Dont forget, still no timeframe for actually getting LEARN either!
1 Like
If a BTEC was the main reason for joining the RAFAC, im slightly confused…
Your Grandson might have been better off doing a night school qual or similar.
Yes it may be dissapointing, but surely its not the end of days?
He should still be able to get the new version prior to aging out. So not quite a disaster.
That’s not going to be this year now, the Beta needs to expand as such limited use/feedback received from the 1 wing.
Was this not expected?
Quite silly only trialling it in 1 Wing imho
3 Likes
It wasn’t my grandson’s main reason for joining Air Cadets but it was certainly sold to us as a great qualification when we went look at the Squadron.
Thanks for understanding how I feel - we committed a lot of our time driving him there and back twice a week for 4 years so we are really disappointed especially as it seems others at his squadron passed theirs in time and he missed out by a couple of weeks. It certainly hasn’t and will not put him off Air Cadets and he is thinking of joining the Air Force or Navy when he leaves school. He passed 10 GCSEs and is studying 3 A Levels now so no, it’s not the end of the world just disappointing.
HQ’s own marketing materials use BTECs as a selling point!
Can someone remind me how much of the PTS you actually need First Class for please? 
3 Likes
What about if you have the BTEC in Aerospace before finishing your GCSEs? Our hope was to have this in time for applications to colleges for A-levels…
Tray and avoid feeling down about the whole thing. You’ve said they’re doing a set of A levels after getting a basket of GCSEs. Not to overly downplay it, but the open book BTEC they may have had will be, in this case, totally and utterly meaningless. Not pretty unhelpful, but totally and utterly pointless. Nice to have the certificate for the hallway wall, but that’s it.
Reason I say this is that if you look back at the 3/4(?) years they’ve spent as a cadet and what they’ve got from it, this is the 0.1% of cadet career for them, a rounding error. They’ve still developed into a more confident and more well rounded individual from their time in the cadets, not getting a bit of paper takes away none of that.
If they get a job from the cadets it’ll be because they show leadership qualities beyond their years and their peers, it won’t be from a BTEC.
Now, there were clearly a minority of people for whom an extra BTEC might be helpful, but in practice it’s a tiny minority. It’s right that it should be updated to better help this group, rather than just blindly forcing everyone into an assessment process which actually has zero relevance for them.
1 Like
With reference to the BTEC from Pearson…
Can I ask the collective knowledge for what the OFFICIAL and the UNOFFICIAL lines are on BTEC awards that were completed and claimed via the correct manner back in Spring 2021…
I’ve been chasing this with my son’s CO since last Summer and pretty much every 3 months or so since…
Only response I’ve had until this week has been “we’re looking in to it and chasing it… watch this space…”
This week, that’s since changed to “yes we can confirm it WAS claimed - but there’s no news still…”
My son had wanted to leave a month or so before, but was urged by his CO to finish off his classification so he’d pick up his BTEC and at least have something to show for the time he’s been a cadet…
Fearing a cock up like this, I asked that he be kept on the books… while we waited for the certificate to arrive… and had been paying his subs right up until recently…
Is it fair to assume that if his BTEC had been claimed by whoever was responsible back in April 21 - he should have had it by now…. And that this actually sounds like someone dropping the ball and now can’t pick it back up again…
There is a BTEC claims tracker on SharePoint that any staff member can see. It looks like all certificates from spring 2021 have been processed.
If you want to PM the Sqn number and month I can confirm dates e.g. when the claims were made and certificate received by HQAC. Don’t need any names please.
2 Likes
FOIA on this has been answered yesterday if anyone interested. Not much new information but one or two interesting bits. Withdrawal of the BTEC in Aviation Studies - a Freedom of Information request to Air Cadet Organisation - WhatDoTheyKnow
2 Likes
Slightly all over the place - the course was written and ready, but couldn’t launch without Learn, but now it’s being rewritten to allow automatic assessment.
So it wasn’t really ready then was it, considering manual marking is quoted as one of the problems with Aviation Studies.
So now the course that was ready, but wasn’t ready, is being held up by the platform launch that it was originally waiting for before being rewritten to work better with the platform it is still waiting for but isn’t ready for.
Is this normal? I don’t actually know, because this isn’t how I’ve seen development and deployment of IT and LMS enacted before.
I also like how how Aviation Studies has been referred to as “AS” in places.
3 Likes
There are, however, some very good points about why development of something new was needed.
It’s when you notice the FOIA request was submitted by a HQ person . . .
4 Likes
Did you / your cadet ever receive it?
1 Like
So, what’s the latest with this? Has anyone heard or seen any news of this apparent new qualification, 8 months after the last one disappeared?
Give it time.
8 months in RAFAC time is only about 2 days in civilian time.
1 Like
I can’t tell if you’re seriously suggesting 8 months isn’t long enough for something to have been done. Or communicated.
1 Like
It’s sarcasm, but change within RAFAC does often seem to take much longer than it would elsewhere.