BTec students still ‘feel forgotten about’ after ‘unfair’ results day

'I was predicted distinctions and a merits and was planning on studying law. I'm still angry because it was my dream to go to my first choice university.'

BTec students have shared their anger after the government failed to mention them in their U-turn on results this week.

On Monday, the government confirmed that A-level and GCSE students in England will now be awarded their predicted grades after thousands were marked down through a standardisation process. However there was no news on whether the same changes will apply to those who took BTec courses.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson apologised for the distress caused by the results crisis this morning, but could not say when the new changes would be applied to the vocational qualifications. Many BTec students are still waiting for their results to come through at all and have had no information about when they can expect them.

Sarah Flanagan, 18, told Metro.co.uk she was disappointed to receive a merit in her photography BTec, when she was previously predicted a distinction in her four-month coursework, which makes up 100% of her final grade.

The coursework was cancelled in its entirety, and Sarah’s grade was instead based off her work at the beginning of the year, despite the students being explicitly told at the time it would not be counted towards their results.

Sarah, from Trafford, said: ‘I do think it’s a good grade, but if we were in normal circumstances, I know I would have done a lot better. It’s not fair how the results have been calculated.

‘I think a lot of the recent focus has been on A-levels and GCSEs and we’ve been forgotten. I’m irritated we haven’t been thought about, it was really stressful trying to figure out what was happening because there was just nothing online.

‘I’m not going to university, I’m trying to find higher level apprenticeships. I’ve only got one grade instead of two or three, so it’s hard to be under-marked because it’s all future employers have to go off when they compare me with other candidates.’

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As Sarah’s final grade has been based off her work at the start of the year, she can only appeal if she feels there has been bias, discrimination or a technical error, none of which apply in her situation. She has contacted her local MP, but said he only replied to tell her about the announcement on A-levels.

Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, received two merits and a pass in his media and games design BTec – costing him a place at his first choice university.

He told Metro.co.uk he was ‘mortified’ by the grades, as he doesn’t think they reflect his ability. He is from a working class background and believes his results were marked down by the algorithm because he went to a state college.

He continued: ‘I was predicted distinctions and a merits and was planning on studying law. I’m still angry because it was my dream to go to my first choice university.

‘I think it’s shocking that they haven’t changed BTec grades from the algorithm to teacher predicted like A-Level and GCSE. It makes us feel forgotten about and it needs to be changed as soon as possible.’

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Priya Asthana, 18, from Bedfordshire, told Metro.co.uk she felt BTec students had ‘definitely fallen by the wayside’ in the government’s attempts to correct results. She was predicted merits in her healthcare BTec, but was awarded passes instead – seemingly due to the standardisation process.

She said: ‘I’m just gutted because I don’t think it’s reflective of my ability or my drive. I wasn’t planning on going to university this year but I think I will have to lower my expectations next year if I can’t change my results.

‘It would just be nice to be able to look online and have clear answers about what to do. We feel so left in the dark.’

Williamson said this morning that 2% of BTec grades were moderated down from the teacher assessment, but Pearson, responsible for moderating results from colleges, has since corrected him to say only 0.5% were lowered.

A spokesperson said: ‘We have accepted the overwhelming majority of level three submitted grades and that where adjustments were made, this was on the basis of strong statistical evidence both upwards and downwards.’

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