Scottish Qualifications Authority issues results for National Courses 2008

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has announced (on Tuesday 5 August 2008) the 2008 National Course results, which include Standard Grade and Access Courses. 

This year’s highlights are:

• Certificates are being sent to 158,627 learners this year, up from 155,893 in 2007.

• Total entries for National Courses have increased on previous years at all levels apart from Standard Grade, with entries for Intermediate 1 and Access 2 continuing to grow most strongly.

• Pass rates for Access 3 to Advanced Higher levels have shown a small improvement in attainment.   

National Courses usually consist of three subject-related National Units, which are assessed by the school/college, and are subject to verification by SQA, plus an external assessment (normally an exam but in some subjects, a performance, project work or folio). Generally, to gain a Course award, students must pass all component National Units and achieve a grade in the external assessment. 

This data is not simply a presentation of examination performance.

This year was the third year of Skills for Work Courses and 2008 has seen continuing strong uptake. These Courses are intended to help learners develop skills and knowledge in broad vocational areas and an understanding of the workplace. A key feature is their emphasis on learning through practical experience. Courses are awarded upon successful completion of the Units which make up the Course. There is no additional Course assessment and the Courses are not graded.  These Courses are typically taken over two years. 

Speaking about this year’s National Qualifications results, Dr Janet Brown, SQA’s Chief Executive and Scotland’s Chief Examining Officer, says: 

“I am delighted and greatly encouraged to see the increase in numbers of learners achieving our qualifications, and the steady growth in pass rates. These results show continuing strong achievements in what is a robust Scottish education system.

Almost 160,000 learners will receive results today and I congratulate them all and wish them continuing success in the future.

I would also like to thank everyone who has helped SQA and the candidates this year, whose tireless commitment we very much appreciate”.

The table below shows total entries for this year and previous years at each level of qualification.

Table 1:  Entries at each level of qualification 2004 – 2008

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) helps people to understand and compare different qualifications in Scotland.  The SCQF level is a measure of how demanding a qualification is. 

Highlights

• The overall number of entries has decreased slightly (-0.2%) from 2007 to 2008.  There has been a drop in Standard Grade uptake (-4.4%) while at all other qualification levels entries have increased, most significantly at Intermediate 1 (+13.1%) and Access 2 (+9.5%).

The table below lists attainment at each level of qualification.

Table 2: Overall attainment at each level of qualification 2004 – 2008

Highlights

• The percentage of Standard Grade entries resulting in a grade 1–6 has remained stable.

• There has been an increase in pass rates at Access 3 (+2.4 percentage points), Intermediate 2 (+2.6), Higher (+1.7) and Advanced Higher (+1.2) this year. The pass rate has remained generally stable at Intermediate 1 while the Access 2 pass rate has decreased by 3.3 percentage points.

 Detailed Results Information

To review detailed results information for 2008, please use the following spreadsheet:

• Pre-Appeals National Qualification Results 2008