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Dunbar Grammar pupils brew up career opportunities with SQA Barista Skills qualification
Pupils at Dunbar Grammar School are learning to steam milk, serve customers, and manage a coffee shop — all as part of a hands-on qualification that’s preparing them for life beyond the classroom.
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Dunbar Grammar pupils brew up career opportunities with SQA Barista Skills qualification
28
August
2025
None
Thursday 28 August 2025
Pupils at Dunbar Grammar School are learning to steam milk, serve customers, and manage a coffee shop — all as part of a hands-on qualification that’s preparing them for life beyond the classroom.
The Barista Skills Award is one of SQA’s vocational qualifications being delivered in schools across Scotland, aimed at helping young people build practical, real-world skills. With 161 centres currently approved to deliver the course, and certifications doubling for the 2024–25 session, the Barista Skills qualification is becoming an increasingly popular route into hospitality and part-time employment.
At Dunbar Grammar School, delivery of the Barista Skills qualification is led by Home Economics teacher Erica Sawyer, who brings 30 years of hospitality experience and barista training from industry professionals. A partnership with ethical supplier Coffee Conscience provided the school with professional-grade equipment and three specialist training sessions, creating a realistic café environment for pupils to learn in.
Erica says the course offers more than learning to brew coffee: 'The benefits have not just increased knowledge and work-related skills, but had a positive impact on developing interpersonal skills, communication, organising, planning, delegating and motivating.'
For pupil Teagan Daly, the qualification helped her reach personal and professional goals:
'I chose this course as I felt it would be a valuable qualification for somewhere I may work. I hoped to achieve more knowledge in where coffee comes from and how each coffee is made. I also wanted to be able to do latte art—I feel I have achieved both of these goals.'
She particularly enjoyed running the school’s own coffee service: 'My favourite part of this course was making coffees for people in school. I enjoyed delivering coffee to everyone as they were excited and said it was the best part of their Friday.'
Teagan added: 'The skills that I took from this course are communication, teamwork, positive thinking and dealing with difficult situations. I feel this will be valuable in my future, as I can use this qualification in my CV, helping me get part-time work during further education.'
Another student, Maia Baptie, who currently works in a local café, found the course built her confidence:
'I chose the course because I felt it would help me with my current job and gives me the confidence to talk to people that I would not usually talk to outside of school. It’s easier than a lot of exams because you can mess up a bit, but you can always do it again.'
Teagan Daly and Maia Baptie serve up coffees
Eilidh McLaren, Depute Headteacher at Dunbar Grammar School, said: 'The Barista Skills unit has been a fantastic addition to our curriculum, providing young people with a meaningful opportunity to develop skills such as teamwork, leadership, and hands-on practical experience. These skills have helped our students gain part time work and opened doors to potential careers in the hospitality industry.
'It has been wonderful to see how the young people involved have enjoyed and embraced the experience. Going into the new academic year, we’ve seen double the number of pupils sign up for the qualification, which highlights just how popular and valued this opportunity is among our pupils.'
Mags Paterson, Head of Creative, Hospitality & Sport at SQA commented: 'The Barista Skills qualification is a great example of how vocational learning can bring real value to young people’s education. It equips learners with practical skills they can apply immediately in the workplace, builds confidence, and gives them insight into a fast-paced, customer-focused industry. I’m delighted to see schools like Dunbar Grammar creating such engaging learning environments and giving pupils meaningful opportunities to prepare for life beyond the classroom.'
More information about the Barista Skills Award.
114747
447
04-SEP-2025
Thu, 4 Sep 2025 15:34:36 +0100
UPDATED
SQA shares three years of supporting care experienced learners
SQA has published its Corporate Parenting Report 2022–25, showing how we have supported care experienced people over the past three years.
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SQA shares three years of supporting care experienced learners
29
August
2025
None
Friday 29 August 2025
SQA has published its Corporate Parenting Report 2022–25, showing how we have supported care experienced people over the past three years.
The report highlights SQA's commitment to its corporate parenting responsibilities and demonstrates the practical steps taken to remove barriers and create opportunities for care experienced learners. This work has been shaped by SQA's Corporate Parenting Plan 2023–26, which was developed through consultation with care experienced people and organisations including Who Cares? Scotland.
Over the three-year period, SQA has made significant changes to how it supports care experienced people, including an updated Language Guide to ensure respectful communication about care experience, and treating care experience as a protected characteristic in its equality training and impact assessments.
Recognising the challenges some care experienced people can face, SQA provides free replacement certificates for life to anyone with care experience, understanding how crucial these documents are for job and education applications. We also send celebration messages and share helpful resources with care experienced learners every Results Day.
L-R: Joanne Lawrie, Equality and Diversity Manager at SQA; Maureen Wallace, Regional Manager at SQA, Melanie Girvan, Qualifications Officer at SQA, Thomas Seisey, Chair and Founder at Haus of Seisay
We were delighted to launch Who Cares? Scotland’s Care Experience and Corporate Parenting online training to all staff, including face-to-face sessions for senior leaders, to help colleagues understand the impact of care experience and how we can meet our responsibilities. The organisation actively celebrates care experienced people during National Care Day and Care Experienced Week, raising awareness across the education and skills community. We also support initiatives including Christmas card campaigns and the Love Rally.
To create employment opportunities, SQA encourages care experienced people into work through Modern Apprenticeships, work experience placements, mentoring programmes and Career Ready internships. We also supported Who Cares? Scotland in creating Care Experience and Corporate Parenting: a Guide for Scotland's Teachers, a resource to help teachers better support care experienced learners in their role as corporate parents.
Strong partnerships have been central to our work, with SQA collaborating with Who Cares? Scotland, MCR Pathways, Career Ready, and SQA approved centre, Haus of Seisay Hairdressing Academy, a care-friendly hairdressing academy. SQA is also represented on Who Cares? Scotland's Collaborative Corporate Parenting Network, giving us the valuable opportunities to work with other corporate parents.
Joanne Lawrie, Equality and Diversity Manager at SQA, said, 'We're really proud of the progress we’ve made to support care experienced people over the past three years. By treating care experience as a protected characteristic and making sure colleagues across SQA understand how important this is, we’ll continue to improve the support we offer to help people with experience of care reach their full potential. Working with other organisations has been fantastic – they help us understand what really matters to care experienced people and how we can better support them through their education and careers.'
As SQA becomes Qualifications Scotland, we remain committed to keeping care experienced people central to everything we do. We will listen to care experienced learners and those who advocate for them to ensure their voices are heard, and to ensure we continue to provide the right support.
The full Corporate Parenting Report 2022–25.
Care experienced people can find more information and support on SQA's Corporate Parenting webpage.
114788
447
29-AUG-2025
Fri, 29 Aug 2025 09:37:56 +0100
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