How we select centres for verification - National Qualifications

Qualification groups

For the purposes of verification, courses are grouped into subject verification groups (eg French, Spanish, German or Italian), and then into a broad subject qualification group (eg Modern Languages). Typically, centres will not be selected for more than one verification group within a qualification group in each academic session. Download Qualification Groups 2017-18 (12 KB).

Using this approach helps us manage the volume of verification across a centre.

In each qualification group we verify:

1. centres who are new to delivery in the qualification group as a whole. That is, centres entering candidates in in a qualification group in which they have not previously entered candidates or there has been no previous verification activity.
2. centres with not accepted outcomes in the previous session or the most recent verification activity within a qualification group.

In addition, we also do a proportion of ‘random’ selections. Although the term 'random' has been used to describe this, the likelihood of selection is based on a number of criteria, including length of time since last verification, the outcome of verification, centre entry patterns, historic subject level data and intelligence. In 2017/18, there will be no ‘random’ selection for Higher and Advanced Higher units, but there will be for all other levels and for Internally Assessed Course Component Assessments (IACCAs) and National 4 Added Value Units (AVUs). There will continue to be ‘random’ selection for other qualification types such as Skills for Work.

Where centres are eligible for selection under any of these criteria, the selection can be for any course within the wider qualification group.