Changes to Pearson Technical Award grade boundaries August 2019

Ahead of results day (21 August) Pearson made changes to the grading criteria for 2019 BTEC Level 2 Technical Awards. AoC has responded to colleges potentially affected by the boundary changes. "Colleges may be aware of the issue of the late adjustment to the grade boundaries for BTEC technical awards which may have affected some students who have applied to college. This late change to published grade boundaries was made by Pearson in order to establish standards in the first year of the new specifications. Colleges need to be aware of this issue and the concern it may have caused for some applicants (see the attached letter below to admissions staff from Pearson). Technical Awards are offered at Key Stage 4 to a relatively small number of students and will usually be one of a number of GCSE qualifications which students have taken. We are assuming that a lower grade in this single qualification will generally not impact on progression but when interpreting entry requirements, colleges may want to consider the impact of this late change on students’ results."