Validation event for HNC Esports

The validation event for HNC Esports took place on Tuesday afternoon. The purpose of the event is for a panel of independent experts to review the proposed qualification. The panel consisted of representatives of colleges, universities, employers, national organisations and SQA. It was convened by a retired HMI. The Qualification Development Team (QDT) was represented by myself, the lead developer and the lead officer. It was a good constructive meeting, with the focus on quality improvement. A few issues arose including…

Read Post

NPA Computing Technologies assessments – Update

Further to my post in April, I am pleased to advise that the outstanding assessments for the NPA Computing Technologies have now been released. Therefore, there are assessments on SOLAR for all the units listed below: J8DW 44 – Computing Foundations J8DY 44 – Computing Project J8DW 45 – Computing Foundations J8DY 45 – Computing Project J8DW 46 – Computing Foundations J8DY 46 – Computing Project A list of all available assessments can also be viewed on the Solar website. In…

Read Post

Approved changes to qualifications

As part of our ongoing maintenance of qualifications, centres can suggest alterations to qualification frameworks via the DAVAL 2 form.  Throughout 2024-25, we received four change requests to our qualifications. These requests were considered, and approved, at our annual QST meeting, which was held in early May. The changes have been actioned and the updated frameworks will be available from August 2025. Please see below for details of the changes: Group Award Approved request HNC Computing (GF3E 15) Addition of unit…

Read Post

AI use in SQA assessment

SQA has published new guidance on the use of AI in qualification assessment for the 2025-26 session. The new guidance explains what’s acceptable, what’s not, and — crucially — why. The use of GenAI tools is considered acceptable in assessment when it does not undermine learners’ ability to demonstrate that they have the required knowledge, understanding, and skills to meet the assessment standards of the qualification. It is also acceptable to use when the course or unit specifications explicitly allow…

Read Post

Validation of HNC Esports

Regular readers will know that we’ve been developing HNC Esports for some time. The development commenced last Autumn and is nearing completion. The final stage in the qualification development process is validation. This will take place on Tuesday, 24 June, when an independent panel of experts will scrutinise the qualification. The validation panel comprises educators, employers, representatives of universities and others with an interest in the field. The Qualification Development Team (QDT) is represented by myself (Qualifications Manager), Helen (Qualifications…

Read Post

Technology units update

At last year’s QST (Qualification Support Team) meeting, a proposal to amend the following units was approved. The changes are minimal. For example, the units no longer specify how many MCQs are required in the assessment. The dated information has also been removed from the Support Notes of the unit specifications. The updated units are now published on the SQA website and you can access them via the links below:  FR24 35 Networking Technology – national unit specification: general information FR23…

Read Post

New CBQ Teams group

At our annual CBQ Support event held on Wednesday, 26 March, we advised centres that a new Teams group would be created to enhance the communication between SQA and the centres delivering the Diplomas in Digital Technology. This Team has now been set up and relevant colleagues added. We (the SQA Computing team) will use the team to post relevant updates regarding CBQ qualifications, as well as any other information that may be of interest to centres. We encourage centres…

Read Post

HNC Esports — centres for session 2025/26

I recently posted an update about this development, which I won’t repeat here. Since then we’ve made a lot of progress with the component units, which are nearing completion. We will shortly turn our attention to the validation event, which will take place in the first half of June. It would be helpful to know of any centres that are considering running this qualification next session (session 2025/26). This is so we can give you enhanced support before and during the…

Read Post

Diploma in Digital Application Support (GL2K 46) – Update

The Diploma in Digital Application Support (GL2K 46) was due to lapse on 30 June 2025. Several centres raised concerns as this qualification is still widely delivered and centres have medium-term plans for the delivery of this award. Taking our centres’ views into account, we sought approval from SDS and requested an extension from SQA Accreditation. I am pleased to advise that the extension request was approved at the Accreditation Co-ordination Group (ACG) meeting of 2 April. Therefore, the qualification…

Read Post

NPA Computing Technologies assessments

Newly developed assessments for one of the mandatory units within the NPA Computing Technologies have been published. The following assessments can now be accessed on SQA Solar: J8DW 44 – Computing Foundations J8DW 45 – Computing Foundations J8DW 46 – Computing Foundations A list of all available assessments can also be viewed on the Solar website. Assessments for Computing Project (J8DY 44/45/46) will be published by end April. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions…

