Every year I’m asked to appoint (or re-appoint) my team of External Verifiers (EVs) around this time of the year. I’m in the process of doing that now for session 2017/18. I like to rotate my team by adding one or two new EVs each year. So, please let Helen know if you are interested in joining the team. We’re particularly looking for school and university representatives but we’re also short of training centre representation. The work of an EV…
I’ve received several requests from people asking if there is a dedicated support group for teachers who are delivering the new NPAs in Cyber Security. There isn’t. As a result, I’ve created a dedicated group on Yammer. The group is intended for teachers and lecturers who deliver the NPAs – and anyone else with an interest in this curricular area. The Computing team in SQA has a Yammer network, which has almost 150 members, and you have to join that…
I’ve recently received notification that the subject page for the new HNC Data Analytics is now available and the subject page for the updated HNC/D Computer Games Development has now been revised. Subject pages are “one-stop-shops” for everything that you need to know about a particular qualification. You can see a list of Computing subject pages here.
I’ve previously mentioned issues surrounding maths within Computing qualifications. There are some long-term issues, such as the absence of maths as a mandatory component in HND Computer Science, but matters were brought to a head when the Maths team in SQA revised some units, generally lowering their level. I’ve now formed a short-life working group (SLWG) to look into these issues. There are representatives of SQA, colleges and universities on the group. The group met last week. It was a productive meeting. We agreed…
We’ve had a busy week, kicking off a number of developments. In addition to the NPAs that I recently mentioned, me and Emma also met with the consultants responsible for scoping NC Computer Games Development and NPA Computer Games Development. This means that, at this time, we have commenced the review of the following non-advanced awards: NPA Computer Games Development (SCQF Levels 4, 5 and 6) NC Computer Games Development (SCQF Levels 5 and 6) NPA Software Development (SCQF Level…
We have commenced the reviews of some NPAs. These are: NPA Software Development (SCQF Level 4) NPA Digital Media Basics (SCQF Level 4) NPA Digital Media Editing (SCQF Level 5) NPA Web Design Fundamentals (SCQF Level 5) Two school teachers are leading these reviews. These awards are particularly popular in Scottish schools. At this time, we are scoping the changes required for each award. We hope to have the scoping completed by the end of April. Scoping doesn’t actually involve…
The Lead Person Network (LPN) event took place yesterday in the Radisson Hotel in Glasgow. This replaced the annual Heads of Computing event, which had been running for years previously (the one exception being last year). The event went well. It was the usual mix of updates, keynotes and networking. I was both MC and presenter at the event. My presentation summarised changes to qualifications. The keynote, from Andy Neagle of Microsoft, was particularly interesting, and the demonstration of virtual reality,…
The annual update event takes place on Friday (10 March) at the Radison Hotel in Glasgow. The team will be there to provide updates on a wide range of qualifications and the agenda includes a keynote talk (from Microsoft) and a demonstration of virtual reality. There are still places available so please register online if you want to attend. It’s open to anyone with an interest in vocational education. Contact Helen if you want to know more or,simply, register directly.
The web log of the qualification team for Computing within SQA. Look out for news about Computing qualifications and related information.
