BTEC Tech Awards BTEC Tech Award Exams Officer Guidance

• An entry will need to be made for the internally assessed component in the series where the learner completes the Pearson set assignment. 

• The external moderation requirement for internally assessed components is a new one, moving away from standards verification. However, our moderation process will give you the opportunity to correct any issues with marking and will create a significant reduction in administration and paperwork by an estimated 65%.

• In a change to the DfE’s previous criteria, internal summative assessments must now be set by the awarding organisation. Similar to the current Authorised Assignment Briefs, we are providing Pearson Set Assignments (PSAs). PSAs are released in the first week of September for December/January assessment (note that Art and Design is not available during this series), and in second week of January for May/June assessment (first week of November for Art and Design and first week of December for Performing Arts). The PSAs for each assessment series will be available to download on the Pearson website with an Edexcel Online Account.

• The BTEC Tech Award qualifications are graded and certificated on a seven-grade scale from Level 2 Distinction* to Level 1 Pass. Individual components are graded on a six-point scale from Level 2 Distinction to Level 1 Pass. Individual component results are released on Results Day (the March and August Level 2 results days). 

• DfE terminal assessment requirements mean that the external assessment must now be taken at the end of the programme. Internally assessed components can be taken both prior to and in the same assessment series as the external assessment, just not after the external assessment.

• There is no longer a Level 1 Pass requirement in any component including the externally assessed component, so even a result of U (Unclassified) could allow for certification based on sufficient points from other components. This means the qualifications are now fully compensatory.

We have created a video overview which covers the fundamental differences in more detail. 

The final assessment and certification for the legacy specification is Summer 2023. From 2022, learners starting on 2-year programmes should use the new Tech Awards.

Internal standardisation – use of Pearson provided standardisation materials (called Exemplar Standardisation Materials) by assessors to ensure understanding of expected standards prior to assessment taking place and a separate activity following assessment that checks that work has been assessed and marks applied, consistently to the expected standard.

Moderation – an external quality assurance process to ensure that marks have been applied accurately and consistently and the standard of marking is the same for each centre.

PSA – Pearson Set Assignment – Summative assessments set by Pearson that assess learner performance in internally assessed components. PSAs are completed in supervised sessions and are marked by centres. In a change to traditional BTEC assignments, for the BTEC Tech Award 2022, all learners must complete the Pearson Set assignment and centres are not able to devise their own for their learners. The PSA is made available ahead of each series and learners must complete the PSA for that series only.

Terminal Assessment – requirement that the externally assessed component take place at the end of the programme of study. This means that learners can only use the external assessment results achieved in the same assessment series in which they are requesting certification for the qualification.

Registration – A BTEC registration is unique to each learner and notifies Pearson that a learner is completing a Pearson Qualification. This allows us to allocate internal resources to ensure a learner can certificate at the end of their programme.

Entry – When a learner wishes to complete an external assessment an entry needs to be made. In the case of BTEC Tech Awards 2022, an entry is also required for the internally assessed components. This notifies Pearson that resources are required in order to mark/ moderate a learners work and have results available on the relevant results day.

NB: For Construction it is Component 1 that is the externally assessed component, worth 40% of the qualification grade. For Art & Design Practice it is Component 2

Most of the subjects follow the same pattern of internal and external assessment, although there is variation between subjects as to whether the external assessment takes the form of a written exam or a task-based assignment.

Assessment is compensatory within components and across the qualification - anywhere learners gain marks, these are added to the total towards a grade. Component grades are no longer restricted to the lowest grade achieved within the component. 

There are no longer any minimum grade requirements in any component, so an Unclassified result in any of the components will not prevent a learner from achieving the qualification. This gives your learners more opportunities to achieve and better captures their true ability. 

Unique to BTEC Tech Awards, the moderation process includes direct feedback – allowing you to address any issues with assessment before they impact on the learner’s results.

Tech Awards step-by-step 

Each step listed below is written in detail further down the page.

All of the Key Dates can be found on this webpage and will be listed throughout this guide also. 

This quick reference table lists the system or guidance you’ll need for the key steps in the administration of the BTEC Tech Awards 2022 qualifications.

UK schools who have offered Pearson GCSEs in the last 3 academic years will be automatically approved to deliver BTEC Tech Awards 2022 across all subject areas, therefore no further action is required.

