Security update - August 2021

Changes to the retention of video evidence for licence linked courses

As you know, Get Training currently states:

“All knowledge and practical assessment evidence (including visual recordings) must be retained for a minimum of 3 years for audit purposes.”

Concerns have been raised regarding centres’ ability to retain all video evidence for 3 years because of data storage capacity issues.

The SIA has now agreed with all Awarding Organisations, that all practical assessments are to be recorded and retained by all centres for a minimum period of one year.

SIA Learner Photograph Image Quality

We have been contacted by the SIA regarding the image quality of the learner photographs that are being uploaded, as they have noticed an increase in volume of poor quality images, often relating to the size of the file.

Please remember that it is the responsibility of you as the centre to ensure that the images uploaded are representative of the learner's appearance.   The image specification requirements are listed in the BTEC Security Centre Handbook and are repeated below for ease of reference:

• the learner’s photograph and signature should be two separate jpeg format files
• the size of each file must be under 16KB
• the colour photograph should be of passport size (i.e. head and shoulders only) on a white background
• guidance on the appearance of the images can be found on the SIA website
• the signature file should contain a signature and nothing else
• images and signatures must be held for three years.