This video is a brief walkthrough of how Streamlined Internal Assessment
can be applied, in practice to BTEC qualifications this academic year.
Centres should continue to plan to deliver all content and assessment to ensure learners are
best placed for their future progression. However, Streamlined Internal Assessment is
available, if required, at the centre’s discretion to create additional time for lost teaching and
learning or access to facilities like workshops, studios and laboratories, due to the pandemic.
Adaptations are only available in this academic year, for assessment due to take place between
1 September 2021 to the 31 August 2022 and are not intended to be carried forward to 2022/2023.
In-unit adaptations for the BTEC Tech Award suite
have been carried over from last academic year and can be found on our webpage.
There are no adaptations to external assessments except some extended timetabling windows.
Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to affect our lives,
Pearson will continue to be cautious and mindful of this over this academic year. We are working
with the DfE, Ofqual and other Vocational Awarding Organisations, to ensure that there are effective
contingency plans in place should we face further isolation or more national disruption.
Streamlined Internal Assessment is available for many BTEC qualifications but not all,
so please do check the detailed guidance.
You should prioritise mandatory unit assessments. Units that are Synoptic
or those linked to university admission requirements should not be streamlined.
Where Streamlined Assessment is applied, centres must assess at least one learning aim or outcome,
of the centre’s choice, that covers all available grades for the unit. In
some instances where there are funnelled assessment criteria,
for example AB.D1, this will mean that the two learning aims must be assessed.
It is important to reiterate all content must be taught.
Continue to prioritise the delivery and assessment of mandatory unit assessments
and those linked to linked to university admission requirements.
Create an assessment plan covering all planned assessments for the programme this academic year,
but also have considered possible streamlined assessment in case they are needed.
As the academic year progresses,
centres should continue to review the impact of the pandemic upon their Assessment Plan.
We will now walk you through some possible examples of how Streamlined Assessment might work
in practice for many of the BTEC Firsts, Technicals and Nationals. As a reminder,
the adaptations for BTEC Tech Awards have been carried forward
from the last academic year and can be found in a separate guide.
The following examples are not exhaustive, but aim to support you in applying the principles
to your own context. We appreciate that there is a degree of flexibility within the available
options as centres, cohorts and learners find themselves in very different positions,
many of which are not predictable, but can hopefully be planned for.
You should plan to teach and assess the whole programme but if this proves challenging and is
significantly impacting on the likelihood of being able to teach the whole course,
and then you may streamline assessment.
This is a typical RQF Level 3 Extended Certificate structure.
For the Year 2 cohort on the Extended Certificate, you would plan to teach and assess U4 Assignment
1 which covers Learning Aims A and B and might be submitted say in January 2022.
Whilst continuing to teach Learning Aims C and D content, you would evaluate the pandemic's impact
so far on your cohort and individual learners. Some may not have completed the first assignment
due to individual circumstances and so whilst ideally you might agree an extension to this
deadline with them, it may be more appropriate, where the impact has been more severe,
to move forward and ensure that the next assignment is completed by the learner to meet
the minimum assessment of one learning aim. For the cohort as a whole, you should
consider whether you are largely keeping to your Assessment Plan.
You would next consider whether completing the second assignment,
or part of it, is viable in the context of the whole year and external assessment requirements.
On a regular basis, you should continue to evaluate the impact of the pandemic
on your learners, right up to the point at which you plan to give out each assignment.
Remember that Streamlined Assessment can
be applied as needed to individual learners, or the cohort as a whole.
You should keep records of decisions made and update your Assessment Plan,
maintaining version control, as changes are made.
Where first year's are registered to the Extended Certificate,
Streamlined Assessment may be applied to one unit. However, please note that the internally
assessed unit often delivered in the first year is a mandatory unit. As we discussed
previously… "Streamlined assessments should only be applied to mandatory units as a last resort."
These adaptations remain available should they be needed later into the year.
The external and synoptic units do need to be delivered and assessed fully,
so one possible way of interpreting 'last resort' is that these would be significantly impacted
for the learner or learners if the planned internal assessment was not to be streamlined.
You should plan to teach and assess as usual but
evaluate the impact upon learners at key points throughout the year.
Please also note that if your learners are registered to the Certificate size
and planning to ‘top-up’ to the Extended Certificate next year,
Streamlined Assessment is not available for the Certificate size qualifications.
The second example relates to BTEC First Award qualifications.
You should plan for all teaching, learning and assessment as usual. But for each year group,
if delivering over 2 years, you may apply Streamlined Assessment, if required.
You will need to consider which assessments would be most appropriate for streamlining,
should it be required. As the proportion of optional unit internal assessment is usually 50%
in the First Award, it should not be necessary to streamline assessment in the mandatory unit
in the vast majority of cases. Those sectors which have a 60 guided learning hour optional unit
should refer to their sector teaching and learning guide for further details of streamlining.
You might take into account core and fundamental skills expected for development and progression,
but also access to specialist resources and facilities, whilst maintaining the integrity
of the qualification. Some more practical sectors have identified in-unit adaptations
within their sector guides which can usually be applied in addition to Streamlined Assessment.
The same principles apply as the first example: Continue to teach all content and
complete assessments as planned. Evaluate your plans on a regular basis.
Apply streamlined assessment as needed to individual learners or the cohort as a whole
and please keep records of decisions made and update your Assessment Plan accordingly.
This slide refers to the RQF and QCF Level 3 Extended Diplomas.
This example follows the same principles as the previous two examples,
but notes the different amounts of streamlining that are available on the larger size programmes.
It is important to note that Streamlined Assessment may be applied differently
or not be applicable to some BTEC qualifications,
so please ensure that you check the Streamlined Internal Assessment Guide and your sector’s
Teaching and Learning Guide for further details on the exact programme which you deliver.
We hope you have found this brief video helpful in supporting your understanding of how
streamlined assessment might be applied, if required, to your BTEC internal assessments.
Please use the Customer Support Portal to contact us and we look forward to supporting you.
We wish you and your learners all the very best throughout the academic year and beyond.
Thank you.