Happy New Year!
Me and the team wish you all a Happy New Year and a successful 2024. I posted a review of 2023 just before Christmas and I want to outline what we hope to achieve this year in this message.
There are three on-going developments right now. We’re in the middle of developing NPA Computing, which will be ready for session 2024/25, refreshing NPA Data Science, also ready for next session, and continuing to pilot new Higher National Qualifications (HNQs), specifically HNC Computing, HND Networking & Cloud Infrastructure and HND Software Development.
NPA Computing is an entirely new suite of awards (at SCQF Levels 4, 5 and 6), which, we hope, will sit alongside National Qualifications as an alternative to learners in schools and colleges. The qualification is taking shape and will include a mix of the old (hardware, software, programming, etc.) and the new (AI, games, cyber, data, etc.). The changes to NPA Data Science are relatively small. The framework isn’t going to change but a number of the units (including the mandatory units) are being refreshed. Please contact Gayle if you want to know more about these developments.
We’re aware of the huge focus on AI and we’re actively considering how best to ensure that learners can specialise in this field if they wish to do so.
The changes to HNQs are the biggest in a generation and I’ve good news for centres that want to get involved. Watch this space!
Finally, I hope you choose to get involved with SQA this year, if you don’t already do so. SQA is unique (in the UK) in the way that we involve practitioners (teachers, lecturers and trainers) in qualification development and maintenance. We’re always looking for people to help with qualification development or serve on one of our committees or work as an External Quality Assurer (External Verifier). Please contact Megan if you want to know more.
