South Island

School
BTEC
Assessment &
Guidance
Handbook
Information for

Students and
Parents

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

ASSESSMENT & GRADING

3
DEADLINES & SUBMISSION OF WORK
4
RESUBMISSIONS & RETAKES
5
BTEC ASSESSMENT FLOWCHART
6
TIPS & ADVICE
7
BTEC POLICIES & PROCEDURES
8
EXTENSION REQUESTS & EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
9
APPENDIX 1 STUDENT & PARENTAL AGREEMENT FORM
(to be signed and returned to school)

INTRODUCTION
Studying BTEC at South Island School
Welcome to BTEC at South Island School. It is our aim to provide you with an interesting and
challenging study programmen which will enrich your learning experience and help you succeed in
your chosen career, offering a variety of future pathways.
Please read this handbook carefully as it contains information that you will need to refer to
throughout your course. It has been structured and laid out in a number of sections to ensure that
the information is clear and accessible.
If you find that there are points in this handbook which you do not understand or wish to discuss
further, do not hesitate to contact a member of the BTEC teaching team.

What is BTEC?
BTEC courses are qualifications that are designed to provide specialist work-related qualifications
in a range of sectors. They give learners the knowledge, understanding and skills that they need to
prepare them for employment and university.
Each BTEC course is vocational (practically led) and is based on work-related assignments. There
are no formal exams. All of your work counts towards your final qualification grade and so it is
important that you work to your best ability on every assignment.

WHAT MAKES BTEC QUALIFICATIONS DIFFERENT?

Students develop skills, knowledge and understanding in the applied area they are studying.
Each applied course is made up of a number of units, allowing students to build up their
qualification in stages.
Students are assessed through coursework
Students take responsibility for their own learning by planning their work, doing research and
regularly reviewing their progress.

ASSESSMENT & GRADING

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Emphasis is placed on....Getting it right first time.

INTRODUCTION
Education is constantly changing and all qualifications are currently being reviewed. GCSE, A
Levels and vocational courses are undergoing major changes. In order to strengthen the
quality and integrity of BTEC courses Pearson (the BTEC awarding body) have introduced a
number of changes to how you are assessed and supported on the course.
The intention is to encourage you to complete your assignments correctly first time, placing
emphasis on you working independently. These changes aim to develop your responsibility and
to prepare you for the world of work or higher education.
The biggest change for 2016 are changes to how you produce the evidence towards the
different units of the course. This might be different to how you have taken a BTEC at school
previously.

DEADLINES & SUBMISSION OF WORK

These are to ensure that assessment is fair to every learner and that learners do not gain
advantage by having extra time. Every deadline on the course must be met. If you do not meet
a deadline your chances of a high grade could be affected. Repeatedly missing deadlines could
result in your removal from the course.
The school has taken steps to provide you with clear guidance and support to ensure that you
meet your coursework deadlines:
-

Clear assessment calendars in each subject area with all deadlines included

- Central hand-in process that records the date, time and your signature to confirm
the assignment
was submitted and is your own work (this ranges between Pathbrite, Google
Sites / Classroom)
-

Email/text reminders before each deadline

- Extension request & extenuating circumstances process if there are reasons why
you cant
legitimately meet a deadline
-

An appeals procedure is in place if you believe that your grading is inaccurate

RESUBMISSIONS & RETAKES

Resubmissions
Because every assignment counts towards your final qualification grade, you may be allowed
ONE resubmission of evidence for each assignment (this is not an expectation but an
occasional allowance).
This must be authorised by the Lead Internal Verifier (IV) for the course and you must have:
Met the original deadline (or the agreed deadline extension)
Completed and signed the assignment your declaration
Demonstrated to the tutor that you are able to pass/ improve your grade without further
guidance
IF YOU MISS THE ORIGINAL DEADLINE & SUBMITTED THE WORK LATE
You MUST have completed an ECF1 form to claim extenuating circumstances.
If you do not complete and hand in a ECF1 form your reasons will not be considered and you
fail the assignment. This means that you cannot resubmit the assignment and you will have a
case conference with your mentor, the tutor and the manager for the course. Your future on the
course will be discussed and it will be decided if you can undertake a retake assessment
(further detail on retakes below).
IMPORTANT NOTE: Missing a single deadline (without recorded extenuating circumstances) will
greatly impact on your BTEC qualification:

You wont be able to resubmit

If you are allowed to retake you can only achieve a PASS
You can only pass the unit and not a higher grade
It limits your chances of getting a higher qualification grade and UCAS points

