Welcome to the latest issue of the VQ Bulletin. As you will be aware the Q-TAG portal is now available with full functionality so that you can submit learner Q-TAGs and Head of Centre declarations for learners due to certificate on International Level 2 and 3 BTECs and QCF National qualifications this summer.

We hope that you have managed to access and use the Q-TAG portal this last week without issue. From today, additional functionality is available, meaning that you are now able to submit learner Q-TAGs.

Today, 19 May, the Q-TAG portal goes live for you to review your certificating learner data. This means that all functionality, except for the submission of Q-TAGs and Head of Centre declarations, is now available for you to use. We have included a user guide and link to a video walk through in this edition of the bulletin.

In this edition we have signposted some short videos, explaining the process that is now in place for BTEC qualifications most like General Qualifications, and included key dates which we hope will help with your planning over these next few weeks.

We know that you will be starting to concentrate on the Q-TAG process for your learners, and hope the information in this week’s bulletin answers your immediate questions.

In this issue, you can find our updated BTEC Q-TAG guidance, which has additions clearly marked, highlighted in yellow. Based on your feedback, the administration aspects that were covered in this guidance, have now been moved to a separate document.

In our second update of March we are pleased to share our additional guidance for alternative assessment arrangements for Vocational qualifications.

At Pearson we continue to recognise the changing patterns of teaching, learning and assessment that the current situation has required. We remain focused on fairness for all our learners, be they in the UK or International. Find out more.

This week we’ve included new details on some adaptations, as well as a request for information we need from you in preparation for upcoming quality assurance and certification activities. Find out more.

In December, we announced that for some BTEC International suites we would reduce the amount of optional assessment that learners would need to complete. We also indicated that we would consider the reduction of mandatory internal assessments. Find out more.