Read Post

HNC Esports update

It’s been a few months since I last updated you about the forthcoming HNC Esports. The Qualification Development Team met for the fourth time yesterday to discuss progress. The framework has now been finalised and, in total, nine new units will be developed in areas ranging from game performance to tournament organisation. The qualification has a simple core (3 units, 9 credits) and option (10 units from which learners select 6 credits) structure. The focus of yesterday’s meeting was the…

Read Post

NPA Data Science now available

I’m pleased to let you know that the revised version of NPA Data Science is now available to centres. You’ll find the revised subject page here: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/91458.html My apologies for the delay in making this available. We had hoped that it would have been ready for the start of the session. The component units have been available for some time. This is the second version of the qualification, which was first introduced in 2019/20. It’s a popular National Progression Award…

Read Post

Re-organisation of the team

Regular readers will know that Emma and Helen returned to the team after Christmas. Emma has responsibility for non-advanced qualifications (NUs, NPAs, NCs) and CBQs, and Helen advanced qualifications (HNUs, HNC, HND, PDA). We’re going to re-organise things within the team so that each Qualifications Officer (QO) has responsibility for a specific field within computing, rather than levels of qualifications. So, for example, Emma will be the lead officer for all qualifications relating to computer science and computer games; Helen…

Read Post

Change to HND Computing: Software Development (GG7E 16)

The framework of the HND Computing: Software Development (GG7E 16) has been amended following a change request submitted by a delivering centre. The change request related to the addition of Machine Learning (J1BB 35) to the framework as an optional unit. Upon consideration by the Qualification Support Team (QST), the change request was approved on 24 January 2025. Consequently, the unit Machine Learning (J1BB 35) has been added to Group 2 of the optional units of the HND Computing: Software…

Read Post

Contacting the team

Regular readers will know that Emma and Helen returned to the vocational Computing team in January (they had been seconded to the Next Gen team). Emma is the lead officer for non-advanced qualifications (NPAs and NCs) and CBQs, and Helen is the lead officer for advanced qualifications (HNQs and PDAs). I’m sure that you already know our email addresses but, in case you don’t, we can be contacted here: bobby.elliott@sqa.org.uk emma. campos@sqa.org.uk helen.zhang@sqa.org.uk. There’s also a general mailbox at computing@sqa.org.uk…

Read Post

Next Gen update

It’s been a while since I posted an update about Next Gen. Regular readers will know that Next Gen is an initiative to modernise Higher National Qualifications (HNQs) that has been on-going since 2020. Computing has figured prominently in Next Gen. Five HNQs were developed during the first phase: HNC Computing. HND Computer Science. HND Data Science. HND Networking & Cloud Infrastructure. HND Software Development. One of the features of Next Gen is that qualifications are piloted, and there were…

Read Post

Qualification proposals

Centres are encouraged to propose new or revised qualifications if you think there’s a gap in provision or would like to change an existing qualification. We’re also happy to receive feedback on support materials (or receive suggestions for new support materials). The standard process is to use the DAVAL2 form, which can be downloaded here. But we’d prefer if you used our online form (since we convert the DAVAL2 to this so it saves time if you enter it directly).…

Read Post

Happy New Year from the team!

SQA returned from the Christmas holiday today. We hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year. This coming year looks like being a busy one. The team is changing or, rather, the team is reverting to what it was. Emma and Helen are returning to the team and Gayle and Megan are returning to their substantive posts. These changes are a result of changes to the way Next Gen developments are supported. Helen and Emma have lots of experience…

Read Post

Scottish Games Education Network

I attended the annual Games Education Network event on Wednesday, held at West College Scotland, and gave a talk about national qualifications in computer games development. The event was well attended, with representatives from the games industry, education and national organisations. I took the opportunity to provide an update on the on-going sector review of computer games qualifications and encouraged attendees to complete the short survey relating to this development. My presentation included information on the range of qualifications available…

Read Post

NPA Data Science

Following Bobby’s recent blog post, I’m pleased to confirm we have now published the 8 revised units for the NPA Data Science.  The revised units are. Data Citizenship 4/5/6 Data Science 4/5/6 Machine Learning 5/6 I have linked all the units in the frameworks below Data Citizenship SCQF Level 4 Data Science SCQF Level 4   Data Citizenship SCQF Level 5 Data Science SCQF Level 5 Computer Programming SCQF Level 5 Data Security SCQF Level 5 Data Science Project SCQF…

Read Post