BTEC Tech Awards FAQs for BTEC Tech Awards 2022

Most of the new Tech Awards are based on the previous Tech Awards or First Awards, and the content, external assessment and the structure of new Tech Awards qualifications have remained very much in line with these. You'll find them easy to pick up and deliver. New DfE requirements for Performance Tables from 2024 have resulted in some changes, mostly to internal assessment. You can learn about all of these in more detail in our Tech Awards 2022 Brochure (pdf 1mb).

Internal components will be conducted using Pearson Set Assignments (PSAs). The first PSAs will be released in early October 2022 and will be moderated from December 2022 to January 2023. Note that for Art and Design, the PSA will be released in November for May/June moderation as it does not include a December/January assessment series.
The first External Assessment will be available in January 2024 (May/June 2024 for Creative subjects which are externally assessed using task-based assessments).

There are 2 assessment series per year for internally and externally assessed components. For internally assessed components, new Pearson Set Assignments will be released for each series. Please see following table of Assessment Availability.

Note that Art and Design does not have a December/January assessment series, and that Creative subjects do not include a January External Assessment due to the extended task-based nature of the assessment.

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. You will be able to make registrations for any new Tech Award qualification from September 1st.

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, dependant 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 Cente Approval in Wales). Please contact us.

Please refer to the Tech Awards 2022 Suport Index for full guidance on these and other key administrative procedures.

Yes, as internally assessed components must now be moderated by the Awarding Organisation, we need to know if you have learners sitting the assessment within the series in order to allocate a moderator to your centre. You can make entries via EDI or on Edexcel Online, read the full guidance.

Please note the deadlines for on-time and late entries for each assessment series in the Key Dates Schedule. Please note that learners must be registered for the qualification before entries can be made for any assessment.

Refer to our key dates schedule for a detailed look at all deadlines and key dates, or visit our key dates page. 

New DfE requirements mean that internally assessed components must now be Moderated instead of the Standards Verified (SVd). We have designed a new moderation process unique to the Tech Awards which is closely aligned with the SV process, and offers some big benefits over traditional moderation. You’ll also be happy to hear that the moderation process will significantly reduce the administration and paperwork required for you to deliver and assess the internal components compared to the SV process.

Like Standards Verification, Moderation is a quality assurance process used to check the accuracy of centre assessment through the sampling of marked learner work. In Pearson's moderation process, where assessment is found to be inaccurate when compared with national standards, the centre will receive immediate feedback and 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 it 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. However, as marks can be amended following feedback, any adjustment through moderation is likely to have much less impact than in other moderation processes where there is no immediate feedback or opportunity to address assessment issues. 

Moderation will be done remotely using digital transfer of a sample of learner work to the moderator. The number of learners sampled is determined by the size of your cohort. For any class of fewer than 100 learners, this will be sample of 10. Each internal component will be sampled through moderation.

Moderation will be available twice a year. The deadline to complete internal assessment and upload marks and the sample of learner work to Pearson will be mid-December for the December/January series and the first week of May for the May/June series, however, we will be opening the assessment window from early December and early April to allow you to complete moderation earlier if you wish to.

The Tech Awards are designed as a 2-year programme for 14-16 year olds, however, we acknowledge that there are some centres that choose to run the programme from year 9, and our new delivery guides will include 3-year models to ensure this is supported. If you currently deliver the Tech Awards over three years, we know you will be keen to start delivering the redeveloped Tech Awards this academic year, and we are running free Getting Started training events and have published approved specifications, sample assessments and other supportive materials to help you deliver.

New DfE requirements require the awarding organisation to set the internal assessments, so the PSAs must be used. However, every component PSA will use the same structure of tasks and the marking criteria remain the same each year, with only the vocational context/scenario changing, so you will be prepared for what to expect.

PSAs will be released twice each year for all subjects except Art and Design. They are released in the first week of September for December/January assessment (note that Art and Design is not availble during this series), and in second week of January for May/June assessment (1st week of September for Art and Design and 1st 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 password.

