Dance, Drama, Music, and Advanced Higher Gàidhlig and Modern Languages - 2024-25 visiting assessment
Preparations for the 2024–25 visiting assessment diet are well underway.
Visiting assessment periods
The periods for session 2024-25 are:
10 February – 21 March: National 5 and Higher Music
10 February – 25 April: National 5 and Higher Dance; National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher Drama
17 February – 28 March: Advanced Higher Gàidhlig; Advanced Higher Modern Languages
28 April – 16 May: Advanced Higher Music
Centre release and recruitment
SQA relies on the agreement of centres to release visiting assessors where requested. This important aspect of candidate assessment can only be sustained by working in partnership.
We will invite visiting assessors who conducted visits on behalf of SQA and met their key performances measures last session to conduct visiting assessment duties for 2024–25. We’re currently recruiting visiting assessors and would ask you to promote the following opportunities in your centre:
- Dance – National 5 and Higher
- Drama – National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher
- Music – National 5 and Higher including bagpipes specialists
Visiting assessors play a significant part in the visiting assessment diet, accounting for as much as 80% of candidate’s grades in some subjects.
It’s essential for the smooth running of visiting assessment that centres allow their teachers and lecturers to be absent from their centre to conduct assessment for all candidates throughout Scotland. We’re very grateful to all centres for releasing visiting assessors for visits in 2023–24 and hope that we can count on your support in 2024–25.
Assessment arrangements
The deadline for requesting assessment arrangements for the performance, practical activity and talking components is 29 November 2024. This is to allow time for your candidates to prepare with the agreed assessment arrangements in place before visiting assessment takes place.
If you’ve any candidates who require reasonable adjustments for these components, you must submit requests using the ‘Visiting Assessment – Assessment Arrangements’ request form found on the SQA Secure website. For any queries, please contact the assessment arrangements team at aarequests@sqa.org.uk.
All assessment arrangements requests must be agreed in advance with SQA. It is not the responsibility of the visiting assessor to make decisions on the appropriateness of assessment arrangements for individual candidates.
Centre approval – National 5 and Higher Dance
Centres must apply for approval before delivering National 5 and Higher Dance for the first time and need to consider the resources that are available to them to do this.
To deliver this qualification in the next academic session, and for candidates to be certificated in August 2025, applications for approval must be submitted by 30 September 2024.
Further information is available from the ‘Deliver this qualification section’ on the NQ Dance web page on the SQA website.
Guide for SQA Co-ordinators
The Guide for SQA Co-ordinators for 2024–25 includes a section for visiting assessment.