The delay in BTEC students getting their results following Pearson’s decision to review all grades was “unacceptable”, Ofqual’s chair has said. 

“I fully agree with the view that this was not acceptable for BTEC students to be put in that situation, I fully recognise that,” Roger Taylor told today’s House of Commons Education Select Committee. 

Mr Taylor’s comments came after Pearson announced on 19 August that it would review all BTEC results in light on the government’s U-turn on A levels and GCSEs - including level 3 qualifications already issued and level 1 and 2 grades due the next day. Most students received their BTEC results by last Friday - although some continue to wait for their grades. 

He said: “I was pleased we got revised GCSE grades out on the awarding day that week, but obviously that added to the pain for BTEC students who were not able to have their results on that day.”

“I’m very happy to apologise for the consequences to BTEC students of having to wait.” 

He was speaking in front of the committee alongside Michelle Meadows, executive director for strategy and research, and Julie Swan, executive director for general qualifications at Ofqual.  

He told the committee the decision to U-turn on centre assessment grades for GCSEs and A levels had been something Ofqual had been “closely involved in and where we did have the authority to make a decision”, whereas the situation for BTEC results had been one where Ofqual had no authority or power to influence Pearson’s decision. 

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Awarding grades

“I just need to get across to you the anger and disappointment,” MP Jonathan Gullis told the Ofqual representatives, with committee chair Robert Halfon saying that on the day of the U-turn on GCSE and A level results, “BTECs were almost like an afterthought. There was only a little line about BTECs and my impression was that this was a classic situation for how we view vocational qualifications in our country, that they are forgotten about. You took your eye off the ball in dealing with the BTEC problem that inevitably would happen after your U-turn.”

Mr Taylor said it was “not inevitable” that there was a domino effect on BTECs following the decision to U-turn on GCSE and A level results. 

Ms Meadows said the decision to review all BTEC grades had been one for exam board Pearson to make: “What we wouldn’t want is a sense of unfairness developing between those students that took BTEC qualifications and those students that took A level qualifications,” she said. “So in light of building that confidence we were happy Pearson took that decision. It was a decision for Pearson, rather than for us.”

Julie Swan added there had been “much more work involved” in revising BTEC grades, compared to GCSE and A level qualifications.