Welcome to this launch briefing
and thank you for joining us.
The aim of this briefing is to introduce
the New Tech Award in Enterprise,
which will be available for first
teaching from September 2022.
My name is Colin Leith,
a Subject Advisor at Pearson and
presenting with me is Charlotte Bunn,
our Senior Standards Verifier for Enterprise.
The redeveloped Tech Award in Enterprise
has retained the same three component
structure as the current Tech Award.
Components one and two are each 36
guided learning hours and worth
30% of the qualification grade.
They are assessed using the
new Pearson Set Assignments or
PSAs marked internally by you,
the teacher,
assessor and then moderated by Pearson.
The PSAs are released in November of each
year and assessed in May or June from 2023,
so you have plenty of flexibility
within your programme to prepare for,
administer and mark the assessments.
The final component, component three is 48
Guided learning hours worth 40%
of the qualification grade and is
externally assessed by Pearson.
It is a two hour written exam
available twice a year in the
January February exam series and
in the May June assessment series.
Each assessment in the qualification
is marked out of 60 available marks.
In component one, learners explore different
enterprises to develop their knowledge
and understanding of the characteristics
of enterprises and the skills needed
by entrepreneurs to be successful.
In addition, learners explore how
enterprises research their customers
and competitors and how internal and
external factors may affect enterprises.
This content is largely the
same as the current tech award.
However, we've taken the opportunity through
the redevelopment to make minor updates
and expansions to clarify content and
enhance the delivery of various topics.
For example, we've included sole
employment or side hustles
into learning outcome A, content for component one.
Given the large growth in this over the
last couple of years and also included
social enterprise an E-commerce.
We've also included more structured
content on primary and secondary research
in learning outcome B for component one,
so it so that it's now clear on
the impact of the market research
methods on the enterprises.
And we've simplified yet more detailed
content for the SWAT and
the pestle in learning outcome.
C for component one.
The component is now divided into learning
outcomes rather than learning aims,
meaning it is clearer what is
expected in terms of evidence
requirements for learners and teachers.
One key change is that enterprises
no longer have to be local.
This is based on feedback from
centres where some have struggled
to engage local businesses and we
wanted to give learners more choice
and flexibility in the types of
enterprises for them to research.
For component one,
the requirement to consider two
enterprises has been removed,
only one is now required and a choice of
industries are given to be selected from.
This is again based on feedback from
centres and this will give teachers
confidence that the choices made by
learners will be appropriate and allow
them to fully engage with different
types of enterprises that will also
further support understanding.
In component two, learners will
generate two realistic ideas for a micro
enterprise and choose one of these to
plan within budget presenting and then
evaluating their plan and presentation.
As with the first component,
the content is largely the same
as in the current tech award.
With a few small tweaks.
A given budget,
which would ensure that learners
select appropriate and suitable
enterprise ideas for Learning Outcome A.
A more comprehensive list of
what is necessary in terms of the
business plan including exactly what
financial information is required.
A more balanced assessment of the
production of the presentation and the
delivery of the presentation without
the need to pitch to an audience.
Making logistics for this part of
learning outcome B for component
two more manageable.
And a self review of the presentation and
the delivery of this for learning outcome
C component two removing the
requirement to have an audience
feedback as this can be too dependent
on the quality of the audience.
We have also lifted the requirement to
consider three ideas for component two.
Only two are now required and
a choice of idea categories
are given to be selected from.
Again, this is based on feedback from
centres and will give teachers confidence
that the idea choices are appropriate
and will ensure that learners do not
overproduce work on enterprise ideas
that they will not take forward.
For component two where students
must produce a business plan and
produce and present a presentation,
a template is now provided for
the business plan which must be
used and a budget is now given.
This is again based on feedback
from centres who wanted a more
structured template to work from.
It also aligns more to industry practice
where entrepreneurs would you found
produce business plans and know and
understand their own budget requirements.
In addition,
it means again that teachers can be
confident that all the content areas
are covered and ideas are appropriate.
And this in turn will make your
assessments between learners
and cohorts more standardised.
The specification continues to
offer vast choice and flexibility,
yet with more structure and detail
in the areas of the content that
we know have been sometimes caused
confusion and misunderstanding.
As such,
we are confident that you will
find it easy to transition from
your current delivery of Tech Award
teaching and learning content.
Or if you are delivering Tech
awards for the first time,
you'll find the content clear,
practical and flexible.
Components one and two are
assessed through non exam internal
assessments which have been designed
to demonstrate application of the
conceptual knowledge underpinning
the sector through realistic tasks
and activities and in doing so,
to deepen learning by connecting
knowledge and practise.
Due to the new technical
requirements from the DfE,
there are some changes to the
assessment of these components
that will be slightly different
to what teachers of the current
tech award have being used to.
Assignments used for summative
assessment must now be set by the
awarding organisation so the old
authorised assignment briefs have been
replaced by Pearson Set Assignments or PSAs.
These will be released in November each year.
Component one will be assessed through a Pearson Set Assignment comprised
of three tasks over 11 hours,
six hours of monitored preparation,
and five hours to complete the tasks.
For task one,
learners will select and research
an appropriate enterprise,
exploring the activities,
skills, and characteristics of
the associated entrepreneurs.
