Subjects & Qualifications
HN Toolkit
History of changes to HN Toolkit
Part A: Introduction and overview
- Introduction
- Types of HN developments
- Overview of the development or revision process for an HNC or HND
Part B: Guidance for qualification design teams
- Deciding whether to develop or revise a qualification
- Identifying potential qualifications for development
- Notifying SQA of proposals to develop or revise a Group Award and HN Units
- Initial review - setting up a Qualification Design Team
- Establishing the need for the qualification by consulting stakeholders
- Evaluating stakeholder responses
- Gaining internal college approval
- Determining the scope of the project
Development or revision of the Group Award and Units
- Planning the writing and/or revision of HN Units
- Writing HN Units
- SCQF level and credit points
- Core Skills
- Other transferable skills
- Validating Units
- Graded Units
Part C: Guidance on validating a Group Award
Organising the validation meeting
- Reminder: centres with devolved authority
- Appointing the Validation Panel - centre-hosted meeting
- Appointing the Validation Panel - SQA hosted meetings
- Composition of the Validation Panel
- Roles of the members
- Training
- Preparing for validation - dress rehearsal
The Validation Meeting
- Before the meeting
- Format of the meeting
- First private meeting
- First meeting with the Qualification Design Team
- Second private meeting - reaching a decision
- The second/final meeting with the Qualification Design Team
- The validation report
- Validation conditions
- Appeals against validation decisions
Producing the validated document
Part D: Implementing and maintaining the qualification
- Inclusion on SQA's System
- SQA coding of qualification and all new Units and informing SAAS
- The approval process
- Maintenance of the Group Award
- Maintenance of HN Unit Catalogue
Appendix 1: Design principles for developing HNCs and HNDs
Appendix 2: General guidance on SCQF levels
Appendix 3: SQA’s quality elements
Glossary
HN Toolkit download section:
Contact Information
- Candidate Enquiries
- 0845 279 1000
- Centre Enquiries
- 0303 333 0330
Related Information
- Catalogue of Higher National Qualifications (2.67 MB)
- HN Notification of changes to Unit Specifications and Frameworks
- HN Report 2011-2012 (148 KB)
- HN Comment Form
- E-moderation: guidelines for FE staff and external moderators (224 KB)
- Qualification Development Team/Qualification Support Team Expression of Interest (154 KB)
- Development Forms
