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New National Qualifications - Latest documents published

We have now published the draft Course and Unit Support Notes for National 4 and National 5 and the draft Course Assessment Specifications for Higher.

National 4 and National 5 – Draft Course and Unit Support Notes

The draft Course and Unit Support Notes for National 4 and National 5 provide advice and guidance on delivering the new Courses and their component Units.

While these Support Notes are not mandatory, they are intended for teachers and lecturers and should be read in conjunction with the relevant National 4 and National 5 Course Specifications, Unit Specifications and Course Assessment Specifications.

If a Unit is being taught on a free-standing basis, these Unit Support Notes should be read alongside the relevant National 4 or National 5 Unit Specifications.

Higher – Draft Course Assessment Specifications

Draft Course Assessment Specifications for Higher Courses have also been published.

Course Assessment Specifications define the mandatory assessment requirements for National Courses at Higher and ensure consistent and transparent assessment year on year. They describe the structure of the relevant Higher Course assessment and the mandatory skills, knowledge and understanding that will be assessed.

Use the subject drop-down menu on the CfE homepage to view the latest information for each subject, at each level.

Feedback on these latest documents can be submitted via www.sqa.org.uk/haveyoursay until Wednesday 29 February.

The final documents outlining the specifications of the new National Qualifications (Access to Higher) will be published in April 2012.

Controlled Assessment

The draft Course Assessment Specifications for Higher contain information about controlled assessment.

We are introducing controlled assessment for non-question paper components of the National 4 Added Value Unit and new National Courses at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.

This will ensure that there are consistent approaches to developing assessments (setting), the conditions of assessment (conducting), and marking assessments (marking).

Feedback Summaries

We have also published summaries of all the feedback we have received from July to November 2011 – www.sqa.org.uk/yourfeedback.

New SQA Awards

SQA is currently developing new Awards which will embrace personalisation and choice, giving learners the chance to develop skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work.

Schools and colleges will be able to deliver these new Awards from August 2012.

The Awards are designed to suit a wide range of learners, including pupils from S3 onwards, college students (both school leavers and adult learners), training organisations – particularly those focusing on work ready skills and voluntary and social enterprise organisations.

More information on these new Awards and how they complement our existing portfolio of qualifications is available here.

Equality Policy

The Course and Unit Specifications for the new National Courses set out the requirements that must be met to achieve the qualifications.

These specifications have been designed to be as accessible and inclusive as possible, removing any unnecessary barriers to learners on grounds of any of the protected characteristics where these have been identified. The approach to reasonable adjustments for disabled learners has also been considered.

We will continue to provide assessment arrangements to allow candidates who are disabled and/or who have been identified as having additional support needs with appropriate arrangements to access the assessment where we are satisfied that the integrity of the qualification is not compromised.

Appointee Vacancies – Principal Verifiers

We are currently recruiting teaching professionals to join our new appointee teams to develop and quality assure Course assessments for the new National Qualifications. We are now recruiting Principal Verifiers for the new National Qualifications.

Principal Verifiers are responsible for communicating and maintaining national standards for the qualifications within their remit.

Additionally, Principal Verifiers must ensure that all tasks associated with the quality assurance of internally assessed Units and components of Course assessments within their remit are carried out within the conditions, timescales and arrangements set by SQA.

For more information on this exciting opportunity, and to download an application form, visit www.sqa.org.uk/cfevacancies. Applications must be received by Friday 16 March with interviews scheduled for 24, 25 and 26 April.