In task two learners,
investigate the market research methods
used by their chosen enterprise,
evaluating and making recommendations
for improvement.
Finally, in task three,
learners analyse pest and SWAT factors to
make supportive judgements on strengths,
weaknesses,
opportunities and threats.
The context of the assessment for
component one has changed as learners
no longer have to do two contrasting
enterprises and these do not need to
be local as per the current spec.
Learners are now given four industries
from which they can select one.
The assessment is based on a for
profit SME of their choice that
operates within this industry.
Component two is also assessed
through a Pearson set assignment,
this time with just two tasks over 13 hours,
six hours of preparation and seven
hours of completion of tasks.
In task one, learners will use research
methods to choose and reject ideas for a
micro enterprise and develop a business plan.
In task two, learners will present their
business plan and review the production
and delivery of their presentation.
The context of this assessment for component
two has now changed to give learners
parameters as to what their innovative
idea for their business plan can be.
Learners will be given three contexts
and need to select one of these
that they can take forward to plan.
In the current spec,
learners could choose anything.
Requirements for the idea
are also now very clear,
including a budget which is not
required in the current spec.
Under the new technical requirements,
all assessments must be marked through
numerical means using a mark scheme.
In the new mark scheme,
students can gain up to 12 marks across
four bands ranging through limited,
adequate good and comprehensive
knowledge and understanding.
A consistent set of descriptors
to help you understand which bands
fits the quality of the evidence.
Overall with three marks available
in each band to give you more
scope for differentiation.
While the scenario or context
will change each year,
each PSA will assess the same skills so
that the mark scheme remains consistent,
making it easier for teachers
and assessors to apply and
standardise grading year on year.
For providers currently delivering
the current tech award,
the changes made to the new
person set assignments should be
straightforward for providers to
introduce to their existing teaching
and assessment practises.
The externally assessed component
component three is called marketing
and finance for enterprise.
In this component,
learners will explore how marketing
is used by enterprises and gain an
understanding of how to use financial
documents and statements to monitor
and improve business performance.
The content of this component is very
similar to the current specification.
The biggest change is to the
first section section A,
which now requires learners to be taught
about marketing and not just about promotion.
The specification aligns to the Peter
Jones Foundation Tycoon programme,
so if centres want to encourage
learners to run an enterprise,
they can use this tycoon competition.
As with the internally assessed components,
if you deliver the current tech
award in enterprise the First Award
in business or any other enterprise
qualification at this level,
you'll find the content for
component three very familiar,
so you can be confident in moving
on to the redeveloped Tech Award.
Component three is assessed by
external synoptic assessment, set
and marked by Pearson and completed
under supervised conditions.
The external assessment is a
written assessment that requires
learners to demonstrate that they
can identify and effectively use
an appropriate selection of skills,
techniques, concepts, theories,
and knowledge from across the whole
qualification in an integrated way.
Overall, the basic purpose and nature
of the assessment has not changed.
However, there have been many small
changes to improve delivery and
functioning of the assessment,
and I'll indicate three of these changes here.
First, the inclusion of marketing and
budgeting as part of the assessment.
Second, that context is given
in each question,
but the questions themselves may
be more generic using the term
an enterprise when context is
not needed from the command verb.
Third,
two extended response questions rather
than one both worth 6 marks are now included,
and these are synoptic, drawing
from knowledge and understanding
elsewhere in the qualification.
The assessment is available twice a
year and the first assessment is in the
January February exam series of 2024.
As this is the terminal
assessment for the qualification,
learners can only use the external
assessment results achieved in the
same assessment series in which
they are requesting certification.
So in order to meet the terminal
rule requirement,
a learner must take the external
assessment in their final series,
the one in which a final award is claimed.
If re sitting any prior attempts
at component three would not be
used even if the result were
higher from an earlier series.
If you're starting to deliver the tech
award this September 2021 as part of a
three year key stage four programme,
then your learners will be
claiming certification in 2024.
This means that they will be studying for
the new 2022 Tech award qualification.
The new qualification requires
you to use Pearson Set Assignments
for components one and two and
these Psas will not be available
in the 2021-2022 school year.
The new qualification also requires
component three to be assessed
in the terminal exam series.
This means that no assessment for
the new qualification can take
place in the 2021-2022 school year.
In terms of content,
there is very little change,
so you can still deliver the content
and use the draft specification
which has been published.
You may also be interested in developing
enterprise skills in your learners,
and there are two competitions you
might consider to help you do this.
The first is the tycoon
competition mentioned earlier.
Run by the Peter Jones Foundation.
An ideal way to develop enterprise skills
and which also provides teaching resources.
The second is a social enterprise challenge
which has been running for two years now,
and which encourages both
creativity and enterprise.
It is called Be the Future and
there are details on our website.
We would encourage you to look
through the draft specification,
the draft PSAs and the SAM's,
all available on our website.
And if you have further questions
or are preparing to deliver
and need further support,
please don't hesitate
to get in touch with us.
You can contact me the Subject Advisor.
and Charlotte, the SSV,
by emailing teaching business at pearson.com.
And there will be getting started
events early next year in 2022 where
we will be covering the qualification
and assessments in more depth
and answering further questions.
You can book by visiting the training
from Pearson page on the Pearson website.
Thank you very much for listening
and we hope to see you at one
of our upcoming live events.