The development of the HNC Esports is nearing completion and is scheduled for publication early next year. We have now received approval to start developing a new NextGen HND Esports qualification. We are seeking volunteers to join our Qualification Development Team to help shape this new qualification. If you are interested or have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
The review of the HNC Computer Games Development is well overdue. I am pleased to advise that we have been given the green light to proceed with this development. Therefore, we are looking for members to join our Qualifications Design Team (QDT) in order to contribute to and shape this qualification. The new HNC Computer Games Development will be developed as a NextGen qualification, which means the qualification will embed meta-skills, learning for sustainability (LfS); and follow a full qualification…
Scottish Esports, the national body for gaming and esports in Scotland, is conducting a survey to assess the viability of a national esports competition for Scotland’s schools and colleges. This initiative aims to provide a structured competitive framework that supports the Curriculum for Excellence, develops learners’ meta-skills, enhances digital literacy, and aligns with national qualifications, including the NPA Esports and HNC Esports. Please fill in this survey for expression of interest. For more information or queries, please contact: info@scotesports.org. If…
A new qualification in esports was developed last year — HNC in Esports, which follows on from NPA Esports. The validation event took place in June. We had originally planned to launch the qualification this session (session 2025/26) but no centre came forward so it will be offered from next session (session 2026/27). Although we were disappointed in that, it did give us more time to address the validation conditions, which we are currently working through. It will also give…
I’ve previously written about the various ways in which you can contribute to Scottish education by working with SQA in various capacities. There is one particularly vital role, that of the External Verifier (EV). External verification is SQA’s quality control system, whereby a team of EVs monitor the delivery of qualifications to ensure that national standards are observed in every centre. We’re currently looking for new EVs. The only pre-conditions are that you work in an SQA centre and have…
As you may know may, the “subject team” within SQA comprises me, Emma and Helen. We are collectively responsible for developing and maintaining vocational Computing qualifications such as NPA Cyber Security and HNC Computing. We’re easily contactable — either by email or instant messaging. Other subject teams are responsible for National Qualifications (such as Higher Computing Science) and digital qualifications (such as PC Passport). Of course, we can’t do our job without you. We need practitioners to help us develop…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The web log of the qualification team for Computing within SQA. Look out for news about Computing qualifications and related information.
