Preparing a Validation Proposal Document

Proposals for the validation of PDAs should be presented in the form of a Validation Proposal Document. The Validation Proposal Document should take the following format:

Title page
Contents page
Introduction
Rationale for the award
Aims of the award including, where appropriate, the development of transferable skills.
Recommended access to the award
Structure of the award
Approaches to delivery and assessment
Appendices
— Unit specifications
— supporting evidence

There is more on each of these aspects below.

1 Title page

The title page should give:

the title of the Group Award. This will be ‘Professional Development Award in XXXX at SCQF level X’
the date of the validation meeting

The title of the PDA should give clear information about the vocational competences required. One of the purposes of the PDA is to certificate a set of specialised skills in a particular vocational area and the title should reflect the specialism/vocational area as closely and concisely as possible.

So it may be that rather than a Professional Development Award in Administration at SCQF level 7, it would be better to have a Professional Development Award in Administration for Practice Managers at SCQF level 7.

PDAs could have the same title but must be distinguished at SCQF level. If PDAs with the same title are developed at different levels, the validation proposal must show distinct rationales, aims and skills that would be acquired at each level.

Note It is not possible to have different PDAs with the same name at the same SCQF level.

2 Introduction

This should be a brief introduction to the PDA. The information given might include:

whether the PDA is new or a revision to an existing PDA
what it broadly seeks to do — eg provide skills for an occupational area
what it might give individuals — eg improved professional practice or continuing professional development

3 Rationale for the award

The rationale should provide a justification for the new or revised PDA. The information given in this section should be supported by market research or employer support. This will include:

the nature and purpose of the Group Award. This should include information about key competences, which should be commensurate with the PDA title — see guidance under 1
how it meets employers’ needs
how it meets needs for specific skills within a professional area
how the structure/framework will meet the skills’ needs
information to show that the level of the PDA is commensurate with the SCQF descriptor for that level
the target client group
progression routes, increased employment opportunities, continuous professional development and links to and from other existing qualifications, eg a specialised set of skills which builds on a general HNC or providing a specialised set of skills without doing an HNC
links to occupational standards — this is essential, and Qualification Design Teams should provide a mapping of the alignment of National Occupational Standards or other professional body requirements to specific Units within the PDA
brief details of changes, if this is a revised Group Award

4 Aims of the award

The Aims section should provide an explanation of how aims will be met through structure, content, and the needs of its users (especially candidates and employers) and there should be evidence of employer support for the aims identified. Aims should be appropriate to the target employment sector. All PDAs will have specific aims and they may also have other more general aims.

Specific aims
The specific aims of the PDA are important as they define the vocationally specific competences that the successful candidate will achieve. Specific aims might include:

development of specific knowledge
development of specific skills
improving professional effectiveness in a specific area
leadership skills in a specific area
application of knowledge to new technology
meeting a skills gap identified by employer

Other aims
Other aims might include some general aims and/or opportunities to develop Core Skills and/or other transferable skills. This will depend on the PDA and the vocational area it serves. In some cases, general aims and core/transferable skills may be incorporated into specific aims. This is particularly the case where a PDA serves a general area, such as Management.

For example, some of the specific aims of the PDA in Personal Enterprise at SCQF level 9 include the development of high level transferable skills, such as enterprise skills and project management skills, but this might not be the case in a PDA that deals with Road Haulage, which may be more focused on specific technical skills.

General aims might include:

personal development
professional development
career progression
job mobility

Where Core Skills and/or other transferable skills will be developed, these should be included in this section.

Core Skills are at SCQF levels 2–6 and are identified in the Core Skills framework. They are:

Communication
Numeracy
Information Technology
Working with Others
Problem Solving

Transferable skills will most likely lie outwith the type and range included in the Core Skills framework — especially those at higher SCQF levels. Transferable skills may include:

enterprise skills
technology skills
analytical skills
management skills
business skills
project management skills
managing change skills
learning and study skills
planning skills
evaluative skills

5 Recommended access

This section should outline the type of qualification and/or experience and/or knowledge and skills candidates would typically possess before embarking on the PDA. Some points that should be considered include the following:

