Today, we are publishing 2020/2021 national results data for Level 2 and Level 3 BTEC qualifications, showing registration and results data for three main suites of the qualification at these levels: 

• Level 2 – taken in schools and colleges alongside GCSEs:  
  • Level 2 BTEC Firsts (NQF)| 1.27MB  
  • Level 1/2 BTEC Tech Awards| 1.08MB - the updated qualifications at this level which have been rolled out since 2018 

• Level 3 – taken in schools and colleges alongside or instead of A levels or other 16-19 qualifications, as well as by adult learners: 
  • BTEC Nationals (2016 RQF)|1.64MB - the updated Level 3 qualifications which have been rolled out since 2016 

This data is published annually, each autumn, once the vast majority of students entered to complete the qualification that year have finished the course and externally and internally assessed units. 

BTECs are high-quality, future-focussed qualifications that provide learners with the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to progress. Many of these students are taking their next steps into UK sectors that are currently suffering from a huge, and growing, skills gap. Included in the class of 2021 are many future healthcare professionals, engineers and construction workers who are so vital to the UK’s economy.   

Level 3 BTECs (equivalent to A levels) are globally recognised and continue to be the most popular vocational qualification to support progress to university - 50% of Level 3 BTEC graduates will continue into Higher Education with the rest going into employment, an apprenticeship or further study.  

In terms of what this year’s results show: 

Level 1/2 BTEC Tech Awards

• There has been an increase in entries across all 11 qualifications as centres continue to transition from the legacy BTEC Firsts suites  
• Health & Social Care, Enterprise and Digital Information Technology are the most popular subjects
• There has been a decrease in the percentage of students getting the top grade at L2D* whilst outcomes for the other grades have remained broadly stable with the last academic year.

Level 3 BTEC Nationals (2016 RQF)

• There has been an increase in entries across all qualification sizes as centres continue to transition from the legacy L3 QCF suites  
• Business, Health & Social Care, Applied Science, Sport and Information Technology are the five most popular sectors  
• Overall outcomes have remained broadly stable with 2020.

As in 2019/2020, the grading process this year was adapted to reflect the challenges of this extraordinary year, due to the disruption of the covid-19 pandemic. In line with the framework for A level and GCSE results set out by the Department for Education and regulator Ofqual, schools and colleges were asked to determine a final Qualification-level Teacher Assessed Grade (Q-TAG) for each of their BTEC learners. 

We want to thank every teacher, tutor, lecturer, school and college leader and parent for the incredible effort they have made to support students in achieving the grades they have worked so hard for.