Use this page to keep up to date with all the latest news and activites for our vocational qualifications.

Read more

Make your entries

The external assessment entry deadline for the summer exam series for BTEC Tech Awards is 21 February. 

The entry deadline for the summer exam series for BTEC Firsts, Nationals and Technicals is 21 March.

We also have some extended deadlines where learners are awaiting external assessment results for the winter series, and you can find these in our key dates timeline. 

Getting the most out of the VQ Learner Tracker

You can view any outstanding actions for learners expecting results this summer, including missing external assessment entries, in the VQ Learner Tracker. 

Submit cash-ins for your Tech Award learners

You may also be submitting cash-ins for your learners being entered for their terminal assessment to claim their overall qualification result for the summer. 

Remember, the terminal assessment rule means learners are only eligible for an overall qualification result if the external assessment is the final component they complete, so don’t make external assessment entries for learners unless they will have completed their internal components before sitting the external assessment.

Maintaining your summer tags and estimated completion dates

 Please continue to monitor your learner registrations in the VQ Learner Tracker and update any changes to your summer cohort. 

Where you have already added summer 2025 tags to learner registrations, we will change the estimated completion date for these learners to 5 July 2025 by the end of February.

If we identify learners whose estimated completion dates have passed but who are not part of your summer cohort and have not yet been claimed, we will contact you to ensure they receive their results on time.

Your key dates and term-time checkpoints for 2024/25

Following feedback from you, our BTEC key dates schedule for 2024/25 has been designed  to ensure BTEC results are delivered successfully to all learners expecting a result in summer 2025.

This year we're giving you more time to complete key term-time checkpoints following several improvements to streamline the process. You can find a summary of these updates, along with the improvements planned for 2025, in the new BTEC key dates schedule.

This schedule covers BTEC Firsts, BTEC Nationals, BTEC Tech Awards and BTEC Technicals only.

Explore our BTEC key dates schedule for 2024/25 (PDF|1.2 MB)

Read the latest VQ bulletin


Catch up on what's been happening this month for Vocational Qualifications.

Sign up to receive the VQ bulletin

Receive the latest news and updates from Pearson about Vocational Qualifications.

What to expect in the winter term 

Exams officers

Your winter term checklist

Not sure where to start? Download our exams officer January–March checklist: five things to help you meet the first deadlines of 2025 and have asuccessful January exam series.

Download the exams officer January–March checklist (PDF|391.4 KB)

Quality nominees

Heads of centre

Teachers

Learners & parents