Securely storing exam materials

It’s vital that all centres correctly store exam materials in the run-up to, and during, exams. This ensures the content of exam papers remains secure on a national level, as a single breach of security within one centre can invalidate the content of the question paper for every centre across Scotland.

Every individual school, college and training provider is responsible for ensuring that suitable storage facilities are available for securely storing all SQA exam materials.

Your secure storage facility should be a locked room that contains a locked cabinet or safe.

Information and guidance

We provide full details of the measures you must take to prepare your secure storage facility under ‘Exam Security’ in our ‘Guide for SQA Co-ordinators’. This is available from the NQ information section on SQA Connect.

This guide details the requirements for the secure cabinet or safe and the secure storage room, as well as requirements for ensuring the facility is suitable for the chief invigilator to carry out their duties.

Please read this guidance carefully before setting up a suitable secure storage facility ahead of the 2025 exams.

Setting up your secure storage facility

Your secure storage facility must be ready before you receive exam materials in mid-April.

To help you with this, we’ll send you an email in January with a link to an MS Forms page containing the secure storage self-assessment checklist.

You must complete this checklist by mid-March to confirm that your secure storage facility is compliant with SQA’s requirements.

Contact us

If you have any queries about securely storing exam materials, please contact our NQ Assessment team by emailing question.papers@sqa.org.uk.