April 2026 BTEC update for Business, Applied Law, Enterprise and Marketing
2 April 2026
Read more
Welcome to the April 2026 update!
In this month's newsletter check out:
- the latest on curriculum reform at Level 3
- a quality nominee events in your area
- an OFQUAL Blog on having the AI conversation with learners
- the consultation on a new UCAS system
- support for our centres affected by the Middle East conflict
- the published Principal Moderator and Examiner Reports for the BTEC Tech Award and BTEC Nationals
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| BTEC key dates and term-time checkpoints | While your exams officers will take the lead on most of these activities, your support will be important to help meet these deadlines, so it’s useful to be aware of what is required and when |
| 06 April 2026 09:00 - 11:30 GMT | Internal Verification and preparing for the EE for BTEC International Level 2 and 3 qualifications |
| 13 April 2026 09:00 - 11:30 GMT | An Introduction to the Principles of Quality Assurance BTEC International Level 2 and Level 3 Qualifications |
| 20 April 2026 09:00 - 11:30 GMT | An Introduction to the Principles of Quality Assurance BTEC International Level 2 and Level 3 Qualifications |
| 28 April 2026 16:00 - 18:00 GMT | Getting Started: Ways to Teach and Assess BTEC Tech Award (2022) in Enterprise |
Following the CAR report and consultation findings, the roadmap for Level 3 pathways is now clearer.
Below is the funding guidance as of April 2026. Most qualifications will have their first teach extended to the 27/28 academic year, except Extended Diplomas, which will be defunded from 26/27 as previously announced. We provide multiple pages to update you on reforms and current curriculum developments.
We are also beginning to understand which subjects will be introduced to replace the BTEC qualification in Business, in a V Level fomat, as well as timelines. We expect further updates on this later this year.
We know many of our centres and students use the UCAS application service, when applying to Higher Education in the UK. We wanted to let you know that UCAS are currently consulting on the operation of the UCAS undergraduate admissions cycle, including:
- the number of initial choices a student can make
- the firm and insurance choice
- application deadlines, including the early (October) deadline and January Equal Consideration Date.
This is an opportunity for you to have your say. You can find out further details about the consultation and respond on the UCAS website. The deadline to respond is 18:00 (UK time) on 22 April 2026.
Ofqual has published a new blog highlighting the importance of open, honest conversations with students about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in coursework.
AI tools are now part of everyday life for many young people. But it’s important that students understand where the boundaries are. Using AI to generate coursework without proper disclosure is cheating, and the consequences can be serious - including the loss of a qualification.
The blog is designed to help you start those conversations with confidence. It includes:
- A ready‑to‑use lesson plan to support classroom discussion about AI and assessed work.
- A senior leadership team briefing pack to help schools and colleges develop a clear, whole‑school approach to AI in coursework.
Together, these resources can help ensure students are informed, supported and clear about expectations - before assessment pressures begin.
The provisional timetables for BTEC external assessments for the Winter 2027 and Summer 2027 exam series have now been published on our website.
These timetables cover all BTEC qualifications, including BTEC Firsts, Tech Awards, Technicals, Nationals, and Nationals AAQ.
If you woudl like to share any feedback, please contact timetables@pearson.com before the 20 March.
We’ve created a new form to make applying for special considerations for internally assessed BTEC units quicker and easier. Make sure you save a copy and use it for all future special consideration applications for internal units.
What’s changed?
This new form has more detailed instructions and dedicated sections for your rationale, alternative arrangements and grade profile, making it easier for you to provide the right evidence from the start and avoid any follow-up questions that delay the application.
You should submit all special considerations applications for internally assessed BTEC units by 30 June. Just email uk.special.requirements@pearson.com with an attached completed copy of the form.
If you have any questions about using the new form, special requirements, or anything else, we’re here to help. Get in touch via the Pearson support portal.
If you’re running BTEC external assessments, you want to find everything you need to know quickly and easily so that everything runs smoothly. We’ve made a new tool to help you do exactly that.
We’ve now added the ability to filter to multiple programmes at the same time, so you can export just what you need all at once.
As we move into the January series and beyond, remember that ResultsPlus is now accessible for BTEC qualification for the examined units.
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.
Why should I use ResultsPlus?
- Provides detailed analysis of your learners performance.
- Identify potential topics, skills and types of question where students may need to develop their learning further.
- See actual scores for each exam question for a student, class or group.
- Understand how your students’ performance compares with class and Pearson Edexcel national averages.
- Acquire data that may support effective learning and teaching approaches.
At Pearson we are committed to understanding the efficacy of our qualifications and continuously improving and updating them to support the best outcomes for students.
We regularly evaluate the effectiveness of our provision and are pleased to share the findings of two of our recent research projects looking at outcomes associated with the BTEC Level 3 Nationals, specifically
- Salary outcomes using Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO)
- Higher Education (HE) continuation rate (i.e. proportion of students that successfully progress into their second year of a degree).
These two projects speak to the dual purpose of BTECs, supporting entry direct into employment and HE.
The Centre Guides are available below.
The first document is the BTEC Centre Guide to Internal Assessment (although it is just labelled 'Document Title').
