BTEC Tech Award March Update
March often brings a full to‑do list, and it’s important to work sustainably.
I’ve gathered the most relevant updates and practical reminders to help you plan clearly and keep workload manageable as the term continues. You don’t need to do everything at once. If questions come up, or you’d value a conversation, I’m always happy to help.
Important change to mark submission for moderated work
From this summer, there’s an important change to how you submit marks and student work for BTEC Tech Awards for internally assessed and externally moderated work. We’re sharing this now, so you have plenty of time to plan ahead.
What’s changing?
You’ll need to submit your centre marks before we release the list of students selected for the moderation sample.
Once you’ve made your entries, submit your centre marks through Edexcel Online. Learner Work Transfer opens on 13 April 2026. If your centre marks are submitted before this date, your moderation sample will be available in Learner Work Transfer from 13 April, and you can upload student work for moderation straight away.
If you submit your centre marks on or after 13 April, your moderation sample will appear in Learner Work Transfer within 6 hours.
What you need to do
The deadline for submitting the moderation sample remains 15 May. Please submit your marks as soon as you’re able to rather than waiting until the deadline, allowing enough time for you to upload your moderation sample.
Useful background content
We’ll be asking for a larger sample size when moderating internally assessed work for BTEC Tech Award qualifications.
By asking for a larger sample upfront, we aim to make the process smoother and reduce the likelihood of additional requests later on. This will not affect the way in which moderators review the sample, and they will only look at additional samples of work where needed.
| Cohort Size | Sample size * |
|---|---|
| 1 - 15 | All |
| 16 - 100 | 15 |
| 101 - 200 | 20 |
| >200 | 25 |
* You must also include the highest and lowest (non-zero) marked students, if they have not already been selected in your sample.
The Tech Award 2022 Key dates are a vital reference please find the link below.
This knowledge base resource is an excellent repository of knowledge that is curated by customer service experts. The information is far reaching and detailed, while being easy to navigate.
Whether you want Registration and Entry details or details about the use of Edexcel Online (EOL) for submission of raw marks it can all be found here
Tech Award 2022 - Support Index
After you have submitted marks and the requested samples of learner work for Pearson-Set Assignments, you can expect to receive the initial Moderator Feedback Report. This report will provide valuable information about the accuracy of your marking and offer guidance on areas where you may choose to amend marks (if necessary). Amending marks is optional.
Learners are required to take the external assessment at the end of their qualification (the series in which the learner certificates). This means that learners must sit internal component assessments either prior to or in the same series as the external assessment to fulfil this terminal rule. If a learner chooses to retake an internal assessment in a series after they sat the terminal external assessment, they will also need to re-sit the external component to satisfy the terminal rule.
Learners are allowed one retake of each internal component, and one re-sit of the external assessment within the programme.
To help you understand the terminal rule, we’ve created a new scenario based quick quide that you can use to help you plan your learners path to certification.
Distinction * qualification grade needs all component results to be Distinction.
The UMS total will tell you what qualification outcome the student has achieved, except that for a D* certification all three components also need to be at Distinction. So it is possible for a student to have 270 UMS and not achieve an overall D*.
From the specification section 8:
The Level 2 Distinction* grade at qualification level will be awarded only if a learner has achieved a Level 2 Distinction in each component and the minimum number of uniform marks for the Level 2 Distinction* at qualification level.
Learners can retake internally assessed components once during their course.
If learners are retaking internally assessed components, they must respond to the new PSA released for that series. Learners are permitted to adapt work from their initial sitting where it is appropriate. They can use the full allocated time, including monitored preparation where applicable, and if they choose to adapt work from their initial sitting, they will need to repurpose, build upon and/or amend their work to meet the new PSA. Learners should not be overly guided on how to improve their work, and if assistance is provided, this should be documented and considered during assessment.
For further information, centres should follow the JCQ Guidance with particular attention paid to sections 2 and 17.
If a learner chooses to retake an internal assessment in a series after they sat the terminal external assessment, they will also need to resit the external component to satisfy the terminal rule. Learners are allowed one resit of the external assessment within the programme.
You will submit certification claims for the new BTEC Tech Awards during the series in which learners are sitting their terminal external assessment. You will do this using the cash-in code for the qualification, which you can find in our Information Manual.
You can make certification claims during the normal entry window for the assessment series. If you have a learner who sits their terminal assessment in January and is happy with their result, you will be able to submit a late claim following the release of January results. However, if a learner is not happy with their results and intends to resit in the May/June series, you may choose to delay claiming until making their resit entry.
We have revised the FAQs to include more detail about Claiming certification please review this material carefully
The new VQ Learner Tracker, is a new tool you can use to identify where cash-ins are missing and help you to manage your BTEC Tech Award cohort.
Subject advisor
Tim Brady
Computer Science and ICT Subject Advisor