UK schools that offer BTEC Tech Awards or BTEC Firsts, but not Pearson GCSEs, or offer them alongside GCSEs with another awarding organisation, will need to fill out a fast-track approval form. This will take up to 5 working days to process, dependent on internal checks. For fast-track approval, please contact us.

Other UK providers that wish to offer theses qualifications will need to submit a full application, including a JCQ Centre Approval application if not already JCQ inspected (CCEA Centre Approval in Northern Ireland, WJEC Centre Approval in Wales). Please contact us.

At the start of their programme, as with all BTEC qualifications, the learner will need to be registered onto the correct course on either Edexcel Online or via EDI.  This notifies us that your learners are completing this course and allows us to start the Quality Assurance process for your centre.

Should you register your learners onto the Legacy or new BTEC Tech Award? 

Learners who will be completing in 2024 or after must be registered on the new BTEC Tech Awards (2022), as the legacy BTEC Tech Awards (2017) will no longer be available after Summer 2023. 

Learners who will be completing in Summer 2023 must continue on the legacy BTEC Tech Awards (2017) or BTEC First Awards.

*The legacy Tech Award in Engineering and many BTEC First Awards will remain available beyond 2023 but will not be on Performance Tables from 2024.

Making your registrations

Registrations can be made on Edexcel Online and via EDI as with our equivalent BTEC Qualifications. If you make your BTEC registrations on Edexcel Online, please ensure you access the new BTEC Tech Award menu: 

New registrations: Guidance on making your registrations can be found in our support articles. 

Amendments: Guidance on processing amendments to registrations can be found in our support articles. It is also possible to amend learners details once they have been registered,  guidance can be found here. 

Withdrawals: These can be processed on Edexcel Online, guidance can be found here.

Centres are required to enter learners for each component of the new BTEC Tech Award including the Internal components. They must be entered by the deadline for the series in which the learner wishes to sit them, and late fees will apply for late entries. 

Entry for the internally assessed components will ensure that we have supplied you with all relevant information and allow a moderator to be allocated to receive your learner work. The PSA may only be used within the assessment series that the learner is entered for and cannot be held for use in a later series.  

A learner can be entered for a retake in a later series if required, but they must use the new PSA for that series. Entry for the Externally Assessed component must be made after or in the same series as the internally assessed components in order to satisfy the terminal assessment requirement but note that the first external assessments will not be available until January 2024. 

When are the Internally Components available? 

All internal components are available for assessment in the December/January series and May/June series with the exception of Art and Design practice which is available in the May/June series only. 

When will the PSA be released?

PSAs are released twice each year for all subjects except Art and Design. They are released in the first week of September for December/January moderation, and in early January for May/June assessment (1st November for Art and Design, 1st December for Performing Arts).

The PSA for each assessment series is available to download from the qualification's webpage, within the internal assessments section. Please note, when downloading the PSA you are required to enter your Edexcel Online login. 

When making entries for the PSA, please always refer to the details contained in the Pearson Information Manual and the programme specifications to ensure that learners are entered for the correct components. 

More information on programme codes and component codes can be found in this support article.

Our qualification fee’s guidance can be found here.

EDI

The quickest and easiest way to make internal/external assessment entries for your learners is via EDI. You can use EDI basedata to transfer data between awarding bodies and centres. The most up-to-date version can be downloaded from our website. 

Edexcel Online

Entries can be made on Edexcel Online once a registration has been made for your learners. These can be made either individually or via the bulk upload spreadsheet. Our support article shows you the steps to follow.

Withdrawals

If you need to withdraw an entry this can be completed on Edexcel Online. Our support article shows you the steps to follow.

Access Arrangements and Modified Papers 

Access Arrangements: These can be requested via a JCQ form 8, once completed please return the form to uk.special.requirements@pearson.com

Modified Papers: As the PSAs do not sit under the conventional BTEC exam series, the usual deadlines for these do not apply. However, these take around 4-8 weeks to create, so please provide as much notice as possible that a modified version of a PSA is required.  You can make a request once the PSA has been released but earlier in the process ensures we can get this to you in a timely manner. 

Modified papers can be ordered in the usual way on PAAO. When ordering these, please use the 'Subject or component code search' box only to search for the PSA required (e.g. BHS01).

For guidance on how to make an application on PAAO please visit our support articles. 

