The BTEC First Diploma is a vocational qualification taken in England and Wales and Northern Ireland by young people aged 14 and over and by adults. The qualification is organised and awarded by the

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board ...

Foundation within the

BTEC BTEC may refer to: * Begumgonj Textile Engineering College, a college in Bangladesh * Biomass Thermal Energy Council, a US advocacy organization * Business and Technology Education Council, a British body, now part of Edexcel, which awards vocationa ...

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Qualification Overview

The ''BTEC First Diploma'' is a vocational qualification at Level 2. It is the equivalent of 4

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

grades A*-C. The course is available from

and is in many different subjects. This qualification is mainly studied at further education colleges. The course is designed to give students a good grounding to progress onto the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma / BTEC Diploma / BTEC Extended Diploma in a related subject. As BTEC stands for Business & Technology Education Council, the best known subjects for the Diplomas are

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

and Information Technology. The course is assessed in units of which 11-13 consist in total. Students are graded on their understanding of the unit by the grading of either a pass, merit or distinction (highest achievable). Students who wish to progress onto a BTEC Subsidiary Diploma / BTEC Diploma / BTEC Extended Diploma will usually need to attain merit grades or above in order to meet the entry requirements, however, this can vary depending on the college.

Level

The First Diploma is regarded as equivalent in level to the

. However some students who may have three grade Cs could progress onto a degree in a university providing that they have gained a distinction or a merit profile. Most Universities will require a Level 3 qualification such as BTEC Subsidiary Diploma / BTEC Diploma / BTEC Extended Diploma so it would be advisable to contact each University first. The usual entry requirements consist of a mix of

subject passes at grades D-G or better. Equivalent entry qualifications are also commonly accepted, including an appropriate BTEC Introductory Diploma with a merit grade or higher.

Subjects available

Animal Care Art and Design Business Construction Engineering Health and Social Care IT and Computing Land-based Technology Media, Music & Performing Arts Vehicle Technology Science Sport Public Services Travel and Tourism Management Hospitality

Progression

Possible outcomes include: *progression to a BTEC Extended Diploma course at a further education college *progression into employment

References

External links

* http://www.edexcel.org.uk/quals/first/ * http://www.don.ac.uk/courses/full-time/full-time_courses/computers_ict/btec_first_diploma_for_it_prac.aspx * http://www.edc.ac.uk/all-courses/information-technology_44/cj20_188.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Btec First Diploma Educational qualifications in the United Kingdom