BTEC National Engineering (2016-2017) - Unit 3 External Assessment Information
As you are aware, there are different types of external assessments in the new BTEC Nationals. Unit 3 is a task based assessment in the Engineering suite, set and marked by Pearson. Find out more about the externally set task in this update to help you plan and prepare.
Unit 3: Engineering Product Design and Manufacture
In this unit learners explore engineering product design and manufacturing processes and complete activities that consider function, sustainability, materials, form and other factors.
Structure of Unit 3 External Assessment:
The unit 3 set task is structured in 2 parts.
Part A: Preparatory work
- Given to learners prior to the supervised assessment.
- Learners will be provided with a case study.
- Learners will carry out research in no more than 3 hours in a 1 week period timetabled by Pearson.
- Learners can produce a maximum of two A4 sides of research notes to take in to Part B – supervised assessment. The research notes are not required to be submitted to Pearson.
Part B: Set Task (Supervised Assessment)
- Task must be completed under 8 hours of supervision in the supervised window timetabled by Pearson. Once the assessment has started, it must be completed within 5 days.
- The task must be taken under controlled conditions and supervised by the teacher.
- Written submission.
- Learners must work independently throughout the assessment.
For further information on the administration of the unit 3 external assessment, please use the link below to access the administrative support guide for unit 3 and the Instructions for Conducting External Assessment (ICEA) document from the link below.
The Administrative Support Guide also contains an Authentication Form that must be signed by the learner and the teacher.
Frequently asked questions
No. Learners will be marked for the quality of the ideas/proposals and how well these are communicated.
There are sample assessment materials and a sample learner work available on our website to help your learners prepare for the exam.
There is no requirement for specialist resources to complete the unit 3 Set Task, other than the task booklet and equipment to sketch and write:
- The task booklet.
- Additional A4 sheets (if required, these must be labelled with name, candidate number and centre number, and treasury tagged to the back of the task booklet.)
In addition, the task booklet specifies the following equipment:
- Black in or ball point pen
- HB or B pencil
- ruler
- eraser
- drawing instruments
- calculator
Learners are expected to sketch their ideas. Therefore, there is no real need to use isometric paper.
It could however be used underneath the relevant page in the task booklet as `drawing aid` to sketch in 3D.
Exam timetables are accessible from our website from the support tab. You can also access these by using the search function on the top right corner of the website.
Good luck with your preparations to the unit 3 external assessment.