Yes, it should be given to learners to read and ensure understanding prior to commencing any supervised sessions for responding to 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.

Yes, learners are allowed to refer to course notes while responding to tasks in the PSAs, or will be able to produce notes during dedicated 'Monitored Preparation' time where it has been included for those subjects that require independent research.

When providing structure to support learners in producing appropriate course notes, teachers must follow the guidelines for feedback, avoid over-direction and be able to ensure the authenticity of independent learner work produced for the PSA. The specification states: You must ensure that learner evidence is authentic by supervising them during the assessment period according to the requirements of each internally-assessed component. You must take care not to provide direct input, instructions or specific feedback that may compromise authenticity.

Mock assessments, including templates used as part of mocks, are encouraged as part of the teaching and learning process. However, the material or completed work for mock assessments are not considered course notes so should not be used during assessment.

Once an assessment has begun, learners must not be given feedback that relates specifically to their evidence and how it can be improved, as learners must work independently.

The final assessment and certification for the current specification is summer 2023. Final 2-year cohorts should start in September 2021. From 2022, learners starting on 2-year programmes should use the new Tech Awards.

The First Awards will remain available throughout the transition to the redeveloped Tech Awards. However, as they are no longer on performance tables after 2023, the redeveloped Tech Awards offer the best alternative programme on performance tables, and are based on years of experience in delivering both First Awards and Tech Awards. We will review the First Award following the transition period to the redeveloped Tech Awards, and will communicate any decision well in advance of final registration dates should we decide to retire them.

Although 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. The specifications provide a logical teaching and assessment sequence of components, but internal assessments can be sat in any order, or be co-delivered and assessed alongside one another or alongside the external component. Our Teacher Guides, found on the subject qualification pages, contain several example delivery models illustrating different ways you can deliver your programme.

No. 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.

For internally assessed units in most BTEC suites, each Learning Aim is graded and where a learner demonstrates a range of achievement across Learning Aims in a unit, the grade outcome for that unit is based on the lowest of the grades achieved. Although the previous Tech Awards had some compensation at component-level, the new BTEC Tech Awards are fully compensatory.

The DfE now require assessment for Technical Awards to be applied using numerical mark schemes rather than grades. Marks will be applied to each task or Learning Outcome in the assessment, then added together to give the final mark for the component. This makes the assessment fully compensatory as the total marks for a component combine both higher and lower achievement in different tasks/Learning Outcomes.

Marks for each component will be converted to UMS points based on the scale published in the specification. The points for each component are added together for the overall qualification. This also makes the qualification fully compensatory, meaning learners can achieve a final grade through any combination of points from any component. Furthermore, as there is no longer a Level 1 Pass requirement in any component. A grade of U (Unclassified) in any component is considered an outcome and will allow learners to certificate given they have gained sufficient points from other components.

The raw marks awarded for each component are converted to a UMS (Uniform Mark Score) to maintain fairness and comparability from one series to the next. The final qualification grade for each learner is determined by adding together the UMS achieved for each component. The total UMS required to achieve each grade is detailed in the specification. This means learners can achieve a final grade through any combination of the UMS from any component.  

As there is no longer a Level 1 Pass requirement in any component, a U (unclassified) grade in any component is considered an outcome and will allow learners to certificate, provided they have gained sufficient UMS points from other components. There are no component-level grade hurdles, and every mark counts towards the learner’s final qualification grade. Please consider this carefully before entering a learner for a retake or resit that they may not need, as it is the UMS, not the grade, that is taken forward from each component.

The DfE have provided this guidance table showing correlation of grades and points across qualifications at this level.

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Yes, 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 assesment series and years, so learners get fair results regardless of when they take the assessments. 

Yes. All SAM questions from the new Tech Awards will be available in Exam Wizard. Exam questions from the previous qualifications are being reviewed in line with redeveloped Tech Awards. For most subjects, questions from previous qualifications map directly and a large pool of questions will be available on Exam Wizard. We will continue to add further questions from Additional SAMs coming later in 2022, and after each live external assessment takes place.

