How Are NQs Assessed?


 

Unit assessments are tasks that are set and marked against national standards by teachers and lecturers in schools and colleges. This is known as an internal assessment.

Most National Courses from Intermediate 1 to Advanced Higher include an external assessment. This can be an exam, project work or folio, which is completed during the Course and then marked by SQA. How well the candidate does in the external assessment determines the grade for the Course.

Access 2 and 3 and Skills for Work Courses are assessed by teachers or lecturers and have no final exam. Marking is checked by SQA.

Achieving Grades

For Intermediate 1 to Advanced Higher Courses

Grades are awarded on the basis of how well a student does in the external assessment. To pass a Course, a student has to pass all three National Units as well as achieve a grade in the external assessment (where there is one). Intermediate 1 to Advanced Higher Courses are awarded at Grades A-D.

There is a comprehensive appeals system for students who do not perform as well as expected.

Access 2 and 3 and Skills for Work National Courses are ungraded. Students pass the National Units that make up the Course to achieve the qualification.

Core Skills

Core Skills are the essential skills that help people through their education, training, work and life. They are often built into National Units and National Courses, so students don't have to sit additional assessments, but they can also be studied as Units in their own right. The Core Skills are:

  • Communication
  • Numeracy
  • Problem Solving
  • Information Technology
  • Working with Others

Everyone who achieves SQA qualifications automatically gets a Core Skills Profile - a listing of all the Core Skills they've achieved - on their Scottish Qualifications Certificate.

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)

To understand how NQs and other qualifications relate to each other, you need to know a bit about the SCQF.

The SCQF is a way of comparing and understanding Scottish Qualifications. It does this by giving qualifications level and credit points. These show how demanding the learning for a qualification is, and roughly how long it takes to achieve the qualification.

  • The level of a qualification show how difficult it is. There are 12 levels in the SCQF, level 1 being the least difficult and level 12 the most difficult.
  • The number of SCQF credit points shows how much learning has to be done to achieve the qualification. One SCQF credit point equals about 10 hours of learning (including assessment). So a student achieving a qualification with 24 SCQF credit points will have done approximately 240 hours of learning.

Levels and credit points are shown on the certificates we issue to students.

The table below shows how SQA qualifications and those awarded by universities fit into the SCQF.

SCQF Levels

SQA National Units, Courses and Group Awards

Universities and colleges

SVQ

12

 

Doctorate

 

11

 

Masters Degree

SVQ 5

10

 

Honours Degree

 

9

 

Ordinary Degree

 

8

 

Higher National Diploma

SVQ 4

7

Advanced Higher

Higher National Certificate

 

6

Higher

 

SVQ 3

5

Intermediate 2/Standard Grade Credit

 

SVQ 2

4

Intermediate 1/ Standard Grade General

 

SVQ 1

3

Access 3/Standard Grade Foundation

 

 

2

Access 2

 

 

1

Access 1

 

 


More information

Our Customer Contact Centre can provide more information about any of our qualifications. There are also some other useful publications that you can request or download from our website:

Useful web addresses

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