BTEC: why so hard to get information??

[Miljah]

DS2 is doing an A level and a 2 A level equivalent BTEC.

Why can I find out to the minute what time his A level exams are and what day the results will be released; whereas I actually can't find out when the last day of the BTEC is, whether there's any leeway for tidying up submitted work; when and how the results come out.

I can't even find the exact course on the Pearsons website!

I can't get to talk to anyone at the college and DS can't get a straight answer from anyone! He knows when 'the last lesson' is- but is that prior to the last unit being submitted for assessment?

It's maddening.

@Miljah I teach BTEC in an FE college and the reason you can't find an answer is, that there isn't really one! By that I mean that there is no formal end date, officially the college will tell your DS that it's the last day of term however in reality this is probably more middle/end of June.
I know for us, we aim to finish ours around the last week of June so I will ask for all submissions handed into me a week or so before for marking corrections. Final unit teaching is happening now then we will have a few weeks of mopping up etc. We let our students go once they have finished everything and got their final grade, however ours don't do A levels and exams as well (other than GCSE resits)
May also be worth checking if the college is closed during GCSE exams, for examples, ours is closed each morning of the exams so your DS even though he is presumably sitting a Level 3 so not resitting his exams, wouldn't come in as the whole building and staff are used for exams.

Sorry, I thought I'd put that into paragraphs, but they didn't come out. Apologies for the block of text!

Thanks.

My DS1 did a 3 A level equivalent BTEC last year at a different college.

We asked the same question because we were going away on holiday, but in fact before he finished, DS1 already knew he had at least 3 x 'D's, and, had anything needed sorting out, given that it was computing, he could do it anywhere with wifi!

DS2's is in a graphic design type area so there is a fair amount of printing stuff which means we need to be near home or college.

He has a 'last date' (end of June), but I'm not sure if that is generic. He's at a sixth form college, so not many GCSE retake, but I guess the bulk of the A levels get underway soon.

How do they get their results?

DS1 phoned his tutor from Spain!

Actually, DS2's 'last date' is end of May!!

For the BTEC's the tutor will be able to calculate the grade based on coursework. Assuming he's doing the old style QCF without exams. I can tell my students what their final grade will be now, assuming they complete their final units at a set grade. So, he should know before you go that for subject 1 he will get a D and for subject 2 a M for example.

DS2's BTEC has three exams, externally marked, which he's completed and had his marks back, so I assume they can calculate his final 2 grades, as long as his last two units hold up!

He's predicted D x 2, and A in his Graphics. Which is great but we all know it's the portfolio that counts! He wants to do Graphic Design at uni, which is why he's going to do an Art Foundation next year.

Yes, they will base it on predictions. I Will see if I can find the results calendar which will tell you when the results are released to the college.

Brilliant results, I'm sure you're very proud.

qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-for-you/results-for-students.html

Sorry, I don't know how to make it clicky but that should be helpful

My DS is doing an unreformed Ext Diploma. I'm a bit confused by that link and the reference to embargo periods as to whether Track will update as soon as his results are sent to them by Pearson, which I think should be mid July? Anyone know?

@GoldenRuby is your son applying to uni for a Sept start? If so, then UCAS applicants are claimed first and submitted to Pearson/Edexcel for first claims. This will automatically update UCAS with his confirmed result

Thanks @Mummabear2212 . I'm not quite sure what that all means! He has a conditional offer that he has firmed from UEA, for this September. Thanks.

Sorry @GoldenRuby what will happen is his college lecturer will submit his grades for each unit to their exams department who then submit it to Pearson who will in turn notify UCAS and this will be updated accordingly. UCAS applicants are always processed first in order to ensure that the claims are done in time for the UCAS deadline. He may not hear/see the change until A Level results day as these are sometimes held back by UCAS until then.

Thanks @Mummabear2212 , very helpful. It would be nice if he hears early but we won't expect it. Sorry to derail the thread.

It's all quite confusing, isn't it?!

I am proud of my DS2, in fact his predicted are D ⭐️ D ⭐️ , A ⭐️ 😊 MN does that weird thing with a *.

However, he's into graphic design which I fully support, tho entry to which is more or less entirely portfolio, 🙄😊; but deep in my soul, I would be lying if I didn't say I wish he was using his A ⭐️, A x 5, B x 3 GCSEs to more 'gainful' effect, but there you go!

I just want to jump on this thread, too. My ds is doing triple Business Btec. We thought that all work would have had to be handed in before the exams and that the whole thing would be over by the first week in June, so we booked a family holiday for 24th June. Now I am worried that we are cutting off a whole week of potential work time for ds, and to make matters worse we have found out today that the Standards Verifier is unhappy with the way in which the completed assignments have been marked and that the students may have to redo or add to some of the work. There simply isn't time for this as they are under a lot of pressure to finish off everything already. I am feeling rellay stressed about this. We have not heard anything from 6th Form College yet. Is anyone else in this position, or have any experience of this?

@simbobs potentially DS will miss the final week, for us, week commencing 24/6 is our last official week, however almost all will be out before this date. I know this is really hard to wrap your head around, particularly if you're used to A Levels/GCSE's where the exams finish the course so to speak, however in a BTEC the exams and coursework are separate and almost unrelated other than to compile the final grade.

Re the Standards Verifier, the college will have a deadline by which they now have to send off additional/resubmitted work which the chosen students (roughly 25% of each unit) will have to make adequate changes to. This is where the SV who is marking on behalf of the exam board believes the college have marked too leniently and allowed work through at a grade which they don't agree with. It can be a very simple piece of evidence to fix or a whider problem. There's no way to tell unfortunately without seeing the report which you won't get. It sounds very stressful and for the staff is a real pain which makes it painful for the students but this is a yearly practice (the SV process) and is absolutely fixable.

wider*

Thank you. I am hoping that the school will make some kind of official communication on this, and am trying not to worry about it.

My BTEC students completing courses will be finished by May half-term - I suppose there’s a very very small chance they’d be needed to complete the odd bit after that but it’s highly unlikely and tbh for most students not going to be the case at all. There’s already resubmission time built in before they go to deal with those things, so anyone still straggling would be an anomaly indeed. Once they’ve left they’ve left!

We can but dream! Our kids have had their teaching time cut this year as the teachers have been diverted to other things due to staff cuts. This has meant that modules have been introduced perilously close to the deadline for 1st submission, and these are being handed back too close to the final deadline. Of course we have only recently found out all this.

The end dates are decided by the college and teachers bend over backwards to get students through so the 'last date' is often extended.

The reason the exact course isn't on the website is BTECs have certain compulsory modules and then options which the school / college pick, often according to the skill set of the teacher/lecturer.

Technically the grades are not final until after the internal and external verification process but the results given for completed units rarely change.

My concern for ds is that the particular unit that the SV looked at was one in which he had done particularly well, which has not been the case for some of the more recent units and one of the exams. He is heavily reliant on those units with top grades to bolster his overall mark. I thought that they could put all other students' grades down if they thought that the sample had been leniently marked - strenuously denied by the teachers btw.