Yes. We will be holding free Marking and Moderation training events from October 2022 which will feature marked learner work. These sessions will be made available as recordings to review. We have also provided Exemplar Standardisation Materials (ESMs) with examples of marked learner work for download from the 'Course Materials' section of the Tech Award qualification page for each subject.

We will continue to add further ESMs after each assessment series so the archive of marked learner work for you to refer to will continue to be refreshed. Please note, there is no longer a requirement to declare your use of these materials as you have done previously through the OSCA system. However, keeping your own records of internal standardisation is recommended.

For more information, please refer to the Centre Guide to Quality Assurance.

You will find your existing BTEC policies and procedures will apply to the new Tech Awards in many aspects, but Quality Nominees will be required to make minor additions to the following policies to cover the procedures listed.

Registration and Certification

• timely registration and entry for PSAs/external assessments - certification

Assessment

• conducting the PSAs within the set timeframe 

Internal Verification

• internal standardisation of the assessment team (using Exemplar Materials for Centres available on the qualification webpage from September)
• internal standardisation of assessment decisions (to ensure all Assessor’s marking is consistent before submitting marks for moderation)
• moderation procedures (responsibilities for providing the marks/sample)

Remember, your policies must be contextualised in terms of how BTEC programmes and their quality assurance work in your centre.

Please note, there are other policies required by centres but the three mentioned above are the ones that will require minor additions to cover the new Tech Award suite. For further guidance, please refer to the BTEC Centre Guide to Policies and Procedures for vocational qualifications 2022-2023 which can be found on the Quality Assurance webpage.

Many of the processes MyBTEC facilitated are no longer relevant to the re-developed Tech Awards (such as assignment setting and grading at P,M,D) so MyBTEC is not applicable and will not be available. However, the QA and assessment processes for new Tech Awards from 2022 are streamlined and have significantly reduced the administration burden due to the nature of Pearson Set Assignments and mark schemes, requiring only a single Assessment Record Sheet per learner per internally assessed component.

After marking learners’ work, the centre may make the decision to allow learners one opportunity to resubmit work where they may not have achieved their expected potential. The centre can give the learner general feedback to tell them which areas they may need to improve work but cannot give specific instruction to tell the learner how to improve their responses. 

Learners can retake internally assessed components once, should they need or want to during their course. It is always in the best interests of the learner to be entered for assessment when teachers judge that they are ready to be assessed.

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 never 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. 

The resubmission of evidence for internally assessed components does not require a full new set of evidence. Learners should focus on improving evidence in areas where they did not achieve to their expected potential. For this reason, the time given to learners to improve evidence may not require the full approximate time stated on the PSA. However, learners may be given up to the full time if necessary. Learners should be supervised while working on evidence for resubmission under the same conditions stated for the PSA. 

Following the submission of marks for moderation by the mark submission deadline, there is no further opportunity to resubmit improved evidence based on the same completed assignment. 

If the learner’s outcome is still not satisfactory following moderation and they 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.

Remember that, due to the terminal external assessment rule, a learner cannot take an internal assessment in a series after they’ve sat their terminal external assessment unless they also resit the external assessment in the same series. 

The terminal assessment rule requires the externally assessed component to be taken at the end of the qualification (in the series in which certification is claimed). This means that if a learner is entered to retake an internal assessment in a series following the sitting of the terminal external component, they will also need to resit the external component to satisfy the terminal assessment rule.  

For internally assessed components, the highest result will be carried forward towards the qualification outcome. 

For the terminal external assessment, the final sitting will be used towards the qualification outcome. However, if a learner resits the terminal external assessment, they may certificate both sittings and use the highest result for their own progression purposes. Please be reminded that if the learner certificates both external sittings, it is the learner’s first certification that will be reported in performance tables for the centre. 

