Students who are unable to take their BTEC exam this month may be able to sit the exam at a later date, Pearson’s senior vice-president has said today. 

Yesterday, the Department for Education told college leaders that they could still host the January series of exams “if they judge it right to do so”, after pressure from MPs, sector leaders and students to cancel them. 

Where it was not possible to sit a physical exam, arrangements would be put in place to ensure that students were not disadvantaged, Cindy Rampersaud, senior vice-president for BTEC and apprenticeships at Pearson, said in a statement published on its website.

Ms Rampersaud added that it would award a grade to “any learner who is unable to take their exams and has enough evidence to receive the certificate they need for progression”. 

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She said:: “We are working closely with the DfE and Ofqual on all of this and we will share more detail with you in the coming days.

BTECs: Pearson offers reassurance to students

“We appreciate this must be a very difficult time for you. We hope that this update provides you with some clarity and reassurance that you will not be disadvantaged, whichever decision is made by your school or college regarding exams. Please contact your school or college to find out what decision they have made regarding exams this January.” 

Earlier this week, the DfE insisted that although GCSE and A-level exams this summer would not take place as planned, the January exams - which around 130,000 students were due to sit in colleges - would go ahead as normal, despite the national lockdown. Last night, the DfE said it was up to colleges and schools to decide if the exams should take place - a move leaders said shifted the responsibility onto institutions and did not go far enough. 

Labour’s shadow education secretary, Kate Green, and shadow apprenticeships and lifelong learning minister, Toby Perkins, were among those who called on the DfE to cancel the exams, as were former skills minister Anne Milton, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool’s metro mayor Steve Rotheram. 

A number of colleges took matters into their own hands and decided to cancel or postpone the exam series - including Loughborough College, The Sheffield College and The Manchester College.