Research support

As set out in our Code of Research Practice, SQA is committed to placing research and evidence at the heart of our decision and policy making. We are working to ensure that our decisions are clearly evidence-based and that we play a greater role in making research-based contributions to the debate on education and skills.

In 2024–25, we will continue to engage with all those who need, deliver, use and are interested in our products and services to gather high-quality evidence and insight.

At the start of what we know will be a busy autumn term, we wanted to make you aware of several large-scale pieces of research that SQA will be carrying out and that we may ask for your support with, particularly in terms of disseminating surveys and requests to educators and learners.

We understand that centres are busy, and we will not be approaching all centres for support with every piece of research; we will do our best to minimise the number of requests to each centre. However, centres have previously suggested that the autumn term is the least disruptive time for SQA to carry out research; conducting this research now will minimise requests later in the academic year.

• Evaluation of the 2024 Access to Marked Exam Papers trial – research with National Qualification educators and learners across five subjects. Learner fieldwork (survey) will take place in August and September, while educator fieldwork (survey and interviews) will be conducted in October and November.
• Research into 2024 Graded National Courses – research with National Qualification educators and learners across Scotland focusing on key areas and longitudinal monitoring that can contribute to our understanding overall health of the system. Fieldwork (surveys) will be undertaken in September and October.
• Research into the return to full course assessment in 2023–24 – research with National Qualification educators and learners. Fieldwork (focus groups and surveys) will take place in September and October.
• Research into the quality assurance of assessment arrangements – research with randomly selected educators from across centre types. Fieldwork (focus groups and a survey) will take place from September to November.
• Research with educators from across centre types into how qualification verification summary reports are used. Fieldwork (focus groups) will be undertaken in October and November.
• Key Audience Research – research compiling views from across different centre types on all SQA qualifications, perceptions about the organisation, and SQA’s communications and engagement. Fieldwork (surveys and interviews) will be undertaken in November.
• Policy Development Tracking Research – longitudinal research across four audience types: schools and colleges, parents and carers, employers, and learners. Fieldwork (interviews and surveys) to take place in the autumn.

These are the large-scale pieces of research we have planned, where we will approach substantial numbers of centres. Throughout the autumn term, there are also likely to be smaller-scale projects (for example, on AI use) where we approach smaller numbers of centres.

We are grateful for the continued support of SQA co-ordinators in SQA achieving its research aims. If you have any queries about any of this research, please email researchandevaluation@sqa.org.uk.