Ten vears of BTEC J

Geoff Smith

BTEC, the Business and Technology Education Council came into being in late 1983, and is responsible for certificating a number of qualifications, including the so-called 'vocational A-level', the GNVQ. Geoff Smith looks at the history of the organisation and its precursors, and the qualifications relevant to the textile colora- tion industry.

The Business and Technology Education Council came into being in October 1983, and at that point had around 155 OOO students registered on courses leading to its qualifications. Since then, BTEC has steadily developed in its vocational education role and influence, as well as increasing student numbers. Today, over 300 OOO people are registered.

The introduction of the Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education (CPVE), a joint initiative with City and Guilds, came in 1984/ 85. BTEC First awards were introduced in 1986187 in Business followed by others in 19871%. The last CPVE certification by BTEC was in 1990.

National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) were offered by BTEC from 1990/91, and GNVQs (General NVQs) from 1992J93. These appealed to a wide range of students, who continued in increasing numbers to register for BTEC National, Higher National and Continuing Education awards. The actual number of these different qualifications also increased, and the subjects offered are becoming ever more diversified to reflect changing needs.

Wartime origins Responsible for collating the figures and charting the rising numbers of BTEC students is the Student Services Department. Its archives contain records of nearly four million students, and go back to 1944, the year in which the old ONCIOND and H N W N D records begin. So the story of

BTEC can be said to have started during World War 2. Even now, Student Services receives a hundred enquires a month concerning evidence of these old awards, which says much for their long-lasting value and current validity.

Over the years, the function of education in the UK has changed. The traditional emphasis on enabling individuals to fulfil their personal development is still there but, increasingly, society's need for a well-educated workforce has become dominant. Today, the BTEC method of learning with its combination of emphasis on academic and theoretical work combined with practical application is well entrenched in the education firmament. But this was not always so.

When BEC and TEC became BTEC The Business Technology and Education Council, then the Business and Technician Education Council, was formed from the merger of the Business Education Council and the Technician Education Council. It was established by government on 1 January 1983, and took over from BEC (the Business Education Council) and TEC (Technician Education Council) on 1 October 1983. From the outset, its members were a partnership between industry, commerce and education.

set up in the early 1970s by the then secretary of state for education and science, Margaret Thatcher. Their task was to improve the availability, quality

The two older bodies had been

and industrial and commercial relevance of business and technician education. They became the bodies responsible for validating courses and providing awards for this level of study, replacing those of the former joint committees and of the City and Guilds of London Institutes, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

11 Their task was to improve the avail- ability, quality and industrial and com- mercial relevance of business and tech- nician education. If

By 1982, it seemed logical that BEC and TEC should join forces. Developments in technology, education and business increasingly required the combined attention of the two bodies and the transition from the Joint Committee to BEC and TEC courses and awards was almost complete. It was the two councils themselves which recommended their merger to Mrs Thatcher, and BTEC came about as a Companies Act company, limited by guarantee, and a registered charity.

Until BTEC gained independence on its tenth birthday, the secretary of state for education appointed the chairman

JSDC V O L U M E ~ ~ O MARCH^^^^ 93

and most of the members. The company operated independently, covered its costs entirely from its earned income, and was classified as a non-departmental public body.

The objectives In its first year, BTEC saw its purpose as being to advance the quality and availability of work-related education both for those in and those preparing for employment in business, technical, professional and related occupations.

The council’s fundamental aim, as then expressed, was that students develop the necessary competence for success in their careers in their own, their employers’ and the national interest.

Specifically, the council sought to ensure that:

the availability, accessibility and design of BTEC courses, quality of student learning and standards of achievement are all relevant to occupational requirements BTEC courses provide the student with a challenging educational experience as well as with an effective preparation for success at work BTEC courses help people to progress to the highest educational and professional achievement within their potential.

In BTEC’s current mission statement, little apart from detail has changed. It says in part, ’All BTEC programmes must enable any student, given the requisite talent and determination, to progress as far up the UK national framework of qualifications and/or transfer to other academic and professional ladders of qualifications, as he or she is capable of doing.’

11 BTEC courses help people to progress to the highest edu- cat io rza I and profess io nal ach ievemen t within their potential. ff

It is the government’s general policy to review non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) on a regular basis to see whether they should be transferred to the private sector. In November 1992, the then

minister for further and higher education, Nigel Forman, asked BTEC for advice on whether its NDPB status remained appropriate. Following receipt of that advice, BTEC proceeded to adopt a new constitution that made it wholly independent of government on 1 October 1993.

Qualifications BTEC’s qualifications are offered within a national framework and are widely recognised by employers and by admissions tutors at colleges and universities. They provide vocational alternatives to academic qualifications at the same level, and are suitable as a preparation for employment, progression to higher level qualifications and development for those already in employment. Learning is primarily through practical activities which provide the skills and knowledge necessary for employment.

Achievement is recognised throughout the period of study and full credit is given for relevant knowledge and previously acquired skills. The principal BTEC awards and First, National and Higher National Certificates and Diplomas, Intermediate and Advanced BTEC GNVQs, and NVQs at levels 2,3 and 4. All universities now recognise BTEC qualifications for general entrance purposes. Many employers ask for BTEC qualifications in their recruitment advertising; others use BTEC programmes to train their staff. Often they do both.

Textile coloration courses BTEC certificates courses in textile coloration at both National and Higher National levels. They are aimed at young people who wish to work- or are already working - in the textile industry, and help to develop the skills needed for a range of careers in the industry.

generally students should be at least 16 and have either a BTEC First Certificate or Diploma in a relevant subject or four GCSEs at grade C or above (preferably including science and maths), or an equivalent qualification, such as a CPVE with a suitable profile. Final decisions about admissions are, naturally, made by the colleges. The courses include science, mathematics and computer studies, with an emphasis on the application of this work to practical textile coloration.

Entry requirements for the Higher National courses are that students should usually be at least 18, and hold either a

For the National qualifications,

BTEC National Certificate or Diploma o r at least one A-level in a relevant subject, and three GCSEs at grade C or abovc BTEC Higher National qualifications in textile coloration equip students for a choice of careers at senior technician or management level in the textile coloration industry.

of methods, which may include assignments, projects, case studies, practical exercises and examinations. Employers want to know that BTEC students are able to deal with actual work situations, and so the courses include practical assignments which develop and

BTEC courses are assessed by a rangc

test the students’ ability to solve problems, both on their own and also working in a team.

11 BTEC courses are assessed bI a range of methods, which may include assignments, projects, case studies, prac- tical exercises and examinations. ff

’Y

The National course meets the entry requirements for related degree courses, and holders of Higher National qualifications can often be admitted t o the second year of a degree course in a related subject. In addition, the qualifications are recognised by both the SDC and the Textile Institute

College, Salford College of Technology, Charles Keene College of Further Education and Nottingham Trent University are all approved to run the National course, and the Bradford and Nottingham centres approved for the Higher course. Further information about the courses can be obtained from the colleges.

Bradford and Ilkley Community

I 1 Geoff Smith is press officer for BTEC, Upper Woburn Place, London WC I .

I I

94 JSDC V O L U M E ~ ~ O MARCH^^^^