Managing Your NQ Data: Registrations, Entries And Results

Approval

In late August, you will be sent an individual file listing the qualifications that you are currently approved to offer. You should check that your centre is approved for all the Courses and Units for which you want to make entries – if you are not approved the entry will be rejected. Contact our Approval Team on 0845 213 5351, or e-mail: approval@sqa.org.uk if you have any queries.

If you need to seek approval, this must be done using Form SA1(2). Approval must be sought and obtained by the due date – check your Calandar of Key Dates. Approval application forms can be found on: www.sqa.org.uk/approval.

Registration - who and when

Look in the Operational Help Centre for guidance on how to register candidates.

If you want to check whether a candidate already has an SCN (eg if a candidate has moved from one centre to another and doesn’t know his/her SCN), you can look on SQA.net or contact:

• the candidate’s last centre
  
• your Data Management Team (Schools) on 0131-561 6955, or
  e-mail: national.qualifications@sqa.org.uk
  
• your Data Management Team (Colleges and ETPs) on 0845 213 6015

Throughout the year, make sure you check the processing reports we send you to:

• identify errors
  
• take action to resolve these errors

It’s also important that you tell us about any changes to a candidate’s personal details, especially a change of address. This is essential because candidates’ certificates are sent to the addresses you have given us.

Making entries

Timing

Wait until all your registrations have been successfully processed before entering candidates for qualifications.

Make sure you are familiar with the Calendar of Key Dates in the Operational Help Centre – all entries for National Qualifications must meet these deadlines.

What checks should you make?

The Operational Help Centre will give you detailed advice about making entries. The following points are worth noting:

Duplicate entries

Candidates can be entered for a Course or Unit at one level only in a Diet – if, in exceptional circumstances, you want candidates to have entries at more than one level, use an Entry Creation form – Process by Exception (EC02). Centres that submit files using XML, can process by exception automatically.

Completion dates

One Unit in each Course entry must have a completion date of March (or earlier). This Unit may be required for verification. If a Unit is selected for verification, the evidence will be uplifted around the end of March.

Courses must have a completion date of May in the year when candidates are being externally assessed, eg for Diet 2007 the date is 052007 – please use only that date.

If candidates are doing a Course over two years, you can do either of two things:

• enter them for one or two Units in the first year of the Course
  
• wait to enter them for the whole Course, including all Units, in the year when they will be externally assessed (but remember to save the evidence for Units completed in the first year of the Course in case it is needed for verification)

Re-sit candidates

If candidates have passed all their Units for a Course but are re-sitting the external assessment, please enter the appropriate X-code only (the code for the external assessment). Check with your centre's departments whether internal assessment marks and/or coursework contribute to the external assessment – if that is the case, you will have to re-submit marks/coursework for re-sit candidates.

Processing Reports

If the data you send us is rejected, the Processing Report we send you will detail the reason for the rejection. You will find error codes in the Guide to Data Exchange publication.

Please resolve these errors and re-submit the data as soon as you can. We will then send you reports to confirm what has been processed, and an Incomplete National Course Profiles Report which will tell you if a candidate will not achieve a Course because an entry is missing for a component Unit.

Level changes and withdrawals

Make sure that subject departments inform you right away if candidates change the level at which they are doing a Course or Unit, or withdraw from a Unit or Course. You should then send us that information as soon as you can. Try to meet our February deadline, particularly if a Course is involved.

If candidates change the level at which they are doing a Course or Unit, make sure that the combination of Units they will now achieve will allow them to complete the Course at the new level.

Sending Unit results

Timing

• Unit completion dates
  When a Unit has been completed, the subject department should tell you which candidates have passed. You should then send us that information - you don’t have to wait for the Unit completion date. Please leave as blank those candidates who will have to be re-assessed - send us final results or withdrawals only.
  
• Course completion dates
  If candidates want to be guaranteed certification in August, results for all Units that contribute to their Courses must be with us by the due date. Try to make sure that all re-assessments take place so that you meet the deadline. You should, however, continue to send us results when candidates do pass Units.

What checks should you make?

The Operational Help Centre will give you detailed advice about sending results, but please note the following points:

• Units
  Have you sent us all your candidates' Unit results?
  
  All Units must be internally assessed and resulted - we need to know if candidates have passed or failed or been withdrawn. So, for example, Advanced Higher Biology, Unit D034 13 Biology Investigation must be internally assessed before the Investigation Report is sent for external assessment.
  
• Levels
  If Units are hierarchical they can be resulted at the level above or below the entry level. Note that if candidates are resulted at the level below they will not gain a Course award.
  
• Courses
  If candidates are not going to complete a Course you should withdraw the Course Entry.
  
• Processing Reports
  If you have made mistakes in the data you send to us, we will send you a Processing Report.
  
  Please sort out these errors and re-submit the data as soon as you can. We will then send you reports to confirm what has been processed and reports which will tell you if a candidate will not achieve a course because an entry and/or a result is missing for a component Unit. Remember also that if a candidate has failed a Unit, he/she will not be eligible for a Course award.