The Student Room Group

BTEC Grade calculator in Business studies Extended Diploma

Hi, I know this is a little bit late but would anyone mind helping me figure out what my BTEC Grades be?
1. Investigating a Retail Business- Distinction
2. Creative Promotion- Distinction
3. Market Research- Distinction
4. International Business- Distinction
5. Principles of management- Near Pass
6. Business Decision Making- Merit
7. Team Building in Business- Distinction
8. Exploring Business- Merit
9. Pitching for a New Business- Distinction
10. Developing a Marketing Campaign- Pass
11. Personal Business and Finance- Unclassified
12. Managing an Event- Merit
13. Recruitment and Selection- Distinction

Thank you so much!!!!
Original post by Charl2407
Hi, I know this is a little bit late but would anyone mind helping me figure out what my BTEC Grades be?
1. Investigating a Retail Business- Distinction
2. Creative Promotion- Distinction
3. Market Research- Distinction
4. International Business- Distinction
5. Principles of management- Near Pass
6. Business Decision Making- Merit
7. Team Building in Business- Distinction
8. Exploring Business- Merit
9. Pitching for a New Business- Distinction
10. Developing a Marketing Campaign- Pass
11. Personal Business and Finance- Unclassified
12. Managing an Event- Merit
13. Recruitment and Selection- Distinction
Thank you so much!!!!

I have found the page where you can calculate your grade from:
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/results-certification/understanding-marks-and-grades/calculating-your-overall-btec-grade.html#%2Ftab-BTECQCF

However, I am having problems finding out how many credits are for each unit (tried looking at the specification). Can you confirm what they are?

I have found the following spec for BTEC Extended diploma for business, but the units don't seem to match up (I presume the following is from an older spec - see page 22):
https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/BTEC-Nationals/Business/2010/Specification/9781446934241_BTEC_90c_L3_Business_Iss4.pdf

If you can confirm the credits for each of the unit, I should be able to calculate the overall grade, unless you want to do it yourself.
Original post by Charl2407
Hi, I know this is a little bit late but would anyone mind helping me figure out what my BTEC Grades be?
1. Investigating a Retail Business- Distinction
2. Creative Promotion- Distinction
3. Market Research- Distinction
4. International Business- Distinction
5. Principles of management- Near Pass
6. Business Decision Making- Merit
7. Team Building in Business- Distinction
8. Exploring Business- Merit
9. Pitching for a New Business- Distinction
10. Developing a Marketing Campaign- Pass
11. Personal Business and Finance- Unclassified
12. Managing an Event- Merit
13. Recruitment and Selection- Distinction

Thank you so much!!!!


The specification for your Pearson BTEC National
Extended Diploma in Business is available here.

You will note that on page 12 it says the following:

"There are seven mandatory units, four external and three internal. Learners must complete and achieve at Near pass grade or above for all mandatory external units and achieve a Pass or above in all mandatory internal units." (my emphasis)

You say above that for Personal Business and Finance your result was Unclassified. This unit, Unit 3, is a mandatory external unit. This means, unfortunately, that you have not achieved the qualification and will receive an overall grade of U. :frown:

I suggest that your speak with your school / college as soon as possible about a resit of this unit.
Reply 3
Original post by DataVenia
The specification for your Pearson BTEC National
Extended Diploma in Business is available here.
You will note that on page 12 it says the following:
"There are seven mandatory units, four external and three internal. Learners must complete and achieve at Near pass grade or above for all mandatory external units and achieve a Pass or above in all mandatory internal units." (my emphasis)
You say above that for Personal Business and Finance your result was Unclassified. This unit, Unit 3, is a mandatory external unit. This means, unfortunately, that you have not achieved the qualification and will receive an overall grade of U. :frown:
I suggest that your speak with your school / college as soon as possible about a resit of this unit.

Hi, I had spoken to my personal tutor and she did say that I was not able to resit the exam another time as my other grades were able to higher that unclassified?
Reply 4
Original post by MindMax2000
I have found the page where you can calculate your grade from:
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/results-certification/understanding-marks-and-grades/calculating-your-overall-btec-grade.html#%2Ftab-BTECQCF
However, I am having problems finding out how many credits are for each unit (tried looking at the specification). Can you confirm what they are?
I have found the following spec for BTEC Extended diploma for business, but the units don't seem to match up (I presume the following is from an older spec - see page 22):
https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/BTEC-Nationals/Business/2010/Specification/9781446934241_BTEC_90c_L3_Business_Iss4.pdf
If you can confirm the credits for each of the unit, I should be able to calculate the overall grade, unless you want to do it yourself.

