As some of you are already aware, the revised NPA in PC Passport was validated in April, and is now available to centres. You can find all relevant information for this qualification on a subject page on our website and in the FAQ. The FAQ contains useful links to the Group Award Specification and unit specifications. This qualification is supported with the Assessment Support Packs (ASPs). The following packs have been developed and are available on SQA Secure website: SCQF level 4:…
A number of NPA PC Passport Assessment Support Packs have recently been published. These ASPs have been developed to support the delivery of the new PC Passport Units. The following PC Passport ASPs are now available to centres on SQA’s Secure Website – www.sqa.org/sqasecure SCQF level 4: Web Apps: Presentations (HA6J 44) Web Apps: Spreadsheets (HA6L 44) Web Apps: Word Processing (HA6M 44) SCQF level 6: Web Apps: Word Processing (HA6M 46) We are aiming for the rest of the…
Prodigy Learning and Microsoft are offering unlimited free MOS exams to SQA centres in Scotland this May and June to Certify Scotland! All SQA centres in Scotland are being offered the opportunity to register and deliver unlimited MOS exams for free (to registered students at their Centre) until June 30, 2016! As part of the campaign, Prodigy Learning is providing eligible SQA centres: • Free registration and setup as a Certiport Test Centre • Free unlimited GMetrix MOS Practice Tests…
We’ve had a lot of enquiries about the new PC Passport. One of the most common questions is: can I still run the current award next year? The current award goes into lapsing in January next year (2017) and we will continue to accept entries for the “old” award until then. So if you have plans to offer the current version of PC Passport next year (session 2016/17) then there will be no problems — so long as you get your…
I got good news this morning. PC Passport has been validated. A number of conditions were placed on the award at the recent validation event, and it has taken time to address these conditions but I’m delighted to let you know that the revised award is now validated. Emma is now busy “operationalising” the new award. That means adding codes, publishing the Group Award Specification, and creating a subject page. This will all be done in the next week or two. In the…
I attended an event about future trends in technology at the Microsoft offices in Edinburgh last Thursday. It was an interesting day – and very useful for me to think about how well the current qualification portfolio matches what’s happening in the wider world. The event focussed on data security, mobility, data science and the cloud. There are qualifications in all of these areas such as the new NPA awards in Cyber Security (data security), the NPA in Mobile Technology (mobility),…
I’ve received a few enquiries about the review of PC Passport so I thought that it would be a good time to provide an update. PC Passport was originally introduced in 2004 and first reviewed in 2007. We commenced the second review in 2013. This second review was “parked” for a while since it was decided to split the development into two: one to develop a new suite of qualifications entitled “Digital Passport” and one to update PC Passport. Digital…
The validation of PC Passport took place today in the SQA offices in Glasgow. The Validation Panel was made up of representatives of colleges, employers and SQA. The purpose of a validation event is for fresh eyes to review the proposed changes to a qualification. The Qualification Development Team (QDT) presented a new Group Award Specification and explained the reasons behind the choices that we have made. It was a good meeting, held in a constructive spirit, with both sides trying to…
I am meeting with Microsoft later today to discuss the new version of PC Passport (working title PC Passport 2016). So it seemed like a good time to update the FAQ. I know that many of you are interested in how this development is coming along and the FAQ should answer all of your questions at this time. The qualification is on schedule to be available to centres in January 2016. We’re currently working on the Group Award Specification and…
I’ve been meaning to find the time to update you about PC Passport. This award has been under review since January, when the first QDT meeting took place. We’ve made a lot of progress since then. The qualification FAQ summarises the current state of the development. We’ve agreed a structure (at all three levels) and we are currently writing the units. They’re coming along well. We hope to validate the qualification late 2015 and have it available to centres from January…
