Core Skills news

Core Skills units in Communication and ICT (10 October 2024)

Revisions to assessment support packs and exemplar packs

We’ve updated the assessment support packs (ASPs) for Core Skills units in Communication, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at SCQF levels 2 to 6 by removing and replacing outdated terminology. We’ve also added more guidance on gathering assessment evidence to the units and ASPs for the Communication Core Skills units at SCQF levels 4, 5 and 6.

These updates apply to both the NQ and workplace versions. We’ve also published video presentations on the Understanding Standards website to explain the changes.

Changes to Core Skills Communication ASPs at SCQF levels 4, 5 and 6 (2022)

We have made the following minor amendments to the NQ Communication Core Skills ASPs (SCQF levels 4,5 and 6):

Planning sheets: clarification of their purpose and how to use them as part of the assessment process.
Assessment checklists: the NQ Core Skills standards have been added to these for easy access

You will find the links for the revised webpages below:

Extension to the accreditation of Workplace Assessed Core Skills units

The accreditation end date for Workplace Assessed Core Skills units has been extended from 31 January 2015 to 31 January 2020. All centres that already had approval for Workplace Assessed Core Skills units prior to 31 January 2015 can continue to offer these Units during the extended accreditation period.

No changes have been made to the standards and technical content of the Workplace Assessed Core Skills units, but there are slight changes to the information given on the second last page in each of the unit specifications. These changes are as follows:

change to the wording under the heading “Becoming an approved awarding body”
new statement has been added, along with the heading “Unit reference codes”

There are no changes to the unit codes.

Workplace Assessed Core Skills unit codes

Exemplification material for Core Skills Communication Units, Speaking and Listening (level 3 to 6)

Exemplar materials for Core Skills Units in Communication, covering Speaking and Listening requirements (SCQF levels 3-6) are available on the secure area of the Understanding Standards website.

Accessing the materials

To access this secure material, ask your SQA Co-ordinator to read the instructions at Previous NQs > Core Skills > Communication Examplar Assessment Materials section on the secure website. The instructions are at the bottom of the page.

These exemplification materials contain:

a description of the skills required at each level
task remits designed for educational contexts
assessment evidence in the form of video recordings of candidates
completed assessment checklists
commentary from SQA external verifiers

Webinar recordings

Recordings of recent webinars and Q&A documents of questions asked during the webinars. These recordings provide general advice on assessment.