Search help

The following guidance should help you get the most from the SQA site search tool. If you have any queries or feedback on the search engine, please e-mail us at: web.team@sqa.org.uk.

Using search

The search box is available on the top right-hand corner of every page on our website. 

When typing, the search will automatically suggest possible terms based on your entry. To run a search based on one of these, select the suggestion from the drop-down before pressing submit. If not, enter the phrase or word you want to search for the select the magnifying glass icon. 

You will then be taken to the search results page.

Filtering your results 

There are a number of filtering options in the 'within' section that help you to narrow down your search results. You can filter the results by qualification area (NQ, HN and SVQ) or document type.

Each search result will be listed with the relevant url and a short description about the type of content on the page. If what you're looking for is not on the first page, then you can click through to more results on the next pages. These are linked in blue at the foot of the first search results page. 

The search results use icons to help convey more information at a glance. Also, any results linking directly to documents display the relevant document type icon.

Searching for documents

To search for specific documents you may find it easier to filter your search criteria using the dropdown menu and selecting 'documents' or 'past papers' in the  within box. 

After entering your keyword or phrase your search result will be listed with a documents icon. Documents are listed in search results with a short description of the document's content, its file type and file size. 

Search tips

When you enter more than one word as a search term, the system will search for each individual word. However, to search for an exact phrase, you should use quotation marks.To maximise search results, avoid using colons in your search term.

For example:

This will search for any pages or documents that include the words 'Chemistry', 'marking', and 'instructions', regardless of where on the page they are, or in what order they appear.

Alternatively, using quotation marks will search for any pages or documents on the site that include the exact phrase 'Chemistry marking instructions'.