The Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) is a provider of secondary

school leaving qualification A school leaving qualification is an academic qualification awarded for the completion of high school, secondary education. Depending on the country or region, it may alternatively be known as a high school diploma, senior secondary leaving certif ...

s and

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

qualifications in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. While the 'T' in BTEC stood for Technical, according to the DfE (2016) it now stands for Technology. BTECs originated in 1984 and were awarded by

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board in the United Kingdom. It ...

from 1996. Their origins lie in the Business Education Council, formed in 1974 to "rationalise and improve the relevance of sub-degree vocational education". They are the responsibility of the Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education in the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

. BTEC qualifications, especially Level 3, are accepted by all UK universities (in many instances combined with other qualifications such as A Levels) when assessing the suitability of applicants for admission, and many such universities base their conditional admissions offers on a student's predicted BTEC grades. A report by the Social Market Foundation in January 2018 found that more than a quarter (26%) of university applicants in England entered HE with at least one BTEC qualification. The research found that BTECs provide a particularly significant route to higher education for specific groups, with almost half students entering university with a BTEC, alongside large numbers of students in specific regions, including the North West,

Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It is one of the three regions covering Northern England, alongside the North West England and North East England regio ...

, North East and West Midlands. This followed a separate report published by HEPI in 2017 on BTECs and higher education.

Qualification subjects

Examples of qualifications include: * Animal Management * Applied Law * Applied Science * Applied Psychology * Art & Design * Business * Computing * Children's Care and Learning * Creative Digital Media Production * Early Years & Education * Engineering * Finance * Forensic Science & Criminal Investigation * Hair & Beauty * Hospitality * Health & Social Care * Music / Music Technology * Performing Arts * Public Services * Sports Science * Travel & Tourism

History

The BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma dates back to the 1930s as a full-time three-year course. After the Haselgrave Report, the Business Education Council (BEC) and Technician Education Council (TEC) took over the accrediting of this qualification (called the "Ordinary National Diploma") and others in the stable, such as the National Certificate,

Higher National Certificate A Higher National Certificate (HNC), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is a higher education/ further education qualification in the United Kingdom. Overview In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the HNC is a BTEC qualifica ...

and

Higher National Diploma Higher National Diploma (HND), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is an academic higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and various other countries. They were introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongside th ...

. The portfolio of courses was integrated when the BEC and TEC merged to form BTEC. The BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) was formed by the merger of the Business Education Council (BEC) and the Technical Education Council (TEC). The

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Examinations & Assessment Council (ULEAC) and BTEC merged to form

Awards and course system

University Level Awards (Level 6+)

The following Level 6, 7 or 8 courses are known as BTEC Strategic Awards. The qualification names for Level 6+ courses changed dependent on whether they were awarded through the forthcoming National Qualification Framework (NQF) or the predecessor Qualification Credit Framework (QCF) and represent University level awards:

School leaving qualification (Level 3)

The following Level 3 courses, known as BTEC National Diplomas, are intended for those with five or more

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

grades A*-C including English, mathematics and science. The qualification names for Level 3 courses changed dependent on whether they were awarded through the forthcoming National Qualification Framework (NQF) or the predecessor Qualification Credit Framework (QCF):

School leaving qualification (Level 2)

The following Level 2 courses, known as BTEC Firsts, are intended for students at

level as a vocational equivalent. There are no BTEC courses for English, or mathematics. Students who do not achieve the minimum Level 2 Pass grade will receive a Level 1 Pass in the given qualification equivalent to GCSE grades D-E and therefore does not count to the A*-C measurement system. The qualification names for Level 2 courses changed dependent on whether they were awarded though the current National Qualification Framework (NQF) or the predecessor Qualification Credit Framework (QCF):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Business And Technology Education Council (Btec) Business education in the United Kingdom Education in the London Borough of Camden Educational qualifications in the United Kingdom Engineering education in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden Pearson plc Vocational education in the United Kingdom 1984 establishments in England