BTEC students have been left waiting for two days to receive their results, despite expecting to receive them on 18 August. The exam board responsible for the delay, Pearson, has apologised and explained that the results were late due to BTECs being a ‘modular qualification.’
Pearson said that only a ‘tiny percentage’ of students are still awaiting their results, as the reasons for the delays are ‘individual to each affected school or college.’
Pearson releases apology
Pearson has issued an apology to students and said that they are ‘very sorry’ that pupils are ‘still waiting’ for their results. They explained that BTECs are a ‘modular qualification’ which means that in order for an overall result to be awarded, they require grades to be provided for each unit and a claim made to receive the qualification.
They continued: ‘We are grateful to the schools and colleges that are working with us around the clock to resolve any remaining issues. Our team delivered hundreds of results yesterday and today and we are here all weekend working to deliver more results as soon as we can.’
The exam board have urged any student waiting for their results to call them on 0345 618 0440.
A UCAS spokesperson said: ‘Students may find they are awaiting their examination results for many reasons, and not all qualifications are awarded on JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications) results day.
‘Universities are used to managing this in their processes, and we are working with awarding bodies to ensure all students can receive a decision on their application,’ they continued.
What is a BTEC?
BTEC stands for the Business and Technology Education Council. BTECs are specialist work-related qualifications and combine practical learning with subject and theory content.
The qualifications are flexible and can be taken alongside or instead of GCSEs and A-levels. BTEC Firsts are usually equivalent to GCSEs, while BTEC Nationals are the equivalent to A-levels.
According to UCAS, there are over 2,000 BTEC qualifications across 16 sectors including sport, business, ICT, childcare, construction, and performing arts.