Prior knowledge and skills — given that PDAs cover a wide range of vocational areas and work situations, consideration should be given to those who may not possess formal qualifications but who do have substantive experience of operating at the required level
Formal qualifications — it may be that candidates will hold a qualification in the same area or a different area but at a similar level or have an out-of-date qualification, but have transferable skills and potential to undertake the PDA as part of continuing professional development (CPD)
Advice on any bridging programme from an existing level of knowledge and skills to that required for entry to the PDA. For example, a candidate may have skills at SCQF level 7 but is embarking on a PDA at SCQF level 9, so he/she may need to bridge the gap between 7 and 9. Another example is that a PDA may require well-developed written communication. Candidates may possess good vocational skills but need to do something to enhance their written skills before embarking on the PDA

6 Structure of the award

PDAs at SCQF level 6 will be achieved on the successful completion of at least two Units (at least 12 SCQF credit points). At least half the SCQF credits must be at the level of the award.

PDAs from SCQF levels 7–12 will be achieved on the successful completion of at least two Units (at least 16 SCQF credit points). At least half the SCQF credits must be at the level of the award.

This section should show that, overall, the content of the PDA meets the identified aims of the Group Award; does not place unnecessary barriers to achievement; and represents an achievement consistent with the SCQF level of the Group Award.

This section must contain the following:

A copy of the framework with:
— validated Unit titles
— Unit codes
— SCQF credit points (eg 8 SCQF credit points)
— SCQF level (eg SCQF level 7)
— SQA credit value (eg 1 HN credit, 2 HN credits, 1 NQ credit, etc)
— the mandatory/optional structure. This must ensure that all optional routes meet the requirements of the Group Award in terms of SCQF levels and credit points and the aims of the award
Information on how the combination of Units meets the SCQF level of the Group Award, eg how some Units may be ‘building’ Units and contribute to higher level Units that define the output at a specific level, or which are the main Units that develop the specific vocational skills that are required at the specific level of the Group Award. In the case of having only two Units of equal credit points, a rationale for the Group Award level should be given, eg whether one of the Units is a building Unit
Information on the way the Units link to the specific aims of the Group Award. An example of this is given in a grid format in Appendix 6 of the Guide to Professional Development awards: from inception to implementation.
Information on how the National Occupational Standards or other professional body requirements align to the Group Award and Units within it. An example of this is given in Appendix 5 of the Guide to Professional Development Award: from inception to implementation
Details of any exemption from assessment or requirements for professional body registration
Information on whether the PDA or Units of the PDA provide advanced entry/articulation with other programmes of study

7 Approaches to delivery and assessment

PDAs are primarily designed for those in work or preparing to go into employment. As such, the validation panel need to be assured that the possible approaches to delivery and assessment will result in the continuous professional development and progression skills that PDAs are designed to deliver. For this reason, the Validation Proposal Document should give guidance on:

how assessment, teaching and learning approaches can bring coherence to the PDA rather than just being the delivery of individual Units
the approaches the course team might take when organising the delivery of the Group Award
how learning and teaching approaches might use existing experiences or the workplace to embed learning
sequencing or integrating Units
assessment strategy
suggestions for integrating content and/or Units and/or assessment
possible modes of delivery — this should include full-time, part-time, flexible and open learning. An explanation should be given on how delivery and assessment may/would be affected/changed if different modes were used. This is especially important because many candidates will be undertaking a PDA whilst in employment
an explanation of how best to develop Core Skills and/or other transferable skills, if these have been included in the aims of the award

The additional support needs of individual candidates should be taken into account when planning learning experiences, selecting assessment instruments or considering alternative Outcomes for Units. For information on these, please refer to SQA's Assessment Arrangements Resource Pack.

8 General information for candidates

This should provide a user-friendly text that can be given to candidates. This should include information on:

the main skills/knowledge provided by the PDA
the conditions they need to meet to achieve the Group Award
the contribution the successful completion of the PDA could make to their job/career/progression
what types of learning and assessment activities they might be involved in
the Core Skills and/or other transferable skills that might be gained from undertaking the PDA

9 Unit Specifications

The Validation Proposal Document should contain a complete set of specifications for all Units, mandatory and optional, as appropriate, that make up the Group Award framework. Where this involves a large number of Units, as a minimum the document should contain copies of the first section headed ‘General Information for centres’ for all Units.