Information Technology BTEC

 

Curriculum overview for BTEC AAQ Level 3 Information Technology

 

Curriculum intent – the knowledge, understanding and skills that students will learn

This qualification is intended for post-16 students who want to study Information Technology with a view to continuing with IT related courses in Higher education or go on to work in an IT industry or progress to a wide range of higher education courses, not necessarily in IT. It is designed for students who are interested in learning about the concepts and implications of the use of IT systems to manage and share information.  Students will gain knowledge about how IT systems work individually and together and about the relationship between users and systems.  They will also study issues related to the use of IT systems and the impact they have on organisations and individuals and the risks these entail. They will study cyber security threats, system vulnerabilities and security protection and forensic procedures.  The qualification also helps students develop employability skills.  They will learn about fundamental principles in website and relational database development and will develop skills to design and develop a website and data storage solutions in response to a client brief.  They will practise cognitive and problem-solving skills using critical thinking and learn to approach non-routine problems by applying expert and creative solutions, using their knowledge, understanding and analytical skills. The set tasks will also allow students to grow their intrapersonal skills by having to communicate, work collaboratively, negotiate, influence and present their own work. They also need to use their interpersonal skills to self-manage and self-monitor and show adaptability, resilience and development.

 

Curriculum implementation – teaching, learning and assessment strategies

We make full use of the Microsoft Teams learning environment to distribute our learning content every lesson and to collect homework and exam coursework. In Year 12, students complete one external unit on IT systems which is examined in May and one internal coursework unit on Website Development. Year 13 units are started as from June of Year 12. They cover the external examination on Cyber Security and Incident Management examined in May of Year 13 and the second internal coursework unit on Relational Database Development. Our teaching and learning pedagogy makes use of didactic presentations interspersed with individual, as well as group work, to research and carry out practical tasks which precede or follow the introduction of theory. We also use flipped learning when students are asked to review a specific topic by themselves or by viewing guided resources, before the topic is covered in the next lesson.  In theory lessons, students make notes in their exercise books and we ask them to memorise key terms and concepts which we assess through a variety of activities including multiple choice quizzes, vocabulary and definitions tests, matching and crosswords exercises, closed and open exam questions.  In practical lessons, students first develop their software skills to carry out specific tasks and are soon given scenarios so they can apply their learning to a specific context.  Students are thus required to create their own solution to the problems set in the scenario. Students are then asked to review their solution and further improve it, using teacher, peer or self-feedback.  During class discussions and exam question practice, we teach students to systematically draw on keywords and facts taken from across the specification and require students to revisit these frequently at every opportunity, in class and as part of home learning.  We expect students to seek and make use of video tutorials to continue developing their practical skills at home, independently and to use our reference resources in Teams, revision websites and printed topic booklets to support independent practice and learning.

 

 

Curriculum impact – intended outcomes for students

By the end of the BTEC Level course, students will have developed practical intermediate and advanced website and relational database development skills for their personal and/or professional use.  For instance, they will be able to design and develop effective websites and data storage solutions to meet clients’ requirements.  Students will also be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding about information technology systems and cyber security threats, vulnerabilities and protection methods and refer to appropriate terminology, concepts and processes.  They will be able to explain, analyse and evaluate factors and implications behind the use of information technology and the risks to data and information in today’s interconnected world, including due to a range of cyber security threats and how these can be prevented and remedied.  They will have learnt to make connections between the application of information technologies and procedures so they can predict likely outcomes and find and justify solutions to various IT and cyber security problems.

 

Course overview for BTEC AAQ Level 3 Information Technology

 

Exam board: Pearson BTEC

L3 AAQ BTEC Nat IT Ext Cert Spec
Coursework: Yes – 33.4 %

                       

Unit 1: Information Technology Systems    External Examination 33.3% of the qualification

Examined in May of Year 12  

 

Unit 3: Website Development    Internal Examination 16.7 % of the qualification

On-going assessment. Final marks are submitted in May of Year 12

 

Unit 2: Cyber security and incident management External Examination 33.3% of the qualification

Examined in May of Year 13
 

Unit 5: Relational Database Development    Internal Examination 16.7% of the qualification

On-going assessment.  Final marks submitted in May of Year 13

 

 

BTEC AAQ Level 3 Information Technology

 

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 12 From Sept 2025	Unit 1: Information Technology Systems              Unit 3: Coursework Website Development        Coursework preparation tasks	Unit 1: Information Technology Systems            Unit 3: Coursework Website Development      Coursework preparation tasks & assessment	Unit 1: Information Technology Systems        Exam practice & Revision   Unit 3: Coursework Website Development      Coursework preparation tasks & assessment	Unit 1: Information Technology Systems        Exam practice & Revision   Unit 3: Coursework Website Development      Coursework assessment	Unit 2: Cyber security and incident management         Unit 5: Coursework   Relational Database Development	Unit 2: Cyber security and incident management         Unit 5: Coursework Relational Database Development

 

 

 

 

 

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 13 From Sept 2026	Unit 2: Cyber Security & Incident Management         Unit 5: Coursework Relational Database Development        Coursework preparation tasks & assessment	Unit 2: Cyber Security & Incident Management   Exam practice     Unit 5: Coursework Relational Database Development      Coursework preparation tasks & assessment	Unit 2: Cyber Security & Incident Management   Exam practice & Revision   Unit 5: Coursework Relational Database Development      Coursework preparation tasks & assessment	Unit 2: Cyber Security & Incident Management Exam practice & Revision   Unit 5: Coursework Relational Database Development      Coursework assessment	Unit 2: Cyber security and incident management   Exam practice & Revision