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Pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will begin receiving their revised Btec results from Tuesday morning after the exam board delayed their publication at the last minute.
Results had been due last Thursday, but assessors said they would have to be pushed back to give them time to recalculate grades following the controversy over A-level and GCSE results.
Pearson – the educational company which assesses the vocational qualifications – said changes were needed to “address concerns about unfairness in relation to A-levels and GCSEs and ensure no Btec student is disadvantaged”.
Similar to A-levels and GCSEs, BTec grades have now been reassessed on the basis of teacher estimates to ensure they are not downgraded during moderation.
Pearson has apologised for the “frustration and additional uncertainty” caused to pupils following its decision to pull the results only one day before they were expected.
Cindy Rampersaud, senior vice-president for Btec at the company, said all 450,000 pupils would get their results by Friday, 28 August.
Around 200,000 level one and two entries, regarded as the equivalent level to GCSEs, were due to receive grades last Thursday.
Another 250,000 level three grades, the vocational equivalent of A-levels, have already been awarded – but they have been included in the reassessment process.
Glen Morgan-Shaw, one of the organisers of recent student protests over exam results chaos, saw his own predicted Btec marks revised down by two grades.
The 18-year-old still managed to get his place at university to study music. “I was one of the lucky ones, but I know so many people who were screwed over,” he said.
Universities will allow Btec students who have already received downgraded grades to resubmit their revised results. They have been told they would receive extra government funding to help increase capacity on a number of courses.
A Ucas spokesman said: “Approximately 5,800 students were not placed at their original firm choice university and we expect some of those students will, when revised grades are issued, meet the conditions of their original firm offer.
“Ucas will work closely with Pearson to process these results to ensure they can make decisions as soon as possible.”
Labour said school leaders had lost confidence in the government, claiming this year’s exam results had been marked by “delays, incompetence and chaos”.
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