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…
SQA was the first awarding body in the UK to introduce a qualification in online safety when we produced a National Unit entitled Internet Safety in 2007. The Unit quickly became popular in Scottish schools and colleges. Some schools required every pupil to undertake it early in their secondary education (typically S2). The original Unit was updated in 2012 and the current version is used within the Award in Internet Safety, which became available at the same time. Such is the…
We’ve had a great deal of interest in the new Cyber Security qualifications. Not only the NPAs but also the National Unit. The most common comment is: “My school is interested in offering these awards but I’m not sure how I go about it.” So, here is an update on the current position. Both the National Unit and the National Progression Awards are available now. These qualifications are auto-approved for all Scottish schools and colleges. The NPAs have a Group Award…
As you may know, the NPAs in Cyber Security and Digital Literacy have recently been developed. The next stage is the production of Assessment Support Packs (ASPs). We have moved away from paper ASPs to a combined online and offline version. We still produce ASPs for new Units but we take out the knowledge part and offer that through SOLAR, which is SQA’s e-testing system, leaving a stripped down version of the ASP, normally containing only the practical assessment(s). The training…
I previously mentioned a new service called uShare, which is designed to help you find resources for delivering SQA qualifications. I’m pleased to tell you that two Computing qualifications are now available on that service. The NPAs in Cyber Security and Digital Passport now have resources listed for them. You can access the resources on the home page for each qualification. The Cyber Security page is here and the Digital Passport page is here (scroll to the bottom to see the resources). Some (not…
I got back from holiday this morning to discover that all of the Units within the NPAs in Cyber Security have now been published. There are nine units in total (three at each SCQF Level) [PDFs]. Data Security (Level 4) Data Security (Level 5) Data Security (Level 6) Digital Forensics (Level 4) Digital Forensics (Level 5) Digital Forensics (Level 6) Ethical Hacking (Level 4) Ethical Hacking (Level 5) Ethical Hacking (Level 6) We’re pretty pleased with these new National Units. The…
SQA has recently launched a new service to centres called “uShare”, which is “a new online community and resource that allows users to share links to open learning and teaching materials”. The online service can be found at: http://ushare.education/Ushare/Home. The idea behind the service is for teachers to help teachers by sharing resources, which might be a document, video or podcast. Contributors can add resources and explain how they can be used within a qualification, and users can rate each resource…
