Higher National modernisation programme
Regular readers will know that we’ve been involved, along with some other subjects, in a big development programme called “Next Generation Higher National Qualifications”. This seems a good time to update you about what’s been happening.
The “Next Gen” programme is more than updating the contents of Higher National Qualifications (HNQs) — although it certainly does that. It redesigns them in quite fundamental ways and introduces qualification grading (“Achieved”, “Merit” or “Distinction”).
Four existing qualifications have been updated and one new qualification has been introduced. These are:
- HNC Computing
- HND Computer Science
- HND Data Science (new)
- HND Networking & Cloud Infrastructure (new-ish)
- HND Software Development.
This has involved developing 70 new or revised Higher National units, ranging from Artificial Intelligence to Probability & Statistics.
HNC Computing was piloted last year in two Scottish colleges and this year HND Networking & Cloud Infrastructure and HND Software Development will be piloted. The purpose of piloting is to test the qualifications before making them more widely available to centres. We learned a lot from last year’s pilot and made changes to HNC Computing as a result. I’m sure this year’s pilots will be equally informative.
Please contact Amy if you want to know more about Next Gen.
