Scots Language – Entry to the Award

Malcolm Wilson Published August 7, 2015

For teachers or lecturers who have never delivered an Award, it can seem quite daunting to take on this new type of SQA qualification. In reality, it’s fairly simple to enter your students for any of our Awards.

The Award is made up of Units, without an externally set examination. This means it is not tied to an exam diet, and can be delivered flexibly to suit your timetable.

Any candidate who meets the requirements for the Award (i.e. the requisite Units), will automatically receive the Award. Certification happens throughout the year, so if a candidate completes the final Unit in an Award at the beginning of October, they should receive their certificate by the end of the month.

For Scots Language, the constituent Units are the History and Development Unit, and the Understanding and Communicating Unit. These are automatically approved, meaning that a centre is free to offer them to candidates without first having to seek approval from SQA. Each of the Units is available at SCQF Levels 3, 4, 5, and 6; and a candidate who completes Units at different levels would receive the Award at the lower of the two levels. The Units are worth 6 SCQF Credit points at each level.

To enter a candidate for either Units or an Award, you should let your SQA Co-ordinator know, to formally enter them on the system in the same way as any other Units.

The Scottish Studies Award is slightly more complex, due to the larger number of Units contained within. For information on these Units, please see the Approval and Guidance document.

You can read more about our suite of Awards, and how to deliver them here.

If you have any questions about the structure of Awards, or how to enter candidates, our Customer Contact Centre will be able to help.

Marilyn and Malcolm