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…
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…
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…
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).…
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…
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…
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…
Regular readers will know that we’re currently in the consultation phase of developing HNC Esports. This involves interviews with key stakeholders (currently being carried out by the lead developer) and also some quantitative research. I would appreciate if you would spare of few minutes to complete this short survey on what you think should be included in the qualification. https://forms.office.com/e/1DuJVZZ70R Your contribution would be greatly appreciated and will help shape the qualification. Please contact Megan for more information about this…
The first national conference organised by Esports Scotland was held at the University of the West of Scotland on Friday. The day comprised talks from leading practitioners in Scotland. There was a good attendance with the event being over-subscribed. SQA was invited to talk about national qualifications in esports. A practising teacher spoke about how her school delivered NPA Esports, and I gave a presentation on progress with developing HNC Esports. The timing of the conference was perfect since we’re…
I’m delighted to let you know that NPA Computing Technologies is now available to Scottish schools and colleges. Here are the subject pages for each level: NPA Computing Technologies Level 4 NPA Computing Technologies Level 5 NPA Computing Technologies Level 6 You’ll find the Group Award Specification (GAS) for each level on each page. The GAS contains important information about the qualification structure, contents, delivery and assessment. We’ve previously posted links to each of the units within the qualification. My…
As regular readers will know, we’re in the process of developing HNC Esports. A lead developer has now been selected and we’re about to commence consultation and research about what should be included in the qualification. This involves quantitative and qualitative research. The lead developer will carry out a number of personal interviews with specific individuals, and the SQA team will create a survey to find out what people want. The lead developer then pulls together the findings to come…
As part of SQA’s annual Connections week, we had a session on the new National Progression Award (NPA) in Computing Technology. This qualification was developed last session and the lead developer (a practising teacher) delivered yesterday’s session. There was an excellent turnout, with 25 people in attendance, which illustrates the interest in this new qualification. I took the opportunity to let people know that the qualification is now validated! It’s taken a while but we got there. We’re now in…
The first meeting of the Qualification Development Team (QDT) for HNC Esports took place yesterday. Thirteen members, representing schools, colleges, universities and national organisations, attended. The purpose of the first meeting of any QDT is to kick-off the development and provide some background to members. We discussed a number of topics including the remit of QDTs, the design rules for Next Gen qualifications and briefly discussed some possible ideas for the qualification. I also explained the role of the lead developer…
SQA has a long tradition of working with educators, employers, national organisations and other stakeholders to develop and maintain qualifications. An important part of that collaboration is the various committees that help us carry out our work. The Sector Panel provides strategic advice about developments in the computing sector that affect qualifications, with the aim of ensuring that qualifications are relevant. The Qualifications Support Team (QST) provides advice about the kinds of support that centres need to deliver SQA awards;…
There was a good response to the request for members of the Qualification Development Team (QDT) for HNC Esports. The QDT has now been constituted and the work of developing the qualification is underway. QDTs play a vital role in qualification development in Scotland. They comprise representatives of schools, colleges, universities, training organisations, national organisations and employers, and are responsible for designing the qualification and developing its contents. This qualification is part of SQA’s Next Gen initiative so, once developed,…
