Earlier release dates for Pearson Set-Assignments for BTEC Tech Awards
Key update about the BTEC Tech Award (2022) assessment timings.
Too often, the pressures of planning, administering and marking internal assessments can be difficult to juggle alongside what truly matters: excellent teaching. That’s why we’re making a change. By releasing our Pearson Set Assignments (PSAs) 3 months earlier for each series*, teachers delivering BTEC Tech Awards will have a significantly extended assessment window.
This gives you more time and flexibility to teach, plan, prepare, assess, and upload assessments. Earlier PSAs also provide valuable contingency time for students to catch up on any missed work and stay on track. The earlier release of PSAs will start from the December/January 2025/26 series onward. The new release dates are as follows:
- 2 June for the December/January 2025/26 assessment series*.
- 1 September for the May/June 2026 assessment series.
* Does not apply to Art and Design which only has a May/June series
We hope the longer assessment window will help you to manage each assessment series more effectively.
FAQs
The assessment should only be issued to learners once all content for the component has be delivered and they are fully prepared to sit it. Teachers can schedule assessment anytime after the PSA is released in each series, however, note that the approximate time stated for the duration of each PSA has not changed, so learners should not be given more time to take the assessment just because the window has increased. Teachers can continue to teach the component content after the PSA is released, being mindful not to teach specifically to the context of the PSA and ensuring all content for the component is covered prior to sitting the assessment.
Earlier release dates will not alter the submission deadlines each series, nor affect learners currently working towards the 15 May 2025 deadline.
No, the PSA must be used with the correct assessment series. The PSAs state on the front cover which assessment series they are for, and they cannot be used for any other assessment series.
Although the PSA release is moving earlier, it does not directly change your standard submission deadlines or time frames for requesting modified papers. However, for the December/January 2025/26 PSAs specifically, modified papers will only be available from early September. To avoid any delays, please submit your requests as soon as possible—preferably before the summer holidays. Remember that new PSA formatting is screen reader-compatible, so you no longer need to order modified papers for screen reading purposes.
