General Guidance On SCQF Levels

• Appendix 2

SCQF levels

The levelling of HN Units will be carried out by SQA as part of the validation process. However, if you are writing Units, you should be aware of the SCQF levels shown in tabular format in this appendix, and you should be suggesting the appropriate SCQF level for any Units you write when you send the Unit in to SQA for validation.

All parts of the Unit specification are equally important for allocating an SCQF level but particular attention should be paid to the Statement of Standards including the Outcome, Knowledge/skills and Evidence Requirements.

You should approach levelling by doing the following:

• Read the generic level descriptor carefully.
• Select the criteria most relevant to the subject matter of the Unit you are writing.
• You may find it helpful to look at some Units in your subject area which have already been allocated to an SCQF level - not just at the level you intend your Unit to be but at the level above and below.
• Write the Outcome, knowledge/skills and Evidence Requirements and check that these do meet the criteria indicated at the level descriptor. You should pay particular attention to the verbs used.

Remember you are not expected to meet all the criteria in the generic level descriptors.

SQA qualifications and the SCQF

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) has been developed by a Partnership composed of: the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), the Scottish Government Departments of Education, and Enterprise and Lifelong Learning (SEED and SEELD), the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Universities Scotland and a wide range of other organisations.

The SCQF is a 12-level framework designed to include everything from Access 1 Units to PhDs. It brings all SQA qualifications (eg National Qualifications, Higher National Qualifications and SVQs) into a single unified framework along with qualifications offered by Scottish Universities.

The levels of the Framework occupied by SQA qualifications are as follows:

The SCQF includes degrees; HNCs and HNDs; SQA National Qualifications; and SVQs. Each SQA Unit is allocated a number of SCQF credit points at a specific level. 1 SCQF point = 10 hours of notional learning. HN candidates are normally expected to input a further number of hours, matched to the credit value of the Unit, of non-contact time or candidate-led effort to consolidate and reinforce learning.  This, therefore, means each HN Unit has 8 SCQF credit points.

The SCQF is intended to make the overall system of Scottish qualifications easier to understand by making the relationships between qualifications clear. It should also make it easier to establish links between qualifications and make it easier for learners to transfer credit from one course of study to another. Over the next few years SQA will increasingly adopt the use of SCQF levels and credit points to describe its qualifications.

• SCQF Level 6 - (Higher, SVQ 3 are examples of qualifications at this level)

• SCQF Level 7 - (SHE level 1, Cert HE, HNC, Advanced Higher are examples of qualifications at this level)

• SCQF Level 8 - (SHE level 2, Dip HE, HND, SVQ 4 are examples of qualifications at the level)

• SCQF Level 9 (SHE level 3, Ordinary degrees are examples of qualifications at this level)

Note: The descriptors set out the characteristic generic Outcomes of each level.  They are intended to provide a general, shared understanding of each level and to allow broad comparisons to be made between qualifications and learning at different levels.  They are not intended to give precise nor comprehensive statements and there is no expectation that every qualification or programme should have all of the characteristics. The descriptors have been developed through a series of consultations and are offered as a first working guide and will be revised in the light of feedback on their use.