What are BTecs and how are they graded?

Students receiving their GCSE grades on Thursday might be looking at BTecs as their next option.

BTec qualifications are A-level equivalents, aimed at people interested in working in a particular industry, such as engineering, hospitality or childcare.

A BTec, which stands for the Business and Technology Education Council, is a practical qualification. Courses are assessed through exams, regular coursework and projects, and sometimes placements.

BTec Firsts are Level 2 qualifications, meaning they are equivalent to GCSEs. Students often take a mixture of the two. They can be helpful for people trying to get into further education colleges.

BTec Nationals are Level 3 qualifications, so can be taken alongside or instead of A-levels.

They are studied over one or two years.

Research suggests, external one in four students use them as a route into university, while others gain occupation-specific skills and go straight into employment.

Some BTecs are worth two or three A-levels.

Students normally receive their results on the same days as A-level and GCSE students, but some receive them before this.

There are approximately 280,000 students studying at least one Level 3 applied general qualification, according to the Sixth Form College Association.

A further 200,000 are estimated to be doing BTec Firsts and other BTec qualifications.

Health and social care and applied science are among the most popular BTecs. Other subjects include construction, electrical engineering and art and design.

BTec Nationals can be sat by any age group. In fact, most are taken by those over the age of 22, external as they develop practical career skills.

They are particularly popular among white working-class students, according to research by the Social Market Foundation, external think tank.

Other vocational courses are available in the UK, including National Vocational Qualifications, external (NVQs), TechBacs, external, Cambridge Technicals, external and Scottish Vocational Qualifications, external (SVQs).

In 2020, there were more than 12,000 vocational qualifications at all levels, offered by more than 150 awarding bodies, according to Ofqual, which oversees qualifications in England.

Plans by former Conservative governments to streamline post-16 education had meant many BTecs and other Level 3 courses were due to lose their funding, to make way for the new T-levels qualification.

However, days before the first changes to funding were due, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the new Labour government would pause and review the plans.

Campaigners want this review to be extended further, to include BTecs and other qualifications which are due to be scrapped in the coming years.

The Sixth Form Colleges Association said Ms Phillipson's announcement was "deeply disappointing" and was "not a pause to defunding" because it failed to change plans to scrap many courses.

Ms Phillipson has confirmed the rollout of T-levels will continue.

In the first three years, T-levels have faced delays, high dropout rates and an exam board being fined £300,000 over "major failings" with the papers.