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The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is a new way of understanding qualifications in Scotland. Its main purpose is to make the relationships between qualifications clearer. This, in turn, will make progression and transfer between qualifications easier.

The Framework describes all Scottish qualifications in terms of their level and credit value.

The framework has 12 levels. Level 1 represents Outcomes designed for learners with severe and profound learning difficulties. Level 12 contains Outcomes associated with doctoral studies.
The credit value, which is the number of points a qualification has, says how big the qualification is or in other words how much it is worth. One point represents a notional 10 hours of effort by the learner.

The SCQF is managed and developed by a partnership of national bodies, which includes SQA.

In diagram form the SCQF looks like this:

Levels in the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
SCQF level	SQA National Units, Courses and Group Awards	Higher Education	SVQs	SCQF level
12		Doctorate		12
11		Masters	SVQ 5	11
10		Honours degree Graduate Diploma		10
9		Ordinary degree Graduate Certificate		9
8		Higher National Diploma Diploma in Higher Education	SVQ 4	8
7	Advanced Higher Certificate in Higher Education	Higher National Certificate		7
6	Higher		SVQ 3	6
5	Intermediate 2 Credit Standard Grade		SVQ 2	5
4	Intermediate 1 General Standard Grade		SVQ 1	4
3	Access 3 Foundation Standard Grade			3
2	Access 2			2
1	Access 1			1