You could be removed from the course/college

If a resubmission is authorised then you will be given the following:
A new deadline date (maximum of 10 working days) No further guidance on how to improve
the work.
Retakes
As you have to pass every criterion of the course to gain the qualification it may be agreed by
the tutor and Lead IV that you can retake an assignment if:
You have not met the assignments pass criteria after submission/resubmission in the
original assignment
You have missed the deadline and did not submit an ECF1 form or your reasons are not
accepted
If a retake is authorised then a new task will be set to ensure new evidence is produced. This
task will only target the pass criteria from the original assignment and so overall you will only
be able to pass the unit.
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If you do not meet the pass criteria you will have failed the unit and a new case conference will
be arranged. It will be decided if you can continue on the course and study an additional unit
(in the Summer term) or if you should be withdrawn from the course.
PLEASE NOTE: You will only be allowed a retake in exceptional circumstance and should make
every effort to meet the deadline and pass the criteria first time.

BTEC ASSESSMENT FLOWCHART

How to submit your work?

TIPS & ADVICE

In this section youll find some useful advice on being successful on your BTEC courses and
ways to maximise your time and grades.
1. Attendance
This might be stating the obvious but you are constantly working towards your final grade.
Missing lessons means that you will miss important unit content and have less time to work on
your assignments. It is your responsibility to catch up on anything that you have missed.

2. Read the brief carefully

These are vital sources when working on your assignments. Get used to annotating them
and checking tasks when you have completed them. If you are unsure of anything on the brief,
ASK your tutor.
3.

Plan your time

To do well you need to be smart about managing your assignments and your time. Do not
leave it till the last minute. You may be studying more than one unit or BTEC course during the
year. You only get up to two chances to submit and achieve. Therefore, it is vital to try your
best and aim get it right first time.
4. Meet Every Deadline
Missing a single deadline could significantly impair your chances of getting a good grade
and you could potentially fail! The deadline is the last day that an assignment should be
handed in. Its not the only day when the work can be submitted! Always plan to finish your
assignments at least two or three days before the deadline. This gives you time to check your
work fully and make sure you can get the best grade possible. It also gives you some time if a
problem arises.
5.

Make the most of study periods

It is important to find the right balance between your study time and your social life at SIS,
dont focus on the latter! Plan your time and making best use of it in and out of lessons. Many
BTEC courses at JLC require specialist resources, equipment and software. Use Study periods to
make good progress as to achieve Merits and Distinctions you will need to spend more than
just your lessons on your assignments.
6.

Check through your work before the deadline

Note that you only get a maximum of two opportunities to submit your assignments. It is
vital that you check and recheck your work, ensuring that you have corrected any SPaG errors
and included all the requirements from the brief.

7. Reference all sources

This is important as they support your findings, give credibility to the information in your
assignment as well as avoiding the accusation of plagiarism.
8. Get Support
If you are struggling with a unit, producing your assignments or managing your
time/workload ask for support. There is a range of support on offer at the school. Your tutors,
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subject teachers and learning support services are all there to help you be successful. The
earlier you do this, the more time you have to improve your work and potentially your grades.

BTEC POLICIES & PROCEDURES

To ensure that every student is treated fairly and equally the school has a series of policies and
procedures that help us to uphold the spirit and demands of the BTEC qualifications. In this
chapter, you will find details on what action to take if you believe you have been treated
unfairly or what actions you can expect if we believe you have broken SIS BTEC policies

Student Malpractice Policy 2016

Student Malpractice Policy Student Friendly Version
South Island School is committed to ensuring that the standards of your qualification and
assessment are fair and consistent to all. Malpractice covers a range of offences, which can be
collectively described as cheating.
Possible malpractice offences
The list below outlines key offences, which would be investigated if suspected in your work or
conduct. There may be other offences that your tutors deem as cheating and the college has
the right to include these under the terms of this policy:

Plagiarism of any kind

Working collaboratively but then claiming the work as your own
Copying someone elses work
Deliberate destruction of another learners work
Fabrication of results or evidence
Producing work for another learner without claiming recognition
Sitting a test or exam for another learner
Falsely claiming that you are ill or have other major problems to gain unfair advantage
or extenuating circumstances for an extension of an assignment deadline

Preventing malpractice
Your teachers will help you to understand the rules on malpractice and how to avoid the need
for these measures. To do this you will:

Be given a copy of this policy (mrcornes.weebly.com)

Be shown how to correctly use and reference sources of information in your work

Sign a declaration to confirm the work is your own when submitting assignments

Use other measures such as supervision during the production of coursework, interim
deadlines and checking knowledge and understanding before the coursework deadline

If malpractice is suspected
If the assessing tutor thinks that you have cheated in your coursework there will be an
investigation

If this is a first offense or seen as minor, then you will receive a verbal warning and given
support to ensure that coursework is resubmitted in an appropriate format.
If further investigation is necessary, then you will be notified and your results held. You will be
given an opportunity to respond to any allegations.
If no evidence is found, then you will be given the benefit of the doubt and the work will be
graded.
If malpractice is proven, then disciplinary procedures will be followed and could result in your
expulsion from the college.
If you are unsure what constitutes malpractice you should speak to your BTEC
teachers.