Preparing for Assessment: 

Each internal component assessment has an accompanying Administrative Support Guide (ASG). Centres can locate these documents in the Internal Assessments section of each qualification’s webpage. 

The PSA can be given to learners ahead of the supervised sessions to read and ensure understanding of the tasks. In the General Guidance section of the Teacher Guidance of each PSA, it says 'You should direct learners to read the information given in the vocational context and each task section of this assignment carefully. Tasks often link to one another, so it is important to check that learners understand all tasks before they start the assignment.' Learners should be given the opportunity to read the PSA and clarify any potential areas of confusion with teachers before the commencement of the formal assessment sessions - only once formal sessions are begun can any work be accumulated toward the PSA assessment. 

Prior to PSA Marking:

To ensure Assessors understand how to mark consistently and to National Standards, the whole assessment team should conduct a standardisation activity prior to marking each internal component assessment. Pearson provides Exemplar Standardisation Materials (ESMs) for each internally assessed component which can be located in the Course Materials section of each qualification’s webpage.

Following the completion of a PSA:

Each learner’s feedback and marks are to be recorded on an Assessment Record sheet (or centre devised documentation) and authenticated by the learner and Assessor. 

Centres may make the decision to allow learners to resubmit their work if they have not achieved their expected potential. General feedback can be given to tell the learner which areas they may need to improve work, but no specific instruction can be given to tell them specifically what to do to improve their responses. Once marks have been submitted on Edexcel Online, there is no further opportunity to resubmit improved evidence based on the same completed assignment.

Before the submission of marks on Edexcel Online by the mark submission deadline, centres are required to internally standardise assessment decisions where there is more than one Assessor and this is recommended where there is only one Assessor. The standardisation activity is to ensure marks have been applied consistently across all assessors and in line with national standards.

Please refer to the Internal Standardisation Prior to Assessment and Internal Assessment sections of the  Centre Guide to Quality Assurance for further guidance.

New DfE requirements mean that internally assessed components must now be Moderated instead of the Standards Verified (SVd). 

Moderation is a quality assurance process used to check the accuracy of centre assessment through the sampling of marked learner work. All centres receive immediate feedback from the moderator and where assessment is found to be inaccurate when compared with National Standards, the centre will be given time to adjust their marks if they wish to. Following any amendments, if the centre's marks are reasonably accurate, they will be the final marks awarded for the component. If assessment is still out of line with National Standards, an adjustment to the centre's marks will be applied as is the case with any process of moderation. 

Moderation is conducted remotely using the digital Learner Work Transfer platform to share the sample of learner work with the moderator, with the exception of Art and Design Practice which is moderated through a centre visit. The number of learners sampled is determined by the size of your cohort. Each internal component will be sampled through moderation. The BTEC Tech Award in Sport has a bespoke sampling strategy, please see the Administrative Support Guide for further detail. 

The number of learners sampled is based on the size of the cohort as follows:

More detailed guidance on the moderation process can be found in the Centre Guide to Quality Assurance for BTEC Tech Awards 2022, which can be located on our quality assurance webpage.

Moderation Key Dates:

As a centre you are required to upload the marks for each learner onto Edexcel Online by the submission deadline for the assessment series, as shown below. Within this process, centres should also mark any learners absent.

•  15th December for the Dec/Jan assessment series  

• 1st May for May/June assessment series * 

* Art & Design Practice does not have a December/January assessment series due to the practical nature and extended duration of assessment in the subject. Marks are to be uploaded 48 hours prior to the moderation visit.

Once the learner marks have been submitted it's now time to upload your samples to Learner work transfer (LWT). This can be accessed via the front page of Edexcel Online. 

Detailed guidance on the full moderation process can be found in the Centre Guide to Quality Assurance. 

There are 2 results days in the academic year as follows: 

Information about how these dates align with our other dates and deadlines can be found in our Key Dates schedule.

Retaking Internal Assessments

Following moderation, if the outcome is still not satisfactory and the learner would like to retake the internal assessment to improve their mark, they may be given one retake opportunity using the new PSA in a later assessment series. For internally assessed components, the highest result will be carried forward towards the qualification outcome.

Information on results for the externally assessed components to follow.

Information about the Post Results Services available for the 2 different components can be found on our Post Results webpages.

Internally assessed components

For the internally assessed components, the Review of moderation (service 3) is available to centres from results day.

