The problem with Btecs – a response to Pearson Plc

When I wrote my last Daily Telegraph column critical of Btecs, an exam now taken by about a quarter of English university entrants, a friend of mine in the world of university admissions told me to wait for the reaction of Pearson Plc, which owns Btec. While A-levels and GCSEs are rigorously examined and discussed, Pearson get away with releasing very little data about Btec and plough a lot of money into marketing their exam. And they don’t very much like it being criticised.

Rod Bristow, the president of Pearson UK, has written to today’s Daily Telegraph suggesting that I was wrong to suggest that Btecs have gone through serious inflation – and, ergo, devaluation. I’m glad he has responded, as it has given me a chance to share some of the graphs, facts and figures that we seldom see mentioned or cited in the national debate. Our politicians care about A-levels and GCSEs: the exams they sat, the exams their children sit.