BTEC Level 3 Travel and Tourism

MODULAR
Travel and Tourism focuses on the skills and abilities that students will need if they wish to progress into a career in the ever growing world of Travel and Tourism. From the basic structure of the industry, through to putting together a proposal for their own Travel and Tourism Organisation, students are offered the opportunity to investigate an industry which is particularly relevant here in the South West of England.

Year 1 and 2 Topics studied
Year 12

  • Unit 1: Investigating the Travel and Tourism Industry
  • Unit 3: The UK as a Destination
  • Unit 4: Customer Service in Travel and Tourism.

Year 13

  • Unit 2: The Business of Travel and Tourism
  • Unit 6: Preparing for Employment in Travel and Tourism
  • Unit 11: Investigating the Cruise Industry
  • Unit 19: UK Visitor Attractions

Assessment details
Whilst presently the final specification for Travel and Tourism has not been released, other subjects of a similar sort are assessed based on internal assessments (coursework), and through an external assessment (exam) which students will be required to complete. The in school nature of coursework allows for an excellent level of support and supervision to be provided, whilst also allowing for plenty of time to ensure that students feel ready to sit their exams during the Summer series.

Entry Requirements
In order to study Travel and Tourism at Level 3, students are expected to have a C in both English and Maths, however exceptions may be made in specific situations.

Expectations
Students in Travel and Tourism are expected to work towards deadlines, sometimes working independently to ensure they complete their work in time. Attendance to all sessions is expected and students are responsible for keeping their work in an organised and tidy fashion throughout the course.

Students are also expected to keep up to date with current affairs in the world of Travel and Tourism, in order to feed into their learning and support their coursework.

Outside of the Classroom
The nature of Travel and Tourism lends itself to work experience, especially in an area such as Newquay. As such, students are encouraged to seek out work experience as in some cases, witness statements from employers can serve to meet assessment criteria for certain tasks. As well as this, we try to get students out of the classroom environment to study specific businesses, allowing students the opportunity to speak to people who work in that world, as well as giving them the chance to see how businesses in Travel and Tourism function on a day to day basis.

Reasons to Study this Travel and Tourism is an industry that is worth £115.4bn, and employs 2.66 million people, accounting for 9% of total employment in the UK and making it the UK’s third largest employer. Opportunities for employment in Travel and Tourism are vast, from entry level jobs paying minimum wage such as Porters, Bar Staff and Waiting Staff, through to Food and Beverage Managers, Airline Pilots and Cruise Ship Captains – all of which pay upwards of £50,000 per year.

Due to the industry being so vast and providing so many opportunities, studying the industry before moving in to it allows students a head start when seeking out employment, as well as giving them an insight into what to expect, and where to target their career progression. This is particularly relevant in the South West of England where a vast majority of jobs available are within the Travel and Tourism sector.