As many of you will be aware, we are at the final stage of developing the HND Cyber Security, which will be available for delivery from August 2019. More information about this development can be found in our blog post here. As part of the development process, SQA seeks feedback on qualifications as they are being developed. Therefore, before we take the award to validation in May, we would greatly appreciate your views on the qualification so far. The link…
The validation event for HNC Data Analytics took place yesterday afternoon. The meeting took place in the SQA offices in Glasgow. The Validation Panel included representatives of colleges, universities, training providers and SQA (the industry representative was unable to attend). The Panel was convened by Vivien Gallagher of Forth Valley College. The Qualification Development Team (QDT) was led by Denise Doyle of City of Glasgow College. It was a positive and constructive meeting, with both parties trying to improve the…
The validation event for the revised HNC/D Interactive Media took place in June and since then we’ve been addressing the conditions and recommendations. We’re just about there. The only task that remains is finalising the Graded Units. As noted previously, the revised qualification has new titles: 1. HNC Digital Design & Web Development 2. HND Digital Design & Development 3. HND Web Development. I’m delighted with how these awards have turned out. They have been thoroughly updated with new titles, new…
I am delighted to announce that the PDA in Software Development has now been validated. I got the good news today. The validation took place in December and resulted in a few conditions for the QDT to address, the main one of which was to validate all of the component Units. All of the conditions have now been addressed. This development commenced in June, so today’s news brings to an end a project that has taken six months and produced three new qualifications: GL15…
The validation event for the new PDA in Software Development took place yesterday in the SQA offices in Glasgow. The validation panel consisted of representatives of colleges, universities, employers and SQA. The purpose of a validation event is for a group of independent experts to scrutinise a new (or revised) qualification. I’m pleased to report that the panel liked the proposed award, describing it as “needed” and “very good”. Some improvements were suggested (but none that related to the structure or…
I recently posted about the forthcoming validation of this new suite of awards. It will take place on Tuesday, 15 December in the SQA offices in Glasgow. A strong panel has been selected to scrutinise the awards. The development was announced in June but, due to the academic calendar, didn’t commence until late August. So, it’s been a speedy development. But, I think, it’s been thorough. Almost 100 representatives participated in the research (including 28 employers) and the results are…
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…
This development is progressing well. The lead developer is currently writing the Group Award Specification (GAS) and QDT members are writing the component Units. We’re producing nine new units in total: Software Development: Analysis & Design (SCQF 7/8/9) Software Development: Implementation & Testing (SCQF 7/8/9) Software Development: Project (SCQF 7/8/9) We’re currently consulting on the development so please complete the online survey. It will only take five minutes of your time and will provide invaluable feedback to the QDT. The validation event…
I came into good news this morning — the NPA Digital Literacy at SCQF Level 3 has now been validated. A number of conditions and recommendations were placed on it at the recent validation event, but these have now been addressed. This (almost) brings to a conclusion a development that commenced last February. The final stage is to “operationalise” the qualification (code it, put it on the website, add it to our database, etc.) so that centres can register candidates for…
The validation event for the revised NPA in Digital Literacy was held this morning. The Validation Panel was chaired by Loraine Johnston of Ayrshire College. I’m pleased to report that the qualification was validated with a few conditions and recommendations. There is nothing major to change. The qualification structure was approved without change and the rationale and aims of the award were accepted (with minor changes). The Panel made helpful comments about assessment, core skills and employment opportunities. It won’t take…
I came into good news this morning. The convenor of the Validation Panel (Professor Bill Buchanan) has lifted the conditions imposed at the recent validation event. So we can now proceed to operationalising the awards. We hope to have the NPAs available to centres from 1 August. Please note that the component units are available now. Scotland is the first country to develop this kind of national qualification for schools. We won’t be the last. It seeks to fill a critical…
The validation event for the NPAs in Cyber Security took place yesterday in Glasgow. I am delighted to report that the award was validated, subject to a couple of conditions and recommendations. The purpose of validation is for fresh eyes to check the proposed qualification. Members of the Validation Panel must have had no involvement in the qualification development. A validation event is a meeting of peers (it’s not an inspection of a proposed award) with the aim of making it…
The web log of the qualification team for Computing within SQA. Look out for news about Computing qualifications and related information.
