Release of Level 1 & 2 BTEC grades postponed and review of Level 3 grades for all students nationally
Following the Government’s announcement that A Level and GCSE students are to receive Teacher Assessed Grades, Pearson have reviewed the impact this would have on BTEC students and taken on board feedback from teachers, schools and colleges. As a result of this Pearson have taken the decision to postpone release of Level 1 & 2 BTEC grades and to review Level 3 grades for all students nationally.
This means they will now be regrading all the following BTECs - BTEC Level 3 Nationals, BTEC Level 1/2 Tech Awards, BTEC Level 2 Technicals and BTEC Level 1/2 Firsts.
BTEC qualification results have been generally consistent with teacher and learner expectations, but there is concern about unfairness in relation to what are now significantly higher outcomes for GCSE and A Levels.
Although Pearson generally accepted Teacher Assessed Grades for internal (i.e. coursework) units, they subsequently calculated the grades for the examination units using historical performance data with a view of maintaining overall outcomes over time. Their review will remove these calculated grades and apply consistency across teacher assessed internal grades and examination grades that students were unable to sit.
Pearson have assured us that they will work urgently with us to reissue these grades and we will update you as soon as we possibly can. Pearson have stated that they want to reassure students that no published grades will go down as part of this review.
We appreciate this will cause additional uncertainty for students and we are sorry about this. Our priority is to ensure fair outcomes for BTEC students in relation to A Levels and GCSEs and that no BTEC student is disadvantaged.