Vocational qualifications are either work-related qualifications designed to enable students to gain the skills required to perform a particular job, or qualifications that may be taken as part of a wider study programme or an apprenticeship.
Schools and colleges may offer qualifications that are not included in the DfE performance tables, if approved for teaching to 16-19 year olds by the Secretary of State for Education in England under Section 96, where this is in the best interests of individual students.
These qualifications were designed to meet the requirements of an engineering apprenticeship and also to prepare students for progression to a range of higher education programmes. Either of the qualifications may be used to meet a mandatory requirement in the Automotive Trailblazer: Level 3 Apprenticeship Mechatronics Standard.
The units are all graded Pass/Merit/Distinction.
All of the qualifications are graded Pass/Merit/Distinction.
To calculate the qualification grade, the unit grades are converted into points according to their size. Almost all of the units have 60 GLH.
|
Grade |
60 GLH unit |
|
U |
0 |
|
Pass |
6 |
|
Merit |
10 |
|
Distinction |
16 |
The points are added up across the qualification and the qualification grades are determined as follows:
|
Grade |
Points threshold for Diploma (720 GLH) |
Points threshold for Extended Diploma (1080 GLH) |
|
Distinction |
144 |
216 |
|
Merit |
104 |
156 |
|
Pass |
72 |
108 |
|
U |
0 |
0 |
The qualifications were developed for first teaching in 2016.
The qualifications have 100% internal assessment. This is quality assured through external standards verification, comprising visits and remote sampling of the marking of assignments.
There are no units designated as synoptic units but some units are synoptic in practice, e.g. Unit 4 'Engineering Project'. Also, some units build on others, e.g. Unit 14 'Advanced Mechanical Principles and Applications' builds on the content of Unit 8 'Mechanical Principles of Engineering Systems'.
There are a number of key considerations for HEPs when reviewing vocational qualifications that are not listed on the DfE 16 – 19 performance tables for England:
- Some of these qualifications are occupational, and may not be designed specifically for progression to HE.
- Applicants holding these qualifications may be school or college leavers, however, some may be more mature students who are likely to have other relevant experience alongside these qualifications.
- These qualifications may have been taken as part of a wider study programme or an apprenticeship.
- These qualifications are 720 and 1080 GLH. If they are presented for admission to HE it is likely to be in conjunction with other qualifications.
Engineering employers and professional bodies were involved in the development of the qualifications, thereby helping to sure that the qualifications will prepare students for progression to employment or Higher Education.
Some students take the qualifications as part of an apprenticeship. Some take them as their main learning aim in a 16-18 full time programme and may progress into a technician role.
Some of the units in the qualifications were developed from the QCF BTEC Nationals in Engineering. Some of the units have been taken from the RQF BTEC Nationals in Engineering, including 'Calculus to Solve Engineering Problems', 'Further Engineering Mathematics' and four aeronautical engineering units. The qualifications will therefore prepare students for progression to HNCs, HNDs, foundation degrees, bachelor degrees and degree apprenticeships in engineering and engineering-related subjects.
The following is a link to the specifications for the BTEC Diploma and Extended Diploma in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering.