NPA Data Science update
My apologies for the lack of information about this development. It’s been a while since I shared information about it. I had hoped to have the refreshed qualification available to centres for the start of this term (August) but a number of factors prevented that.
As previously stated, the structure of the qualification is unchanged. But some of the units (including the mandatory units) have been revised. These are:
- Data Science (Levels 4, 5, 6)
- Data Citizenship (Levels 4, 5, 6)
- Machine Learning (Levels 5, 6).
The Data Citizenship and Machine Learning units are complete and awaiting publishing. The Data Science units are being finalised. All of the units will be published by the end of this month and available on the SQA website. I’ve had several enquiries about the Statistics in Data Science units (Levels 5 and 6) so these too may be revised in the coming year.
It was always the intention to run the existing award alongside the revised award for the current session so, if you’re currently offering the qualification, there’s no need to change anything. You can choose to offer the revised versions (once they’re published) if you wish to do so since both old and new units will still receive group award certification (or you can mix them). That will likely remain the position (being able to mix and match old and new) until session 2026/27.
New support materials (assessments) will be developed for the revised units (including Machine Learning) during the next few months.
Please contact Gayle for more information about the current or revised awards.
