Educational research reports

Our Policy, Assessment, Standards and Statistics team is responsible for commissioning and collating research and reports to support qualification development within SQA.

Senior phase assessment in Scotland

OECD's paper Upper-secondary Education Student Assessment in Scotland: A Comparative Perspective follows its report on Curriculum for Excellence in June.

2021

• Research with users of qualifications (employers, HE/ FE) (361 KB)
• Research into international comparators for UNCRC and appeals (470 KB)
• SQA appeals consultation analysis (686 KB)

2011

• Evaluation of the First Year of Scottish Baccalauretes (447 KB)
• Creating valid assessments for Curriculum for Excellence (158 KB)
• Approaches to internal assessment as part of examination for certification purposes (144 KB)
• Assessing subject-specific skills (88 KB)
• Education assessment standards (129 KB)

2009

• Marks into Grades - A Review of Underlying Issues (313 KB)
• Higher National Certifications and the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (1.38 MB)
• The Use and Marking of Extended Writing Tasks (210 KB)

2008

• The Assessment Systems of Finland and Queensland (213 KB)
• National Qualifications: a short history (165 KB)
• Investigating Creativity in SQA Qualifications (120 KB)
• Review of Specifications (179 KB)
• Use of Taxonomies in Assessing Higher-Order Skills (142 KB)
• Just Making Them Think: A tension between teaching and assessment in the high stakes stages (49 KB)
• Just making them think: A tension between teaching and assessment in the high stakes stage (309 KB)
• Core Skills, Past Present and Future (458 KB)
• Less Is More: good Practice in Reducing Assessment Time(116 KB)

2007

• Review of the implications of the Scottish Executive's NEET Strategy for SQA (372 KB)
• Using IT to Facilitate Personalisation and Internal Assessment for National Qualifications (127 KB)
• Internal Assessment, External Assessment, and Assessment for Learning (119 KB)
• Grading: A review of national and international issues (553 KB)
• Assessment: A review of practice (442 KB)

2006

• Recognition of Wider Achievement: Establishing Currency (163 KB)
• Literature review on internal assessment for the National Qualifications for the Future project (120 KB)

2000

• Fair Assessments for Deaf Candidates (2.68 MB)