PDA in Scottish Football Association: Refereeing at SCQF level 7

Professional Development Awards (PDAs) extend or broaden professional or vocational skills and are linked to National Occupational Standards. The PDA in Scottish Football Association: Refereeing at SCQF level 7 is designed to equip individuals with knowledge and understanding of Scottish Football Association (SFA) refereeing, concentrating on knowledge and understanding of the Laws of the Game of football. It also includes learning about formal controls, misconduct, match reports and fitness standards for referees. This knowledge is drawn together by refereeing a football match.

The award has been developed in partnership with the SFA’s Referee Development Department. The Referee Development Department is in the vanguard of a range of initiatives that affect thousands of players of all ages and at all levels of ability.

By agreement with the SFA, holders of the PDA will be exempt from having to complete the Trainee Referee programme. This exemption has significant benefit for individuals who wish to progress to become a qualified referee.

This qualification is available through colleges, training providers and some employers. It has been designed to be delivered as a taught course and will normally be available as a combination of workshops and self-directed study.

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The following optional guidance can be used to support delivery and assessment as an alternative to the approaches outlined in the Group Award / Unit specification.

Optional assessment guidance 2023-24

The PDA in Scottish Football Association: Refereeing at SCQF level 7 was developed in partnership with employers and industry so it is suitable for the current sector.

The Refereeing Development Department¿s strategy is to encourage and increase the participation in football refereeing by secondary school pupils and college students. The initiative will also be instrumental in raising awareness and understanding of the Laws of the Game in the educational arena. From the perspective of the SFA, recruitment is at the forefront of the Referee Development Department¿s efforts to service the game at all levels.

This qualification covers areas such as understanding of SFA refereeing, concentrating on knowledge and understanding of the Laws of the Game of football. It also includes learning about formal controls, misconduct, match reports and fitness standards for referees. This knowledge is drawn together by refereeing a football match.

This PDA provides progression routes to further study (see Progression).

This qualification is designed to enhance and accredit the skills of new, inexperienced or aspiring referees. It will also help in raising awareness and understanding of the Laws of the Game for pupils in S5 and S6. It offers candidates the opportunity to develop refereeing skills and enables progression to other widely-recognised SFA refereeing qualifications. As a PDA, it is a vocational qualification contributing to the continuous professional development of participants.

Access

Entry is at the discretion of the centre.

Learners do not need to have formal relevant qualifications to enter this PDA.

The units in the PDA are based on National Occupational Standards and other professional standards within the sector.

The PDA in Scottish Football Association: Refereeing at SCQF level 7 has been designed as a stand-alone award to provide candidates with the relevant mix of competencies to enable progression pathways. In addition, it also allows candidates an opportunity to progress to further academic and/or professional qualifications. This includes possible routes to:

  • other PDAs in Sport at SCQF level 7 and level 8
  • other SQA awards which incorporate higher level units, eg HNC/D (SCQF levels 7/8)
  • SFA refereeing structure

Although there is no formal articulation arrangement with any higher education institution (HEI) or further education colleges, candidates may have the opportunity to gain credit towards a Higher National programme and then on to an ordinary or honours degree (SCQF levels 9 and 10). But the main route for candidates may be onto the SFA pathway towards category one refereeing.

Most universities and further education colleges have a recognised prior learning (RPL) policy and are keen to look at both certificated and experiential learning that applicants have acquired. It is possible that under this policy, applicants with this PDA would receive credit.

Candidates who achieve this award may wish to contact undergraduate admissions officers at other further education colleges and higher education institutes in relation to gaining credit towards appropriate National Certificate and Higher National programmes.

SQA centres who wish to deliver this qualification should contact the Scottish FA in the first instance to seek a letter of support. 

The following approval criteria apply to this qualification:

  • Centres must contact Scottish FA (referee@scottishfa.co.uk) to obtain a Letter of Support prior to seeking SQA Approval. This should be submitted with the Approval Application to SQA
  • Assessors and internal verifiers (IVs) must: be occupationally competent and have a basic working knowledge of the Laws of the Game and have evidence of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) 

Assessors and verifiers must be able to meet SQA's general requirements for technical/occupational competence as outlined in the Systems and Qualification Approval Guide.

Each individual unit specification gives detailed information on the evidence requirements and approaches to assessment for each unit.

Ongoing course assessment will apply.

Group Award code: GA51 47 (2 SCQF credit points)

The PDA in Scottish Football Association: Refereeing at SCQF level 7 consists of two mandatory units.

We sent the following information to centres to reiterate some of the key messages from the 2023 SQA and Scottish FA annual event.