Edexcel (BTEC)

The Background

BTEC has its roots in the 1930s and the establishment of ordinary and higher national diplomas and certificates for vocational workplace training. "Management" is still treated within this area as a vocational as opposed to an academic subject.

BTEC was originally formed through the merger of the Business Education Council and the Technican Education Council and then merged with ULEAC (University of London Examinations and Assessment Council) to form Edexcel in 1996.

Edexcel was then taken over by Pearson Education in 2003.

Edexcel is one of the five main examinations bodies in the UK and responsible for about 1.5 million qualifications annually ranging from GCSEs and A Levels to vocational qualifications across a huge range of careers and professions of which Management is just one.

Quite a substantial part of Edexcel's work is with NVQs (portfolio assessed qualifications) at lower management levels.

Edexcel has a partnership with CMI so that at the end of level 5 programmes and higher, delegates can use their qualifications to enable them to become members of CMI if they choose.

If you would like to know more about BTEC qualifications within Edexcel, have a look at http://www.edexcel.org.uk/subjects/a-z/management/ or phone them on 0844 576 0026.

Edexcel - Approach to Assessment

Edexcel is the most flexible of the three awarding bodies in its approach to assessment - although as with the other two, it still sets specific learning outcomes which have to be met. The Edexcel approach allows for more customisation of assignments to meet specific learning needs overall, and Edexcel is also more flexible (within specific guidelines) when it comes to group work.

Edexcel - Our personal view 

Of the three awarding bodies, Edexcel is the most flexible, and the lowest cost when it comes to registration. The syllabus and structure is simple and clear. However customers often tell us that they feel there is a "brand" issue with BTEC and Edexcel. Edexcel used to be responsible for SATS marking until they lost the contract (fortuitously as it turns out) to the Canadian firm ETS. Until recently Edexcel was often in the news for marking mistakes with GCSE and A levels - but this has been largely sorted now. BTEC is a distinct part of Edexcel so in reality not affected by what happens with school exams, but again customers sometimes say that this makes them think of building trades.

Overall we really like the Edexcel syllabus and approach which is simple, no nonsense with a real emphasis on doing rather than academics.

However when it comes to customer service, Edexcel doesn't do so well. It is a large organisation, and although we have an excellent relationship with our External Verifier who is sharp, on the ball and always willing to give good advice, getting any meaningful information from Edexcel's customer service team is practically impossible.

Edexcel - Units offered

Below is a table showing the Edexcel units offered at each of First Line, Middle and Senior Management levels.

Edexcel doesn't yet use credit values for units - you just have to do a certain number of units for each qualification.

In each case, some units are compulsory : ˜ = required at that level

Please click here to download this table as a PDF

BTEC Syllabus Content

To see the content and learning outcomes behind each unit at each level, please download the relevant one of the following:

• Edexcel (BTEC) Level 3 Syllabus document
• Edexcel (BTEC) Level 5 Syllabus document
• Edexcel (BTEC) Level 7 Syllabus document