[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-623862-105":59,"doc-detail-623862-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","exploring-salary-outcomes-for-level-3-btec-national-learners","Exploring Salary Outcomes for Level 3 BTEC National Learners","","Research examining salary outcomes for learners completing Level 3 BTEC Nationals and equivalent Level 3 qualifications across the 16–19 education phase and onward progression routes, including higher education and direct entry to work. The analysis links salary results to learner characteristics such as economic background and Key Stage 4 attainment, using longitudinal public datasets. Findings assess how BTECs compare with other Level 3 VTQs and A levels, and how outcomes vary by sector and subject studied.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exploring-salary-outcomes-for-level-3-btec-national-learners/623862/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/exploring-salary-outcomes-for-level-3-btec-national-learners/623862.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Muffet","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-20",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main aim of this research on BTEC Nationals?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The research aims to understand how salary outcomes for Level 3 qualifications relate to progression routes and learner characteristics such as economic background or Key Stage 4 attainment.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do BTEC learners’ salaries compare with other Level 3 VTQ learners and A level learners?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"BTECs lead to higher salaries compared with other VTQs in most cases, and BTEC learners who go directly to higher education tend to earn higher salaries in the first few years of work. As learners mature, A level learners consistently earn more than those taking VTQs.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which learner groups and sectors show notable salary differences for BTEC graduates?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The report finds that BTECs can narrow disadvantage gaps for some low-performing socioeconomic groups, and female learners gain a significant salary benefit from studying BTECs. It also highlights that learners who work in occupations related to their Level 3 BTEC subject tend to earn the highest salaries, especially in health and social care.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},623862,1792546992,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090768927,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Exploring Salary Outcomes for Level 3 BTEC National Learners  \nBlake Ashworth and Hayley Dalton  \n2025  \nContents  \nSummary 3  \nHeadline findings 3  \nContext and aims for this research 4  \nThe research approach 5  \nThe cohorts 5  \nMedian salaries 6  \nLearner counts 7  \nData definitions 10  \nFindings 11  \n1. BTEC learners’ salary outcomes relative to other Level 3 VTQ learners 11  \nInteractions between learner characteristics and salary 12  \n2. BTEC learners’ salary outcomes relative toA level and mixed-route learners 16  \nInteractions with learner characteristics 17  \n3. BTEC learners’ salary outcomes in key sectors 26  \nBy BTEC subject studied 31  \nConclusions 41  \nLimitations of this research 42  \nAcknowledgements 43  \nReferences 43  \nThis work was produced using statistical data from ONS. The use of the ONS statistical data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONSin relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. This work uses research datasets which may not exactly reproduce ONS aggregates.  \nSummary  \nThis research considers salary outcomes for learners completing BTEC Nationals and equivalent Level 3 qualifications. The key aim of this analysis is to understand the relationships, in terms of salary, between Level 3 qualifications taken in the 16―19 phase, onward progression routes (HE or direct to work) and selected learner characteristics, such as economic background or Key Stage 4 attainment.  \nHeadline findings  \n• In comparison to other VTQs, BTECs lead to higher salaries. This is mostly the case regardless of whether or not learners go to university.  \n• BTECs are the best route for labour market entrants seeking to maximise their earlycareer earnings. Among those choosing to go directly to HE after Level 3 , BTEC learners tend to earn higher salaries in the first few years of work compared to those taking other VTQs orA levels. As they mature into the labour market, A level learners consistently earn more than those taking VTQs.  \n• BTECs help to uplift the performance of some students in low-performing socioeconomic groups in the labour market. The research shows clear relationships between learner characteristics (economic status, GCSE grades and gender) and expected salary; our analysis indicates BTECs appear to narrow these disadvantage gaps, particularly for learners going to HE.  \n• Female learners gain a significant salary benefit from studying BTECs compared to other Level 3 qualifications. In some instances, BTECs reverse national trends for gender salary gaps. This is seen particularly for female workers using a BTEC qualification to access university , who start their careers on a higher salary than their male peers.  \n• BTEC learners who go on to work in an occupation related to the subject they studied at Level 3 , tend to earn the highest salaries. The analysis shows significantly higher salary increases for learners choosing the HE route when working in the sector allied to the BTEC they studied, and particularly so in the health and social care sector.  \nContext and aims for this research  \nVocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs) sit in the Level 3 education space for 16–19-year-olds wishing to pursue an alternative toA levels leading to higher study or directly to the labour market. Level 3 BTEC Nationals are by some degree the largest and best-known VTQs for 16-19-year-olds, with around 200,000 certificates issued each year for these qualifications.  \nIn recent years, a number of research reports have examined employment outcomes for learners taking VTQs, some focusing on comparison to other qualifications such asA levels as well as considering the complexity of learner characteristics including family income and school attainment, e.g (Patrignani et al., 2019) . At a headline level, this research shows that learners taking VTQs, and particularly BTECs, tend to see greater early earnings in the labour market than their peers taking academic qualifications,","cbCaifDPWxV8zG34","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifDPWxV8zG34","pdf",6196636,43,"English","# Summary\n## Headline findings\n# Context and aims for this research\n## The research approach\n## The cohorts\n# Findings\n## BTEC learners’ salary outcomes relative to other Level 3 VTQ learners\n## BTEC learners’ salary outcomes relative to A level and mixed-route learners\n## BTEC learners’ salary outcomes in key sectors\n## By BTEC subject studied\n# Conclusions\n## Limitations of this research\n# Acknowledgements\n# References","[{\"question\":\"What is the main aim of this research on BTEC Nationals?\",\"answer\":\"The research aims to understand how salary outcomes for Level 3 qualifications relate to progression routes and learner characteristics such as economic background or Key Stage 4 attainment.\"},{\"question\":\"How do BTEC learners’ salaries compare with other Level 3 VTQ learners and A level learners?\",\"answer\":\"BTECs lead to higher salaries compared with other VTQs in most cases, and BTEC learners who go directly to higher education tend to earn higher salaries in the first few years of work. As learners mature, A level learners consistently earn more than those taking VTQs.\"},{\"question\":\"Which learner groups and sectors show notable salary differences for BTEC graduates?\",\"answer\":\"The report finds that BTECs can narrow disadvantage gaps for some low-performing socioeconomic groups, and female learners gain a significant salary benefit from studying BTECs. It also highlights that learners who work in occupations related to their Level 3 BTEC subject tend to earn the highest salaries, especially in health and social care.\"}]","Exploring Salary Outcomes for Level 3 BTEC National Learners | PDF",1792472412,108]