Always Learning

 BTEC Certificate 

Your certificate provides official confirmation of your results and can act as a passport to a job or further study. This page will help you identify the information contained on your certificate.

Hover your mouse over a piece of information on the certificate below to find out what it means.


BTEC Logo
The type of certificate (BTEC Level 3 Diploma)
The subject you completed and your grade (if applicable). If no grade is shown on your certificate, you achieved a Pass.
Your name
The name of your school, college or training provider.
The month in which you completed your course.
Your centre number. Your programme number. Your BTEC registration number - if you are applying to a UK university through UCAS, use this 7 charachter alpha-numeric code. Your certificate number. Your date of birth. The date your certificate was issued. The Ofqual qualification number for your course.
Security hologram.
The details of our Accountable Officer - the person with overall responsibility for the standard of our qualifications. The Ofqual logo - this indicates the courses listed on the certificate are regulated within England. The Welsh Government logo - this indicates the courses listed on the certificate are regulated within Wales. The CCEA logo - this indicates the courses listed on the certificate are regulated within Northern Ireland.

Frequently Asked Questions

I completed a course but wasn’t given a certificate. What should I do?

Centres (schools, colleges, training providers) are responsible for requesting certificates on behalf of their students as they have a copy of each student’s personal records.
 
Check with your centre to see if they have your certificate. They’re required to keep unclaimed certificates for 12 months after receiving them, after which they can dispose of them.
 
If they don’t have your certificate, or if you’ve lost your original, you can apply for a replacement certificate by completing the application form.

How does a centre claim my certificate?

Centre administrators register students for our qualifications using an online system called Edexcel Online (EOL). When a group of students has finished a course the administrator tells us, through EOL, that they want to claim certificates for the course that you’ve finished.
 
Once your certificate has been claimed, a team here places an order for your certificates with the company that prints our certificates. It can take up to one month for your centre to receive your certificate once they’ve claimed for it. This is because:
  • Edexcel certificate orders between Pearson and the printers are made once a week
  • It may take two weeks for the printing company to create the certificates and send them to your centre
  • Once your centre has received them, they are likely to need time to open the packages and double-check that all the certificates they expect to receive have been received.
Your centre will be able to tell you when your certificate was claimed and when they expect to receive it.

What if it’s been more than one month since my centre claimed my certificate?

If you’ve finished your course and requested a certificate from your centre, and you haven’t received it after more than one month of waiting, you should talk to an appropriate person at the centre, such as an administrator or even the Head of the centre.
 
We suggest you ask them the following questions:
  • How long ago did the centre claim the certificate?
  • On what date (approximately) can I expect to receive the certificate?
  • How quickly do Edexcel certificates normally arrive at the centre once they’ve been claimed?
  • Who can I speak to if it doesn’t arrive at the centre as expected?
  • Has there been an unexpected delay to the Edexcel certificates being sent?
  • If there has been a delay, why did Pearson say there was a delay?

What if I’m unhappy with the way the centre has handled my questions and requests for my certificate?

In order to offer our qualifications, all centres have to go through an ‘approvals’ process, during which they have to meet certain criteria. One of these criteria is that they must have an appeals procedure in place. If you’re unhappy with the way the centre has handled your request, we recommend you follow their appeals procedure to lodge a complaint.
 
We can't get involved in an appeal with a centre until you have exhausted the centre appeals policy, which is outlined in the Enquiries and Appeals Policy.
 
Alternatively, if you feel that your centre is not being as helpful as you feel they should be, you can speak to your local education authority (LEA). To find a contact list of LEAs, search online for ‘local education authority list’.

Can you send my certificate to me if I can’t get it from my centre?

We can’t send original certificates directly to students. This is because you have an arrangement with the centre to take the qualification, and as such they are responsible for:
  • Registering you to take the qualification
  • Teaching you the course
  • Assessing your achievements while you are taking the course
  • Claiming your certificate once you’ve finished the course.

If the certificate is to have a high educational value we need to ensure that the qualification has been rigorously tested. If we were to send certificates directly to students, without a record of your achievement, it would undermine the centre and may possibly lead employers, with whom you might apply for a job, or further education centres, with whom you may want to continue your studies, to doubt the value of our qualifications.

My centre has closed down - what should I do?

If your centre is no longer open please email qualitystandards@pearson.com.
 
The Quality Standards team will check that the centre is no longer operating and will respond to your email to tell you what you should do next.