A pass is worth 7 per credit, a merit is 8 per credit and a distinction is worth 9 per credit.
Reply 5
Original post by DataVenia
The specification for your Pearson BTEC National
Extended Diploma in Business is available here.
You will note that on page 12 it says the following:
"There are seven mandatory units, four external and three internal. Learners must complete and achieve at Near pass grade or above for all mandatory external units and achieve a Pass or above in all mandatory internal units." (my emphasis)
You say above that for Personal Business and Finance your result was Unclassified. This unit, Unit 3, is a mandatory external unit. This means, unfortunately, that you have not achieved the qualification and will receive an overall grade of U. :frown:
I suggest that your speak with your school / college as soon as possible about a resit of this unit.

Also i know for my first year that i had an overall merit so would it still effect my grades?
Original post by Charl2407
Hi, I had spoken to my personal tutor and she did say that I was not able to resit the exam another time as my other grades were able to higher that unclassified?

Does "resit the exam another time" suggest that you've already resat this unit at least once?

What your tutor has said is a good match for what the specification says on page 350:

"Where a learner who has taken a qualification wants to resit an externally-assessed unit to improve their qualification grade, you firstly need to decline their overall qualification grade. You may decline the grade before the certificate is issued. For a learner receiving their results in August, you should decline the grade by the end of September if the learner intends to resit an external assessment."

That would suggest that they successful claimed certification for your first year (which would be the Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma in Business), of which Unit 3, Personal and Business Finance, also forms a part. However, the specification for that qualification (available here) also says, "Learners must complete and achieve at Near Pass grade or above in all mandatory external units..."

Can you double-check the list of units and grades you provided originally? Is your "unclassified" unit definitely Unit 3, Personal and Business Finance?

Original post by Charl2407
A pass is worth 7 per credit, a merit is 8 per credit and a distinction is worth 9 per credit.

I don't know from where you sourced this information, but it's not how your BTEC (or any BTECs that I'm aware of) works. Your BTEC doesn't work in terms of credits. Each unit has a size (measured in guided learning hours, GLH) and your grade in that unit determines how many points you receive. See page 353 of the specification for how many points different types of units are worth. The term "credits" doesn't apply.

Original post by Charl2407
Also i know for my first year that i had an overall merit so would it still effect my grades?

I find this confusing as according to the Foundation Diploma specification (which is the first year of the Extended Diploma), a U in a mandatory external until means you cannot achieve the qualification. But clearly you did.

Normally, I'd use the official BTEC grade calculator (available from this web page) to provide clarification. However, that uses Excel VBA macros, and so can't be used from a phone - which is what I'm using right now as I'm travelling. I'll be back home late tonight, where I'll be able to use the calculator to double-check the above from my laptop.

Do you have any other information about your first year results? For example, do you know your mark in each exam, or the number of points awarded either for each unit or the year as a whole?
Reply 7
Original post by DataVenia
Does "resit the exam another time" suggest that you've already resat this unit at least once?
What your tutor has said is a good match for what the specification says on page 350:
"Where a learner who has taken a qualification wants to resit an externally-assessed unit to improve their qualification grade, you firstly need to decline their overall qualification grade. You may decline the grade before the certificate is issued. For a learner receiving their results in August, you should decline the grade by the end of September if the learner intends to resit an external assessment."
That would suggest that they successful claimed certification for your first year (which would be the Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma in Business), of which Unit 3, Personal and Business Finance, also forms a part. However, the specification for that qualification (available here) also says, "Learners must complete and achieve at Near Pass grade or above in all mandatory external units..."
Can you double-check the list of units and grades you provided originally? Is your "unclassified" unit definitely Unit 3, Personal and Business Finance?
I don't know from where you sourced this information, but it's not how your BTEC (or any BTECs that I'm aware of) works. Your BTEC doesn't work in terms of credits. Each unit has a size (measured in guided learning hours, GLH) and your grade in that unit determines how many points you receive. See page 353 of the specification for how many points different types of units are worth. The term "credits" doesn't apply.
I find this confusing as according to the Foundation Diploma specification (which is the first year of the Extended Diploma), a U in a mandatory external until means you cannot achieve the qualification. But clearly you did.
Normally, I'd use the official BTEC grade calculator (available from this web page) to provide clarification. However, that uses Excel VBA macros, and so can't be used from a phone - which is what I'm using right now as I'm travelling. I'll be back home late tonight, where I'll be able to use the calculator to double-check the above from my laptop.
Do you have any other information about your first year results? For example, do you know your mark in each exam, or the number of points awarded either for each unit or the year as a whole?


