, should you identify an incorrect grade (as a result of a procedural and/or administrative error) on seeing the results or after a Stage 1 review, please use the Centre Error Process rather than the appeal form. 
 
As in summer 2021, Stage 1 of the process is the centre review and would be initiated by a learner. Similarly to summer 2021, appeals may only progress to Stage 2 (awarding organisation appeal) once they have completed Stage 1, and if the learner does not agree with the Stage 1 outcome. In addition, it is very important that, before starting the appeal process, learners confirm their understanding that grades are not protected. This means that a grade could go down, stay the same, or increase. 
 
If you have any queries about the appeals process, please contact us using the Pearson Support Portal.

Free on-demand eLearning for Exams Officers | New BTEC modules

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. 

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

• Legal Services announcement
• Q&A Networks and Getting Ready to Teach events for the spring term
• Key Dates Schedule 2021 – 2023
• Registrations and Entries
• 2022 Provider Approval window

Read the 18 January 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. 

A reminder that Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will remove funding approval, for new starts, from 1 August 2022 for Post 16 Level 3 and below Qualifications with low and no enrolments: 

• This applies to the provision in England only.
• This affects 16–18-year-olds on study programmes, and 19+ year-olds funded under the Adult Education Budget, the European Social Fund (ESF), or accessing Advanced Learner Loans.
• This does not affect the apprenticeship funding if these qualifications are mandated within the standards. 

In some cases, we will continue to offer the qualification where they are not impacted by this ESFA funding or where there is a need for these qualifications in Wales, NI or internationally. 

We have created a webpage detailing our list of qualifications categorised as: 

• Retained but no funding available in England after 1st August 2022. 
• Already Withdrawn/To be withdrawn/Withdrawn in England but retained in Wales.
• Withdrawn but has a replacement qualification. 

Please check the webpages for each qualification for the operational end dates and certification end dates. The full list of qualifications can be found on the ESFA website. 

We had dedicated pages for these qualifications related to previous ESFA lists and these were communicated to you in 2020 for schools and colleges and for work-based learning qualifications. 

If you have any questions relating to this, please contact your Account Manager or alternatively contact us through the Pearson Support Portal.  

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.