Exam results: Some BTec students still do not have grades

Some students at schools and colleges in Northern Ireland have not yet received BTec results which were due last Thursday.

The delay affects BTec qualifications taken through the exams board Pearson.

Pearson said that it understands the "frustration" the delay has caused but could not say exactly when results would be delivered.

The parent of one pupil told BBC News NI her son could not enter clearing for a university place without his result.

BTecs are taken at many schools and further education (FE) colleges as an alternative to A-levels.

They are qualifications which often focus on vocational and technical subjects.

BTec results from Pearson were due on Thursday, the same day as A-level and AS results.

But some students and pupils in Northern Ireland have not yet received theirs.

The mother of one pupil told BBC News NI her son was still waiting for the results of his BTec course taken at his post-primary school.

"There has been no communication about this and no-one knows what the problem is," she said.

"Some pupils appear to have received some results but many haven't.

"They cannot enter clearing as they don't have results and many courses are filling up.

"It's complete chaos - and comes in addition to the controversy around A-levels, which my son also did."

Belfast Met FE College tweeted on 13 August that some results their students were expecting had been delayed.

The mother of a student who had studied for a BTEC at Belfast Met said her son had still not received his result.

"He completed this coursework during lockdown in very difficult circumstances," she told BBC News NI.

"At lunchtime on Thursday a message went up on the class Facebook page to say that the results had not been posted on from the examining body Pearson.

"Some of the class have been held up in confirming HND and further degree courses due to the delay."

A spokesperson for Pearson confirmed that some results had been delayed.

"We are aware that some BTec students experienced a delay in receiving their results and we understand the frustration this must have caused," they said.

"We are working closely with the students and colleges involved to look into this urgently and provide their results as soon as we can.

"The majority of the results were available by Friday and we are working around the clock with impacted students and colleges to solve the outstanding issues."

Pearson is a multinational company which is also the UK's largest awarding body for qualifications including A-levels and GCSEs as well as BTecs.

It is one of the world's biggest education companies, with £2.5bn in digital revenues alone, according to its website.

Meanwhile, the four children's commissioners across the UK have called on universities to honour offers of places made before A-level results.

"University offers will have been made on the basis of individual statements, previous achievements, references, predicted grades and in some cases entrance exams and interviews," they said.

"Many students have had little chance to progress their education since those offers were made.

"It is unfair to now reject individuals whose results have been arrived at by a system that is likely to have produced individual anomalies."

While A-level results rose overall in Northern Ireland, over a third of grades calculated by schools were lowered and there has been additional controversy over the process used to award pupils their grades.