BTECNationalQualifications …

1 BTEC NationalQu al ifi cation sA Guidefo r Higher EducationAdmissions Sta ffEnhancingProgressionOpportunitiesforVo cationalLearnersSeptember20 091 CONTENTSIn tr od uc ti on1 Str uct ure2 Dur at ion of Cours e2 Entry Requ ire me nts2 Assessm ent2Un it Grad in g3Ov eral l Grad in g3UC AS Ta riff3 Fun ct io na l Sk il ls3 Othe r BTEC Qua lifi cat ions3 The Futur e4Pr ogre ss ion Agre em ents41. In tr od uc ti onBT EC qua lifi catio ns have be en runnin g fo r twe nty fi veyea rs and ar e offer ed by the Ed exc el awa rdin g bo dy,cre at ed in 1996 by a mer ge r of BTEC and the Univer sit y ofLo nd on Exa mi nations and As sessment Coun cil.

2 BT ECrema in s a br and and is offe red only by Ed exce l. In 20 07,mo re than on e mill io n stud en ts en ro ll ed on a BTECco urs le vel 3 BTE C National qua li fica ti ons are wo rkrela ted qual ific atio ns wh ich aim bo th to acc ommodateth e needs of em pl oy ers an d to allo w pr ogr essio n touni ve rsity . Th ey provide wo rk rela te d le ar nin g wi th keyth eor etic al back gr oun d, and are bas ed on rel eva ntNa ti onal Oc cup at io nal Sta ndar ds (NOS ) as dete rmin ed byse cto r skill s coun cil are fl exib le, en ab lin g stud ents to st ud y themfull- ti me or pa rt -tim e.

3 The y can be tak en as we ll as , or inpl ace of, GCSEs an d A lev el s in scho ols an d co ll ege s, aspa rt of an apprentic es hi p or as part of the Additi on alSpe cia li st Learning (AS L) co mpone nt of the ne wAd van ce d Di pl ch ing of th e new BTEC qua lifi ca ti on s in the ircur rent fo rm beg an in Se pt ember 2002. The y arecur rently und ergoin g furt her deve lopmen t to beacc re dit ed ont o the new na ti onal Qua li fic ati ons andCredit Fra me work (QC F) fr om Se pte mb er 201 BTEC Natio nal qua li fic ation is at NQF (Na ti onalQual ific ati ons Framewo rk) level 3 an d is expe cted to beacc re dit ed ont o the QC F at leve l 3 (broadly equ iva le nt toA level s).

4 Uct ureThe BTEC Nationalhas three sizes :Awa rd, Certi ficat eand Dip lo BT EC NationalAward:The 6-unitNati onal Awa rdsee ks to prov ide a uni t-basedspeci ali st qual ifica tio ntha t fo cuses on particularaspectsof empl oymentwit hin a vo BT EC NationalCerti ficate:The 12-unitNati onalCer tif icat e seeks to pr ovide a sp eci ali st wo rk -relat edqual ific ation that co vers the key kno wledg e andpract ica l skills requir ed in a vocational sect or andals o off er a differentemphasisthro ugh the choi ce ofspe cia lis t uni ts.

5 It is br oadly equivalent to two GCE Alevel BT EC NationalDiploma:The 18-unitNat iona lDipl om a extend s and deepe ns the speci ali st focu savail ab le in the 12- unit Certificate. The qu al ifica tio nprep are s learnersfor employmentin the secto r. It isbroa dly equiv alent to three GCE A level ti on of CourseA BTEC Na tionalDip loma wi ll gen eral ly take two year sto com pl ete by full ti me ve r, bei ng a unit bas ed qu al ifica tio n, th eactua l dura ti on of the courseis flex ible, dependenton th e size and lev el of the quali fica tio n and whet herit is studiedfull or part time.