Learners are allowed one resit of the external assessment within the programme. Bear in mind that because the external assessments for creative subjects are task-based and conducted over a longer period, they are available in the May/June series only. 

If learners are entered for the external assessment in a series prior to completing one or more internal assessments, this will be considered a practice sitting, as the result from the external assessment cannot be used towards the qualification outcome. They will need to resit the external assessment in the series in which they will be completing the qualification to fulfil the terminal assessment requirement.  

You claim for certification by entering the cash-in code for the qualification, which you can find in our Information Manual. You can enter the cash-in to claim certification via Edexcel Online or EDI during the normal entry window for each series, or via Edexcel Online after the entry window closes, during the late certification window.  

You can make certification claims during the entry windows for each assessment series. After the entry window closes, you can make certification claims via Edexcel Online during the late certification window for the series (see table below). Following this window, you will need to contact our customer service team to request any late certification claims.  

When entering learners for the external assessment in the May/June series of their final year on the programme, whether it be the first sitting or a resit, you should make certification claims at the same time as entering for the external assessment and no later than the 5 July claim deadline. This will help to ensure your learners receive their results on time. 

The following table details the certification claim windows. Refer to our key dates schedule for a detailed look at all deadlines and key dates. 

If a learner sits their terminal assessment in January and is happy with their result, you should make a certification claim immediately during the late certification window. However, if a learner is not happy with their results and intends to resit, you may choose to delay claiming certification until making their resit entry. It is the learner’s first certification that will be reported in performance tables for the centre, even if the learner decides to resit the external assessment and recertificate. 

There are no fees for late certification claims. However, the certification windows for each series are in place to allow us to ensure learners can receive their results on time and progress on to the next step in their education or career. It is the centre's responsibility to make certification claims during the entry window or late certification window. After the late certification window for the series has closed, you must request any late claims by contacting our customer service team. 

If a learner sits their terminal assessment in January and is happy with their result, the centre should claim certification immediately during the late certification window.  

However, if a learner is not happy with their results and intends to resit, the following options are available. 

• Do not to claim certification based on the January sitting, and certificate based on the May resit. In this case, the final sitting will be used for the learner’s final qualification outcome, even if the previous sitting was higher. A learner cannot resit then choose to certificate using the previous sitting retrospectively. You should make the certification claim by entering the cash-in code  at the same time as making the entry for the resit, as this will be the learner’s second and final external assessment attempt. 
  
  
• Claim certification based on the January result and then recertificate using the May/June resit result. If both the January and May sittings of the external assessment are used for certification, the learner is permitted to hold both certificates and use the highest result for their own progression purposes. However, it is the learner’s first certification that will count towards performance tables for the centre. 

Please see the diagram below outlining these options.  

How does certification work if a learner sits the external assessment in the January series 79.9 KB pdf /content/dam/pdf/btec-tec-awards/btec-tech-awards-certification-external-assessment-january.pdf false

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NB: These options do not apply to creative subjects, which do not feature a January external assessment series. 

No. Learners who sat assessments in the December/January series can be re-entered for May/June assessments after results have been issued and no late fees will be charged. The entry deadline for these learners is 29 March; late fees will apply after this date. See Understanding our vocational qualification fees for further information. 

Results from certification claims entered prior to results day will be available from results day on Edexcel Online. Claims made after results will be processed and visible on Edexcel Online within approximately 24 hours. 

EDI files issued on results day will reflect qualification outcomes for those who have claimed certification prior to that time. Centres making late certification claims after results day will need to contact our customer service team to request an updated EDI file.

Certificates are issued approximately to centres to arrive by approximately the second week of May for certification claims made in the January series, and by approximately the second week of November for certification claims made in the May/June series.  

Certificates for claims made after the late certification window has closed in each series must be requested through customer services at the time of making the certification claim. 

No; once the certification claim has been processed as a qualification result, it cannot be declined. However, you can request that we withdraw a cash-in entry prior to results being issued by contacting our customer service team.