I do not know how many marks were in each however I know for the personal and business finance I had a unclassified however it was taken in my first year and my overall grade for the first year results we’re a merit
Reply 8
Original post by DataVenia
Does "resit the exam another time" suggest that you've already resat this unit at least once?
What your tutor has said is a good match for what the specification says on page 350:
"Where a learner who has taken a qualification wants to resit an externally-assessed unit to improve their qualification grade, you firstly need to decline their overall qualification grade. You may decline the grade before the certificate is issued. For a learner receiving their results in August, you should decline the grade by the end of September if the learner intends to resit an external assessment."
That would suggest that they successful claimed certification for your first year (which would be the Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Foundation Diploma in Business), of which Unit 3, Personal and Business Finance, also forms a part. However, the specification for that qualification (available here) also says, "Learners must complete and achieve at Near Pass grade or above in all mandatory external units..."
Can you double-check the list of units and grades you provided originally? Is your "unclassified" unit definitely Unit 3, Personal and Business Finance?
I don't know from where you sourced this information, but it's not how your BTEC (or any BTECs that I'm aware of) works. Your BTEC doesn't work in terms of credits. Each unit has a size (measured in guided learning hours, GLH) and your grade in that unit determines how many points you receive. See page 353 of the specification for how many points different types of units are worth. The term "credits" doesn't apply.
I find this confusing as according to the Foundation Diploma specification (which is the first year of the Extended Diploma), a U in a mandatory external until means you cannot achieve the qualification. But clearly you did.
Normally, I'd use the official BTEC grade calculator (available from this web page) to provide clarification. However, that uses Excel VBA macros, and so can't be used from a phone - which is what I'm using right now as I'm travelling. I'll be back home late tonight, where I'll be able to use the calculator to double-check the above from my laptop.
Do you have any other information about your first year results? For example, do you know your mark in each exam, or the number of points awarded either for each unit or the year as a whole?


I’m sorry I have just checked and i received a near pass and not a unclassified sorry x
Original post by Charl2407
I’m sorry I have just checked and i received a near pass and not a unclassified sorry x

Understood. Are you happy that the other grades listed in your original post are accurate? :wink:
Reply 10
Original post by DataVenia
Understood. Are you happy that the other grades listed in your original post are accurate? :wink:


Yes I am happy with the other grades and they are accurate x
Original post by Charl2407
Yes I am happy with the other grades and they are accurate x

OK. Then here goes...

As I said above, the specification for your Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma in Business is here. I mention a few page numbers below, and they'll all come from that document.

Below I've added the unit number to each unit name you provided (just because it makes looking-up other information easier). I've also added the type (internal or external) and size (in guided learning hours, GLH) to each. All this information is on pages 5 and 6 of the specification, so feel free to double-check this.

For internal units (the ones assessed via coursework) you get points based upon the size of the unit and your grade in that unit. For external units (the ones assessed via exams) it's the same, but they also factor-in your mark in each exam too. As we don't know those marks, your points will be a range (i.e. the minimum and maximum you could get for that grade). For an exact number of points we need your exam marks.

The points per unit are given by the tables on page 353. Your overall grade is dictated by the sum of the points across all your units.

1. Unit 15 - Investigating Retail Business - Internal - 60 GLH - Distinction - 16 points
2. Unit 18 - Creative Promotion - Internal - 60 GLH - Distinction - 16 points
3. Unit 22 - Market Research - Internal - 60 GLH - Distinction - 16 points
4. Unit 5 - International Business - Internal - 90 GLH - Distinction - 24 points
5. Unit 6 - Principles of Management - External - 120 GLH - Near Pass - between 8 and 11 points
6. Unit 7 - Business Decision Making - External - 120 GLH - Merit - between 20 and 31 points
7. Unit 9 - Team Building in Business - Internal - 60 GLH - Distinction - 16 points
8. Unit 1 - Exploring Business - Internal - 90 GLH - Merit - 15 points
9. Unit 19 - Pitching for a New Business - Internal - 60 GLH - Distinction - 16 points
10. Unit 2 - Developing a Marketing Campaign - External - 90 GLH - Pass - between 9 and 14 points
11. Unit 3 - Personal Business and Finance - External - 120 GLH - Near Pass - between 8 and 11 points
12. Unit 4 - Managing an Event - Internal - 90 GLH - Merit - 15 points
13. Unit 8 - Recruitment and Selection Process - Internal - 60 GLH - Distinction - 16 points

If you sum these numbers (using ranges for the external units as we don't know your exam marks, and they impact the points awarded) we get a total of between 195 and 217 points. Translating those overall points to an overall grade using the table on page 354 gives a possible grade range of DMM to DDD.

However, your points range overlaps DMM by just one point, and DDD by just one point. So by far the most likely overall grade is DDM.

The reason I've explained how I've worked this out is so that you can double-check my workings. The process is clearly quite simple, but it's also fiddly to do on a phone, so please check it. :smile:

Quick Reply