BTEC Higher Nationals Building a programme of study
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Our BTEC Higher Nationals provide you with the flexibility to build a unique programme of study that suits your students, teachers and centre.
The Higher Nationals are developed in collaboration with centres, universities, employers, professional bodies and students to ensure that the content of each qualification develops the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for students to progress to industry or further study.
Core Units (mandatory) | Specialist Units (mandatory) | Optional Units |
Core units provide the essential underpinning knowledge and skills associated with the subject for this level. They are required for all students on the qualification, regardless of specialisation or pathway. | Specialist units are mandatory within a given specialism or pathway. These units provide the subject-specific key knowledge and skills associated with the subject area. | Higher National qualifications allow you to develop a programme that is highly specialised or to broaden the scope to include other subjects through the inclusion of Optional Units. |
Combining Core, Specialist and Optional Units
To achieve a full qualification at each level students must achieve the required number of credits.
- Higher Nationals Certificates - 120 credits at Level 4
- Higher National Diplomas - 120 credits at Level 4 and 120 credits at Level 5
Typically, students will complete 120 credits at Level 4 before beginning Level 5. Centres may offer Level 5 units once a student has achieved a minimum of 90 credits. However, Centres must ensure that students understand that they will not have achieved the Higher National Certificate until they have completed 120 credits at Level 4.
Building a programme of study - at a glance
Having identified the specialism or pathway that your Centre will be offering, and reviewing the Core and Specialist units required, there are three ways in which you can finalise your programme offer.
English language expectations
Learners are expected to be able to demonstrate English language comprehension at a level equivalent to IELTS (International English Language Testing System) 5.5 to be able to study BTEC Higher Nationals. Detailed information is included in each Programme Specification.
Support for developing your programme
Each Higher National qualification includes a range of resources to assist Centres in developing and delivering their programme. These include:
- Example Assessment Briefs that provide you with guidance on the range of different ways to develop suitable assessment instruments.
- Example Schemes of Work that offer a model of how curriculum can be delivered using a range of classroom, studio and external activities.
- Core Textbooks that provide students with information about the content for the Core Units of a qualification.
Pearson also offers a range of different training events (both face-to-face and online) to support centres. These include:
- Getting Ready to Teach sessions provide an overview of a specific qualification, curriculum content, assessment and quality assurance.
- Assignment Writing and Assessment sessions explore, in detail, the holistic approach to assessment, developing assignments, assessment process, internal verification and student feedback.
- Internal Verification and External Examination Preparation looks, in detail, at the Internal Verification process; to ensure quality of assignments and assessment results, and reviews the process and practice of annual External Examiner visits.
- Quality Assurance Training sessions cover the key elements and requirements of the quality assurance process for Higher Nationals.
In addition, the Higher Nationals Team can develop bespoke training programmes for your centre.
If you are interested to learn more about Higher Nationals Training events, please contact highernationals@pearson.com