BTEC National Diploma

The BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Level 3 Extended Diploma is a secondary school leaving qualification and vocational qualification taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The qualification is organised and awarded by the Edexcel within the BTEC brand and it is equivalent to A-Levels. It is regarded as equivalent in level to the GCE A Levels, more specifically to three A2 awards and the AVCE.

This qualification is taken in order to gain entry to Higher education. Nevertheless, as it is mostly coursework based, universities like Cambridge or Oxford may require it to be combined with more traditional qualifications, such as one A level.

Many students taking BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma qualifications from September 2016 or September 2017 will now also be assessed through external assessments in the form of exams.

The BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma dates back to the 1930s as a full-time three-year course. After the Haselgrave Report, the Business Education Council (BEC) and Technician Education Council (TEC) took over the accrediting of this qualification (called the "Ordinary National Diploma") and others in the stable, such as the National Certificate, Higher National Certificate and Higher National Diploma. The portfolio of courses was integrated when the BEC and TEC merged to form BTEC.

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