Support for Centres

Support for Centres - Training, Development and Surround Products

HN Professional Development

Three Professional Events took place covering the phase 1 HNDs in China (see list below). The HND is a two year programme in China and universities operate a two semester academic year. Eight approved centres commenced delivering these awards in September 2004.
  • HND Business (Generic and with streams, eg IT, HRM, Accounting, Marketing)
  • HND Financial Services
  • HND Computing: Software Development
  • HND Hospitality Management
  • HND Travel and Tourism

The first event took place Beijing in September 2004 (and covered the first semester units of year 1), while the second, covering the second semester units in year 1 was held in Wuhan University of Technology in January 2005. The third event covered the second year units and took place in Chengdu. Subject specialists from Scottish Colleges delivered these programmes.

In addition to general areas such as the structure of units, teaching methods, staff and student induction, the benefits of organising course teams and continuous review and feedback were introduced, as were the final Quality Assurance mechanisms, ie internal and external moderation. Subject-specific training was also delivered, programmes covering topics such as frameworks, delivery of units, lesson planning, support materials and assessment including marking in accordance with marking schemes. In addition, the final event  incorporated feedback to staff from the first systems monitoring/external moderation visits which had taken place in December 2004. 

Professional Development for SQA Co-ordinators

Professional Development programmes were also provided to SQA Co-ordinators, covering areas such as adopting standard documentation and an introduction to candidate registrations, entries and results.


Professional Development – Data Management

A further series of events was held in relation to registrations, entries and results and this was conducted by SQA Data Management staff.


Materials Developed to Support SQA HN Awards

Teaching and Assessment Materials

  • Course Tutor Guide for each award
  • Unit Delivery/Assessment Plans
  • Unit Student Guides (student learning packs) with Activities and Formative Assessment
  • Unit Assessment Exemplar Packs (AEPs), including sample solutions/marking schemes


Student Guides

Student guides for units within the HN frameworks in China have been developed in conjunction with Scottish colleges, individual subject specialists, and COLEG. Although some are still being developed, completed packs are available for staff in approved centres to download from the secure area of SQA's website. Please contact the SQA Co-ordinator in your centre for access to these materials. A list of packs in alphabetical order by title appears in the HN subject section entitled ‘Student Guides’, and this maps each pack to the HN subject location.

Student guides are also available to member colleges on the COLEG website GRAPHIC: Web Link icon - clicking on this link will open a new window..