6 The modeof stud y isdet er min ed by the requi rementsat FE colleges for BTE CNat io nalsEntr y req uirementswill vary but are generally aminim um of four GCSE passesat Gra de C or above,in cl ud ing GCSE Engl ish or Key Sk ill s Commun icat ionLeve l 2 or equ iv ale nt . So met im es fi ve GCSE pas ses orMat hs or ScienceGCSE smay be speci fi ed, or fo r somesu bjects a port fol ern ativ ely a BT EC Firs t Dipl oma may offer ent rywith a mi nimumov eral l grad e spec ified . Mat ur est udent s ma y be ad mi tted wi th other rel evan t level 2qua lif icati ons and kn owled ge and experi en ce in there le vant sec tor or in du st ry.

7 5. Assessm entEach uni t is asses sed and grad ed thro ug hass ig nm ent s. All units are intern al ly ass es sed andass essm ent s are con st ru cted by th e del iveri ng organ -isa tio n. Stu dents will com plet e a ran ge ofass ig nm ent s, cas e stu di es an d prac tical act ivities .All as sess ment is qual ity ass ured th ro ugh internalver if ic ati on and Ed excel ca rry out ext ern al verifi cat io nact iv it ies (incl ud ing sampl ing as ses sor s dec isionsus in g secto r-s pec ialist ext erna l veri fi ers ). t GradingAll as sessmen t fo r BTEC Na tion als is crit eri onre fe re nce d, bas ed on th e ac hi eve ment of spe ci fie dlearn in g ou tc omes.

8 Eac h un it has spec ifie d cr ite ri awhich are used for gradin sum mat ive uni t grad e can be awar ded at pas s,merit or dist inc tion: to ac hieve a pa ss a learnermus t have satis fie d allthe pas s crit eri a to ac hieve a meri t a learn er mus t add it io nallyhave sa ti sfied all th e meri t criteria to ac hieve a dist inc tio n a le arner mus t addit ion -al ly hav e sat isfi ed al l the dis tin ct io n cr ite ri Ov era ll Gr ad in gBTEC Na tional Aw ardIs giv en a sin gle gr ade of Pas s, Mer it orDis tin ctio n P, M, Na tional CertificateIs giv en a dou ble gr ade PP , MP, Na tional Diplom aIs giv en a tr iple grade PPP , MMP.

9 Natio nals in cludedin the UCAS Tarif fA BTEC Nat io nal Awar d is equi va le nt to one GC E ALeve l (or two AS Level s), a BTEC Na ti onal Cer ti fic ate totwo GCE A lev el s and a BTEC National Dip lo ma tothre e GCE A Level tari ff po in ts are det erm in ed by th e ov er allgrad e. Wh ere, fo r ex ampl e, a lea rn er has ach ie ved anove ra ll grad e pr ofi le of 3 Mer it s - MMM- in th e BTECNat ion al Dipl oma thi s pro vi des a learner wi th 3 ALeve l equi val enc e an d 240 UC AS poin ts .9. Fun ctional Sk illsAt the moment fun cti ona l or keys skill s are no t anin tegr al par t of BTEC Nat io nal s, alt ho ugh th ey dopr ov id e the opport uni ty to ach ieve th em.

10 Wit h the ad ve nt of key and fun ctio nal skill s th e Common Skills whic h th e BTEC Nati onals contain edin the pas t wer e re move d fr om the qua lifi catio rsit ies will the re fo re sep aratel y speci fy entryrequir emen ts fo r degr ee co urs es in te rms of GCSEMat hs and/or Eng lis h or equiv al en . Oth er BTEC Qualificat io nsLevel1BT EC Introd uctor yLevel2BT EC FirstLevel3BT EC Nati on alLevel4(someatlevel5)BT EC Higher Nat ion al Ce rtific ate (H NC)Level4and5BT EC Higher Nat ion al Diploma (HND)BT EC NationalQual if ic ationsAw ar dCer tifi cateDiplo maUnit s6 units12 units18 un itsEqu iv alent toOne GCE A le velTw o GCE A lev elsThr ee GCE A lev elsBread thChoiceof spe ci alist un itsDeep en ed sp ecialistfocusGrad eTa rif f Poin tsDip lo maCe rtif icat eAwar dDD D360 DDM320 DMM280 MMMDD240 MMPDM200 MPPMM160 PPPMPD120 PPM80P4011.