Where we've adjusted centre marks during moderation, this service checks that our moderator has made an accurate judgement on the centre’s ability to mark the work to the national standard. This includes:

• a review of the original moderation by a senior moderator

• feedback with a similar level of detail to the original moderator report

This service can't be requested if we agreed centre marks during moderation.

A review of moderation (Service 3) replicates the original moderation process and therefore the same sample be reviewed. Any mark changes may impact all candidates completing this component at the centre in the current exam session.

Candidates’ uniform mark scores (UMS) can up, down or stay the same but grades will not be lowered for the current exam session.

This means that if a candidate’s mark is lowered their grade won’t change as a result of a review of moderation (Service 3) in this exam session. However their new mark will be used to calculate any future overall grades that require this component.

The deadline for completion is within 35 calendar days.

Entries for external assessments are made in the same way as internal assessments, but note that the first external assessments will not be available until January 2024.

The DfE terminal assessment requirement means that the external assessment must now be taken at the end of the programme.

When making entries for the externally assessed components, please always refer to the details contained in the Pearson Information Manual and the programme specifications to ensure that learners are entered for the correct components. 

More information on programme codes and component codes can be found in this support article.

EDI

The quickest and easiest way to make internal/external assessment entries for your learners is via EDI. You can use EDI basedata to transfer data between awarding bodies and centres. The most up-to-date version can be downloaded from our website. 

Edexcel Online

Entries can be made on Edexcel Online once a registration has been made for your learners. These can be made either individually or via the bulk upload spreadsheet. Our support article shows you the steps to follow.

Resits

Learners can sit in the January/February series and resit (if necessary) in the May/June series. Internal component assessments must be sat either prior to or in the same series as the external assessment to fulfil the terminal rule. Learners are allowed one resit of the external assessment within the programme. Please note however that the external assessment for Creative subjects are task-based, conducted over a longer period of time and therefore available in the May/June series only. As such, on-programme resits for these subjects are not available.

Information on modified papers for the externally assessed components to follow.

Our qualification fees guidance can be found here.

We have published a grade calculator using the UMS points in relation to grades which remain fixed each series. This calculator can be used to benchmark progress and model potential qualification outcomes, but will not guarantee actual grade outcomes for future series as this is subject to awarding. 

The specification lists the UMS points relating to each possible grade for each Component, as well as the maximum raw marks available for each Component. The relationship between raw marks and grades is subject to change based on awarding in each series. The awarding process is done to ensure parity across different assessment series and years, so learners get fair results regardless of when they take the assessments.

Information on overall claims and eligibility for the externally assessed components to follow.

Information on results days for the externally assessed components to follow.

Externally assessed components

There are 2 services available for an externally assessed component, Service 1 – clerical recheck and Service 2 – review of marking.

Service 1

A check of all clerical procedures which lead to us issuing a result. This includes making sure:

• all parts of the exam paper have been marked

• marks have been recorded/added up correctly

• special consideration has been applied (where appropriate)

• the grade boundaries have been applied accurately

You might consider this service if the results for one candidate are unexpected compared to the rest of the cohort.

Candidates’ marks or grades can go up, down or stay the same.

The deadline for completion is within 10 calendar days of receiving the request

Service 2

A check that our examiners have marked externally assessed components correctly. This includes:

• a clerical check (Service 1)

• a review of marking of units/components by a senior examiner

You can ask us to review the marking of exam papers for individual candidates and the results for each candidate will be reported separately. This service isn't available for internally assessed/externally moderated coursework components.

Candidates’ marks or grades can go up, down or stay the same.

The deadline for completion is within 20 calendar days.

If the learner is happy with the results achieved from their January/February sitting of the external assessment, the centre can claim certification for them before the certification deadline for the January/February series. However, if a learner is not happy with the result from that sitting and intends to resit in May/June, we would advise that the January/February sitting is not used to claim certification, as it is the first certification claimed that will count on Performance Tables for the centre. 
 
In line with new terminal assessment requirements, the final external assessment sitting that is certificated will be used for the learner’s qualification outcome, even if it is lower than the previous sitting, so even if both January and June are certificated, only the June sitting can be used for the learner’s grade outcome. Please note that this does not apply to Creative subjects which do not feature a January external assessment series or resits.

Our infographic explains the process in more detail. 

Information on certificates for the externally assessed components to follow.