Is it true that BTEC Extended IT will have exams the upcoming year?

And if so, would the exams be difficult compared to A Levels?

Yes, my teacher mentioned that my class was the last year (2015 intake) to do the course without exams and the following intake will have to take exams. They should be somewhat difficult, I mean BTEC's have faced large amounts of scrutiny due to how easy they are to get a high grade so I'm pretty sure they will be quite hard but I'm not sure whether they would equate to A-Level standard.

Reply 2

Omgjustwork

Original post by squirrology

Seems like if people start getting lower scores due to these exams, it's will hurt our employment, as there have been years and years of people getting high marks.

Reply 3

gymkana3000

Yes there are exams in the BTEC IT 2017 specification: 3 Controlled Assessment periods (you have 10 hours over a one week period) and 1 big exam. I am taking this exam in January 2019 and apparently it's a difficult one - last year's 'tester' year only required you to get 20 out of 90 or 100 to have a pass, which is extremely low. The exam itself is supposed to reflect an A-level exam so it's sat in exactly the same way and will be anything from 1 hour and a half to 2 hours and a half in duration. My tutors said that they always throw in an exam question on a topic that might not have been studied so no one can get 100% but I'm not sure if this is true or not. 270 unit points are needed for a triple D* (highest mark possible) in total. So yes, it is supposed to be quite hard, but if you're studying the BTEC IT Extended Diploma, you have 12 other units to get distinctions in to fall back on if the exam doesn't go so well.

Reply 4

chocolateworm34

There are two new reformed BTEC Nationals for IT/Computing, one is IT, the other is Computing. The Computing one is a lot harder compared to the old BTEC Nationals in IT, you have four external assessments to complete in addition to the coursework units and there is more content to cover for each grade in the assignments, there are also just two large assignments for coursework units. My advice is to buy the books now and start studying.

I am on Year 2, and just sat the exams this summer. They had to change the grade boundaries, due to poor performance over the UK and some of my mates are resitting. They may alter it for you, I don't know.

Unit 1: Principles of Computer Science is an Exam
Unit 2: Fundamentals of Computer Systems is an Exam
Unit 3: Planning and Management of Computing Projects is an Controlled Assessment
Unit 4: Software Design and Development Project is an Controlled Assessment

Don't let this put you off, just letting you know it will be harder compared to the old BTECs.

Books:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revise-Nati...nals+computing

https://www.amazon.co.uk/National-Co...nals+computing

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Revision Guide - Pure revision content for Units 1 to 4
Workbook - Revision and practice questions for Units 1 to 4
Student Book - Content for exam and some coursework units

Hope this helps. PLEASE NOTE: This information I have given is for BTEC Nationals Computing, not BTEC Nationals IT. Please check which you are doing before you take it on board.

EDIT*: All books are also available directly from Pearson including an eBook, you may be able to arrange this through your college for a cheaper price. The eBook is included free with the Student Book.