Teaching, learning and assessment 2025/2026
Your 2025/26 vocational support starts here. You’ve got a busy few weeks ahead. Welcoming students, supporting colleagues, and keeping everything on track. To help, we’ve collected all the 2025/26 resources you’ll need in one place.
Last updated: 1 December 2025
Complete your BTEC cohort declaration
Your BTEC cohort declaration for summer 2026 is now open for you to complete any time between now and 30 January 2026.
Why it matters
This declaration helps us build a shared, accurate picture of the students expecting results in August 2026, meaning we can work together to make sure your students can receive their results on time in August.
What do you need to do?
Log in to the VQ Learner Tracker
If you’re an exams officer or a quality nominee, you can log in to the VQ Learner Tracker with your Edexcel Online credentials.
Log in to the VQ Learner Tracker
Not ready to complete the declaration yet? That’s okay. You can let us know you’re working on it by selecting “View declaration” and pledging to complete it on time.
Review your summer 2026 cohort
Once you’re in, you’ll see we’ve already reviewed your registrations and added a 'summer 2026' tag where students are likely to receive their qualification results in August.
Exams officers, quality nominees and programme teams need to work together to check these summer tags, adding or removing them so we know exactly who’s in your summer 2026 cohort. There’s no need to update estimated completion dates, just adjust the tags.
Follow our guidance to add and remove summer tags
Complete your cohort declaration
Once everything looks right, you can submit your declaration through the banner in VQ Learner Tracker. If you have head of centre authorisation, you can complete this step yourself.
Need a hand?
We’ll keep checking in with helpful reminders and FAQs to guide you through your cohort declaration.
Read our cohort declaration FAQs
You’re also welcome to join one of our live Q&A sessions running throughout December and January.
Getting started with your BTEC cohort declaration
4 December, 2–3 p.m. | Register to join
10 December, 11–12 p.m. | Register to join
If you have any questions, our team is ready to help.
Reach out to us via the Pearson support portal
Catch up on what's been happening this month for vocational qualifications.
Receive the latest news and updates from Pearson about vocational qualifications.
Your autumn term essentials
Key dates for everyone
Made with your input, here are your vocational key dates and term-time checkpoints for the 2025/26 academic year:
Here's a quick overview of your very first deadlines from 2025/26. These key dates are the responsibility of the exams officer to complete, but they rely on support from teachers, quality nominees, and senior leaders. That’s why it’s important that everyone knows what these dates are and works together to meet them.
| Date | Deadline |
|---|---|
| 25 September 2025 | Deadline to request post-results services from the summer 2024 exam series. |
| 17 October 2025 | Deadline to submit BTEC external assessment entries for the January/February 2025 series. |
| 28 October 2025 | Deadline for your head of centre to complete the Edexcel Online account confirmation, including accepting our updated terms and conditions. |
| 1 November 2025 | Deadline to make registrations for new learners on BTEC Level 1–3 programmes following the academic year. |
| 15 November 2025 | Deadline to make registrations for new learners on Level 3/Level 4 Foundation Diplomas in Art and Design, Level 4 HNC and Level 5 HND programmes following the academic year. |
| 31 December 2025 | Deadline to delete BTEC registrations made since 1 September 2025. |
Exams officers
Your autumn term checklist
Not sure where to start? Download the autumn-term checklist: five areas to focus on to get set up for the year and meet the first deadlines of 2025/26.
We’ve got a full support programme designed to help you get up to speed quickly and confidently, including regular exams officer webinars and modules in the Pearson Development Hub.
Quality nominees
Whether you’re new in post or a seasoned quality nominee, our vocational quality assurance managers are here to help you start the year strong. From clear, practical centre guides to live events and interactive resources, there’s plenty to help you feel confident and stay ahead.
Explore support for quality nominees at the home of quality assurance
Make sure lead internal verifiers are identified for their programmes and centre standardisation has taken place.
Download the 2025–26 centre guides and templates relevant to your qualifications.
Check out our full schedule of live and on-demand events
Use our BTEC quality assurance year planner for a full breakdown of quality assurance processes over the course of the year.
Heads of centres
As head of centre, you should understand the key dates relating to vocational qualifications so you can make sure your teams have the support they need. At the start of the year, you'll need to complete your Edexcel Online account confirmation and terms and conditions.
Missed our email?
Teachers
Our team of subject advisors are experts in their fields, many of them former teachers. They are here to support you throughout the year and can help with all your subject-specific queries. They offer monthly newsletters and one-to-one appointments, and you can raise cases with them via the Pearson support portal.
ResultsPlus is our online results analysis tool for teachers. Included as part of your qualification fees, ResultsPlus gives you a detailed breakdown of your students’ performance in Pearson Edexcel exams and BTEC external assessments.
We have a wealth of training events available for teachers, with both live, in-person events and recorded sessions you can access at a time that suits you.
Students and parents
We’ve produced a dedicated guide to BTEC 2025 results to help you understand how we assess and award BTEC qualifications and what to do you if you’re not happy with your results.
Replace your original certificate for your qualification, change your name on your certificate and more.
If you’re a private candidate looking for information on where you can take Pearson qualification exams, where to find past papers or if you’re not happy with your results, we’re here to help.
Contact us
If you need more support with any ongoing activities or have any questions, we're here and ready to help you have a successful start to the year.
Use our live chat to speak to our customer service team quickly or contact us via the Pearson support portal.
Post-16 L3 qualifications Review
For the latest informaton about the future of post-16 level 3 vocational qualifications in England, please see our dedicated web page.