BOURNE ACADEMY SIXTH FORM
BTEC National Extended Certificate
Travel & Tourism
- Examination board: Edexcel
- Course length: 2 years

Students must meet the minimum entry requirements for the Vocational or Combination study pathway. There are no additional specific entry requirements for this subject.
The Travel and Tourism industry is dynamic, wide ranging and fast growing, and it offers a huge variety of employment opportunities for young people. This course aims to encourage you to develop broad skills, knowledge and understanding of the Travel and Tourism industry.
The course combines in depth academic study of one industry with the chance to develop business skills. It is therefore a valuable qualification in its own right and also an excellent stepping stone to a career in the travel and tourism, or wider business world.
The course builds on the KS4 BTEC Travel & Tourism course which provides a stepping stone to the Level 3 qualification. However, it is also suitable for students who haven’t studied it previously but have an interest in travel and tourism.
YEAR ONE
Unit 1 – The World of Travel and Tourism
- The travel and tourism industry in the UK is growing and is of major importance to the economy.
- In this unit, you will develop the skills needed to examine, interpret and analyse a variety of statistics that measure the importance of tourism to the UK. There are many influences on the industry and they are changing all the time. Some of them are within the control of travel organisations, while others are beyond their control. You will need to know how organisations react to changes and trends to determine their present and future operating policies.
- This unit provides the foundation for the whole of the KS5 course and builds on prior learning from the KS4 course.
Unit 3 – Principles of Marketing in Travel and Tourism
- Marketing is an important focus for any successful organisation in travel and tourism where products, services and the expectations of customers are constantly changing. A successful business must have a strategy for understanding its customers and targeting them with a profitable offer.
- In this unit, you will develop a marketing plan through examining the specific aims and objectives of the marketing function and researching the needs and expectations of different customer types. You will develop your ability to communicate the findings of this research.
YEAR TWO
Unit 2 – Global Destinations
- Global destinations are a key aspect of travel and tourism and their appeal is strongly influenced by factors such as their location, access and changing trends.
- In this unit, you will use a range of resources to investigate the location and features of global destinations and explain the features that give appeal to global destinations and support different types of tourism. You will evaluate how travel plans/routes/itineraries meet customer needs. You will investigate consumer trends and the reasons the popularity of global destinations may change.
Unit 9 – Visitor Attractions
- You will develop knowledge and an insight into a wide range of visitor attractions.
- In this unit, you will investigate visitor attractions and the different ways they are funded. You will explore what is meant by the visitor experience and how visitor attractions develop, diversify and use technology in order to meet the needs of their different types of visitors. By developing your knowledge and skills in researching and evaluating the effectiveness of visitor attractions, the unit will help you progress to higher-education courses such as degrees in tourism, leisure or business studies. The wide range of skills and knowledge developed in this unit will also help your career progression.
Students will work to a brief and be given clear assessment criteria so they can be confident on what is expected to achieve a Distinction* / Distinction / Merit / Pass. Your final grade will be calculated from a culmination of the points collected across all units. Throughout the course, students will be well supported by teachers who will give feedback on progress against the key assessment criteria.
Across the course students will complete units that are assessed in a variety of ways. There are three different types of assessment: coursework (internally assessed), tasks and written examination (both externally assessed).
YEAR ONE
Unit 1 – The World of Travel and Tourism
- This is an external exam based unit
Unit 3 – Principles of Marketing in Travel and Tourism
- Assessed through assignments and tasks in coursework
YEAR TWO
Unit 2 – Global Destinations
- Externally assessed task
Unit 9 – Visitor Attractions
- Assessed through assignments and tasks in coursework
The BTEC National Extended Certificate is a Level 3 qualification which is the equivalent to one A-level and widely recognised by universities and employers.
If you have any questions about this subject please email sixthform@bourneacademy.org or call 01778 391246.
We make every effort to ensure that the information provided is accurate and correct. We reserve the right to amend information as necessary and this webpage will be updated if subject information changes.