EXTENSION REQUESTS & EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES

It is important to remember that you are working towards a vocational qualification and it is
therefore important that you meet deadlines and expected standards or work as you would
be expected to in the workplace. The assignments that you will be issued with have been
written to give you the opportunity to meet the qualification criteria. It is up to you to produce
work to meet that stated criteria by the deadline.
However, the school acknowledges that events can happen that affect your ability to meet an
assignment deadline or your performance during an assessment. The new rules for BTEC
courses mean that work submission and deadlines must be clearly recorded and met. To ensure
that all learners are treated equally and fairly you must submit an Extenuating Circumstances
Form (ECF1) if you wish to:

Request an extension for a coursework deadline (must be submitted at least 3 days

before the deadline)

Have missed a coursework deadline

Have submitted a piece of coursework late

Please Note: if you do not submit an ECF1 you will not be considered for a
coursework extension or having the work assessed.
This means that you will have failed the piece of coursework and will face further action which
could result in your removal from the course and school. You will meet with your mentor, tutor
and curriculum manager where it will be decided if you should be given an opportunity to
retake the assessment. This will be a new assignment which will only target the pass criteria.
Therefore, you will only be able to pass the unit. This will affect your ability to achieve a high
grade on the course.

All valid reasons

the
relevant
at least 3 days
You
will
be
reasons
in
overleaf)
with
provided.
All
with sensitivity

must be discussed with

lecturer or personal tutor
before the deadline date.
required to submit these
writing (using the form
supporting
evidence
reasons will be treated
and confidentiality.

Excepted Forms of Evidence

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It is not possible to provide a complete list of acceptable evidence but examples include:

Doctors note;
Letter from a hospital consultant;
Hospital appointment form showing clearly the students name and date of birth;
Letter from a counsellor; Letter from a solicitor; Police report;
Death certificate;

The valid reasons listed are the only ones that will be acceptable for late submission of work.
You must make initial contact with the assessing tutor for guidance. You must then submit the
ECF1 form to the Curriculum Manager/Quality Leader for approval and will be told if your
request has been granted :

Extension Request: Within 48 Hours

Extenuating Circumstances: Within 72 Hours

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ACCEPTANCE OF SIS BTEC ASSESSMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS
Student and Parent Signature
Please sign below to indicate that you have read, understood and accept the
information contained in the following documents:

South Island School BTEC Assessment & Guidance Handbook

South Island School BTEC Deadline Policy

*Please note that these documents can be found on the South Island School
website
www.sis.edu.hk - Learning at SIS Curriculum - Academic - Senior Years
Curriculum - BTEC Website.
CAS & WORK EXPERIENCE ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE SCHOOL
As a part of a students Creativity Activity and Service (CAS) programme they are
encouraged to take part in a range of CAS experiences. Some of these activities are
community based and not organized by the school. For such activities it is important
that students and parents carefully consider the safety of the activities and if
necessary, put into place steps to reduce any potential danger. Students are
encouraged to consider risk as a part of their CAS planning.

DISCLAIMER FOR NON-SCHOOL CAS ACTIVITIES

I/We understand that my childs participation in South Island School/English Schools
Foundation (The School) non-school organized CAS activities is voluntary and that
my child and I/we should assess and assume all risks and hazards which are
conducted as part of the associated activities.
I/We agree to indemnify the The School, its employees and their agents against all
liability for injury (including death), illness, loss to person(s), damage to property
caused by my childs participation in CAS activities not organized by the School.
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I/We hereby release, absolve, and hold blameless The School, its officers, directors,
employees, contracted employees, independent contractors, instructors, agents,
organizers, and volunteers of any and all liability that
I/we, my/our assignees, heirs, distributes, guardians, and legal representatives now
have or may hereafter have for damage, injury (including death), or expense of any
kind arising out of or connected with my childs participation in CAS activities not
organized by the School.
I/We understand that as part of our childs participation in CAS activities, photos,
videos, electronic images, audio recordings and quotations of my child may be taken
for use in publications and reports about the program. I/We grant permission for The
School to use such materials of the program.
Name of Student: _________________________ Form: ____________
Acknowledged and Confirmed By: _____________________________ (Parents Signature)
Name of Parent/Guardian (in Block): _________________________________
Date_____________________

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