The latest information page from the JCQ includes
- guidance for teachers on malpractice
- presentations for teachers and learners
- an information sheet for teachers
- a poster for learners
The Principal Moderator reports now provide exemplar learner work and improved comprehensive performance commentary to aid your best understanding of how marks are awarded and grades are achieved.
This updated approach consolidates support materials and replaces separate standardisation documents with a unified resource, ensuring earlier and more consistent feedback to centres.
This will apply to all BTEC Tech Award qualifications.
We have published this support guide to aid to enhance learner and centre confidence in selecting appropriate enterprises for both Component 1 and Component 2, as required by the PSA, each series
It provides structured examples of enterprise types within various industries that may be studied.
This is not an exhaustive list and serves as guidance for meeting the criteria of size, type, and ownership, which is outlined in the PSA ‘vocational context’, each series, and must be consulted before choosing the businesses to study.
The guide will be updated, when required, to reflect the demands of the PSA enterprise catergories.
Examplar financial documents and statement templates can be found online, in the teaching and learning material section, for exam practice in ensuring the expectations of questions and answers are managed to best support your learners.
If you want to catch up now with some marking and moderation advice before the new training sessions this month, check out this session recording at your leisure.
January 2026
May 2026
Want to find out what everyone else is asking...
Delivery support page
- Admin and delivery
- Free and paid-for resources
- Training videos
Assessment support page
- The three components
- Terminal assessments and resits
- Grade boundaries and statistics
Hopefully you are all well underway with the Standards Verification process - please do get in touch if you need any support or guidance, however do utilise the expertise of your SV in the first instance.
Standards verification is an integral part of our quality assurance model, and its timely completion will help ensure the successful release of student results.
Standards verifiers will contact you in the first instance to introduce themselves, their role and the sampling process.
Please make sure you share this information with the relevant lead internal verifier(s), who will then be responsible for working with the standards verifier to get the process underway.
If your centre has multiple subsites under one main number, (e.g. 12345 A & B), you’ll be allocated one standards verifier across all subsites. If you operate sites with different centre numbers, each site may have a separate standards verifier allocation. If you’re part of a consortium arrangement, you’ll see a single standards verifier allocation across all the sites in the consortium.
The deadline to share samples with your standards verifier is 15 May, although we recommend that this takes place at the earliest opportunity. This will be agreed with your standards verifier upon review of the assessment plan(s), so do check in with the lead IVs and ensure that the document has been shared.
Remote samples for both Standard and Enhanced control measures must be submitted via the Learner Work Transfer platform, accessed via Edexcel Online.
We are here and ready to support you through this process. Contact us if you have any questions about the standards verification process, or if you have not yet received an SV allocation for any BTEC programme.
The updated Centre Guide to Standards Verification will provide all the information you need in terms of sampling requirements and please share the new bitesize videos to Standards Verification with your curriculum teams.
Modified papers for learner with varying needs to access past examination materials, are now available to download from our website.
Tutor2u are running four in-person CPD courses supporting the externally-assessed units in the BTEC National.
All held in London, the dates are:
- Thursday February 4th 2026 | Success in Unit 2
- Wednesday February 5th 2026 | Success in Unit 3
- Friday February 6th 2026 | Success in Unit 6
Tutor2u now offer a new, FREE, self-paced CPD course to support all teachers new to the RQF (2016) programme. The course focuses on developing attendee confidence in the planning and delivery of the BTEC National Business Programme.
Applied Law - January 2026
Applied Law - May 2026
Business - January 2026
Business - May 2026
Enterprise & Entrepreneurship - January 2026
Enterprise & Entrepreneurship - May 2026
Marketing - January 2026
Marketing - May 2026
Delivery support page
- Admin and delivery
- Free and paid-for resources
- Professional bodies partnerships
Assessment support page
- Internally assessed units
- Externally assessed units
- Examiners' reports
- Grade boundaries and statistics
We know the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to affect students, families and centres in very real ways. This page brings together the latest guidance and support available for students whose learning and assessments have been disrupted, with any new updates added here as the situation continues to evolve.
Watch the training session held last month to support the marking of learner work for both Level 2 and Level 3.
We have a variety of pages devoted to keeping you updated with the specifications, teaching resources, sample assignment materials as well as all authorised assignment briefs and Pearson Set Assignments.
Also find access and support the Pearson Progress platform to help simplify the planning and assessment of BTEC qualifications
| 08 January 2026 at 09:00 - 11:30 GMT | Introduction to Teaching the International BTEC Level 2 in Business |
| 15 January 2026 at 09:00 - 11:30 GMT | Introduction to Teaching the International BTEC Level 3 in Business |
Find ot more about our work with strategic partners such as Liverpool Football Club and the British Esports Federation, amongst others, allowing us to maintain content relevance and global reach.
We have developed digital resources to support your delivery of our suite of BTEC International Level 3 qualifications and cover the mandatory and some of the more popular optional units.
Our Study Texts have been thoroughly developed and feature international examples, scenarios and references to make them relevant across a broad range of geographical territories and support learning and teaching delivery.
Subject advisor
Sarah Mark
BTEC Business, Enterprise, Esports and Marketing
Email :
Phone :
+44 (0) 161 528 7357
(Teaching Services team | Mon-Fri, 9am - 5pm GMT)
