February Subject Advisors update for Early years 2026

Subjects A-Z

Childcare/Early Years Subject Advisor Update for February 2026

Welcome to 2026! There is a lot of things happening in the next year or so and I will keep you informed and update with anything that changes. This might be about the reforms or the new AAQs.

Updated Special Consideration Form

BTEC Internal Assessments

We’ve created a new form to make applying for special considerations for internally assessed BTEC units quicker and easier.

You should make sure you save a copy and use it for all future special consideration applications for internal units.
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.

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Facebook BTEC Teacher Group for Early Years

This space has been created especially for teachers, tutors, and practitioners delivering BTEC Early Years qualifications. Whether you're brand new to the qualification or have years of experience, this group is here to help you connect, collaborate, share ideas, and feel part of a supportive professional community.👶 What you can expect :

• A friendly space to ask questions and share best practice

• Updates, guidance and teaching support for BTEC Early Years

• Resources, insights, and news from across the Early Years community

• Peer-to-peer help, inspiration, and lots of encouragement

Training for Tech Awards Child Development and Early Childhood development AAQ

Live events coming up

There are live events coming up for all Early Years qualifications.

Book your place

Getting ready for BTEC Tech Awards results

Everything you need to know

With the March BTEC Tech Award results days approaching, here are a few important reminders and some good news about extra support we’re adding this series.

New enhanced principal moderator reports with exemplar work

From the March results day, we’re introducing a more detailed principal moderator report for BTEC Tech Awards, designed to give you clearer insight into performance and standards.

You can now expect:

more detailed commentary on how students performed across components
exemplar learner work, with moderator commentary, to help you see what the standard looks like in practice
common strengths and areas for development, so you can plan teaching, assessment and internal standardisation with confidence.

These new reports combine the support offered in the previous principal moderator reports with the exemplar standardisation materials, so you get examples of learner work earlier and can see how they link to the themes of the report. You can still use previous series’ exemplar standardisation materials as well as the new principal moderator reports to support your internal standardisation.

You’ll be able to download the principal moderator reports and exemplars from the relevant qualification page on our website on the 18 March results day. We hope these richer insights make it easier for you and your teams to support students and prepare future cohorts.

Don’t forget about the terminal rule

The terminal assessment rule means students have to take their external assessment at the end of their qualification; i.e., the same series in which they'll certificate. This means students must sit their internal assessments either before or in the same series as the external assessment.

Cash in for January results

If you have students who sat their terminal assessment in January and don’t want to resit in the summer, don’t forget to submit a cash in for them on Edexcel Online to claim their certification, if you haven’t already.

Find out more about cash-ins and certification

Understanding your results

Want to know more about how BTEC Tech Award results are awarded? Our understanding results page goes through how results are calculated, how components contribute to the final qualification result, and where to find further support if you need to query or review a result.

Understanding BTEC Tech Award results

Subject advisor

Esther Trehearn

Childcare

Email :

Teachingchildcare@pearson.com

Facebook :

Join me on Facebook

Phone :

+44 (0) 344 463 2535 (Teaching Services team | Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm GMT)

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