SQA Centre News

Verification of National 1 and 2 during 2014-15

In session 2014-15 there will be a mix of visiting verification and central verification for National 1 and 2.

While we continue to recognise the value of central verification, the introduction of visiting verification will allow verifiers to see the nature and amount of support given to candidates when completing their assessments, and offer support and reassurances to centres that the assessment judgements they are making at National 1 and 2 are appropriate and acceptable.

Verification activity, for both visiting and central verification, will take place during February 2015. Centres selected for verification of National 1 and 2 will be notified via the NQ QA software on SQA Connect on 2 December 2014, along with any National 3 to Higher selections.

The selection information will advise if the verification is to be by visit or event. For event verification, the uplift of materials will be on 15 January 2015. For visiting verification, actual visit dates will be organised with the centres after the selections have been issued.

Should you have any questions regarding verification of National 1 and 2, please contact nqverification@sqa.org.uk.
Continue reading CPD Bulletin 27th October →

SQA CENTRE UPDATES

Upcoming NQ key dates: Assessment Arrangements Requests

The Assessment Arrangements Request system will be available from Tuesday 21 October. On our secure website you will be able to find instructions on how to submit AA requests for candidates with English as an additional language (EAL) and candidates who wish to use ICT in external exams.

Find further information about guidance on assessment arrangements
Continue reading CPD Bulletin 20th October →

• SQA Centre News

Arrangements for Highers in 2015-16

Session 2014-15 is the final session in which the existing Higher will run in centres; from August 2015, only the new Higher will be available. Any candidates wishing to undertake a Higher Course in 2015-16 will be required to follow the new Higher. As a result, candidates who receive a ‘No Award’ result for an existing Higher Course in 2015 will be unable to re-sit the Course assessment in 2016.

However, SQA is putting an arrangement in place to support these candidates, by including the existing Higher Units in the new Higher Course Frameworks with a finish date of 31 July 2016. Until this date, candidates who have passed all of the Units in an existing Higher Course, but not achieved the Course assessment, may have their Unit passes carried across to the new Higher Course.    Find out more…

Question paper time extended for National 5 Geography

The 2015 National 5 Geography exam will be extended by 15 minutes.

Candidates will now have 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete the question paper. This follows recent feedback from practitioners.

The 2015 exam timetable on our website has been updated to reflect this change.
Continue reading CPD Bulletin 13th October →

CPD BULLETIN 29th September

SQA CENTRE NEWS

Subject updates: September 2014

To date, we have published the following subject updates:

• Art and Design, Photography
• Biology, Biotechnology, Environmental Science, Human Biology, Science
• Chemistry
• Computing Science
• Dance
• Drama
• Engineering Science, Graphic Communication, Practical Woodworking, Practical Metalworking, Practical Electronics
• Modern Languages
• Physical Education
• Physics

These new-look updates are available from the relevant subject pages of our website. Further subject updates will be published by the end of September.
Continue reading CPD Bulletin 29th September →

SQA CENTE UPDATE

Candidate entries

The candidate entry process opens on Monday 22 September 2014.

It is essential that you, and your subject departments, use the most up-to-date code numbers for our qualifications. You can check these in the Catalogue of National Qualifications, which you can find at www.sqa.org.uk/nq.

This is especially important in session 2014-15, while we are dual-running the existing Higher and new Higher qualifications.

When submitting candidate entries for Higher please remember that the codes for the two suites of qualifications are different. All Course codes for the existing Higher start with C0, C1 or C2, and have level identifier 12; all Course codes for the new Higher start with C7, and have level identifier 76. For example, the Course codes for Higher English are as follows:

• English existing Higher C270/12
• English new Higher C724/76

More detailed information on the entry process is available in Section 8 of Delivering National Qualifications: Guide for SQA Co-ordinators 2014-15, which can be found on SQA Connect

Continue reading CPD Bulletin 22nd September →