Subjects & Qualifications

Personal Development

Courses leading to National Qualifications in Personal Development (PD) are offered at Access 2, Access 3, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2 and Higher. Full details of the Course content and assessment arrangements are contained in the relevant Arrangements documents. Candidates who complete these Courses will gain Core Skills in both Problem Solving and Working with Others. More detailed information on the Core Skills delivered by the Courses and Units in Personal Development is provided in the publication Automatic Certification of Core Skills, which is available on the SQA website at www.sqa.org.uk.

The overall aims of these Courses are to provide candidates with opportunities to gain knowledge of and develop the following personal, social and vocational skills and qualities:

task management skills such as planning, organising, prioritising tasks and checking the quality of own work
interpersonal skills such as how to work in a group, being sensitive to the feelings of others and speaking to a group
self awareness, self reliance, self esteem and self confidence
self evaluation skills, including use of appropriate evaluation techniques, reviewing and target setting.

The Courses are context free and allow candidates to participate in a range of activities which reflect their own situation and development needs. The range of contexts is unlimited and could, for example, include involvement in projects relating to the community, enterprise, health education, citizenship, world of work or independent living.

Course Assessment:

At all levels the Course assessment is based on the achievement within the Units. Candidates who successfully achieve all the Units in the Course will receive a Course award. This award is ungraded.

Assessment Objectives:

Assessment in these Courses allow candidates to demonstrate the development of interpersonal skills and task management skills. It also allows candidates to demonstrate the ability to: