Start your career at SQA

Develop skills, gain a qualification, and get paid.

Our established apprenticeship programmes offer valuable workplace skills and experience. At SQA, you will be part of an innovative public sector organisation, working across several areas of business, giving you a well-rounded experience. By combining a nationally-recognised qualification with on-the-job training, an SQA Modern Apprenticeship will give you the knowledge and transferable skills you need to give you an excellent start to your career. 

Designed for young people with a fresh thinking attitude who are ready to join the world of work, our apprenticeship programmes offer great opportunities for you to develop your skills and start your career in a supportive and dynamic environment.

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We offer both one- and two-year Modern Apprenticeship programmes where you will gain an industry-recognised qualification that will help you to progress in your future career or further education. For both programmes, you will work towards a Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) in Business and Administration, which is assessed on-the-job. For the two-year programme, you will also be working towards a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Business, which you will study at college on day-release.

Once you achieve your Modern Apprenticeship, you can choose to apply for a permanent role with SQA or with another employer. To date, 85% of our Modern Apprenticeship graduates have either secured permanent positions at SQA - working in our human resources, marketing, and customer services teams - or gone on to secure employment, further training or education at college or university.

We have two office locations - our Lowden office at Shawfair Business Park near Dalkeith on the outskirts of Edinburgh, and our office in Glasgow city centre. We operate a smarter working programme, so you may not be based in our offices 100% of the time - you may also be asked to work from home.