September 15, 2020 - sqablogs -
Further to the recent post regarding the validation of the PDA Data Science, I am happy to advise that all of the new units developed for this award have now been published on the SQA website. Please see below for the full list of units, with links to the unit specifications. The units can also be found through the Unit Search facility on the website. Unit Code Qualification J4Y5 34 Communicating with Data J4Y7 35 Communicating with Data J4YC 36…
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September 7, 2020 - Bobby -
SQA recently published guidance for session 2020/21 relating to the assessment of vocational qualifications during the current pandemic. That page includes a link to general guidance for centres. The guidance provides detailed information for teachers, lecturers and trainers about how best to carry out assessment during the current conditions. Some subjects, because of their very practical nature, will be providing additional guidance relating to specific units that can’t follow this general advice. Subjects such as Construction, Dance and Sport present…
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September 4, 2020 - Bobby -
I’m pleased to let you know that the Professional Development Award in Data Science at SCQF Levels 7, 8 and 9 is now validated. The validation event in June placed some conditions on the proposed awards and we’ve been working on those conditions over the summer. The convener of the panel has now lifted the conditions. It’s taken us longer than normal to do this. We hoped to have the award available to centres by 1 September but it’s going…
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August 20, 2020 - Bobby -
The team would like to welcome you back for session 2020/21. We’ve been busy during the summer with a number of developments. A new Professional Development Award in Cyber Resilience was recently made available to centres. This suite of awards is available at SCQF Levels 7, 8 and 9. The finalisation of this qualification brings to an end a period of rapid development of cyber security qualifications that began in 2015 when NPA Cyber Security was introduced. There are now…
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Following the recommendations from the validation panel, the PDA Cyber Security has been retitled “PDA Cyber Resilience” to more accurately reflect the content of the award. The suite of PDAs at SCQF levels 7, 8 and 9 is now validated and available for centre delivery. GR3R 47 PDA Cyber Resilience SCQF level 7 GR3T 48 PDA Cyber Resilience SCQF level 8 GR3V 49 PDA Cyber Resilience SCQF level 9 More information about this award can be found on the subject…
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The “HN enhancement” project has two parts. Part 1 was adding units to the existing HNC Computing, which has now been done, and part 2 is refreshing combined assessments that were produced a few years ago and making these available to all centres. The combined assessments were originally devised in 2014 (and made available in 2015) to reduce the amount of assessment (by integrating several assessments into one) and giving learners “a university experience” of assessment. They’re also known as…
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July 28, 2020 - sqablogs -
The revision of the NPA Computer Networks is now underway. As stated in an earlier post, this will be a relatively quick development. The three component units are being revised and should be finalised by mid-August. A writer and vetter have already been allocated to this job. The units being revised are: Computing: Install and Maintain Hardware (F1KF 11) Computing: Install and Maintain Software (F1KP 11) Computing: Computer Networking Fundamentals (F1KH 11) Once the units are finalised, the award will…
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Regular readers will know that Computing is one of the pilot areas for the development of new types of Higher National (HN) awards, part of SQA’s Next Generation of HN awards. I first announced this development in February. Since then, a Qualification Development Team (QDT) has been formed (consisting of over 30 representatives of colleges, schools, universities and employers) and met a couple of times. We’ve also selected lead developers for each qualification. The leads have been busy over the…
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The validation event for the Professional Development Award in Data Science was held on Thursday afternoon. The purpose of validation is for an independent group of experts to approve new qualifications. The panel had representation from universities, colleges and employers. This was my first experience of a virtual validation (we used Microsoft Teams), which worked really well. I’m pleased to let you know that the suite of qualifications was approved with some conditions and recommendations. The main condition relates to…
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Regular readers will know that we’re currently reviewing a suite of Higher National (HN) qualifications in Computing. This isn’t a normal review. Computing is one of three subjects testing a new design for HN awards. The initiative is called “HN Next Generation”. New Higher Nationals will have a different look to the current awards. The “design parameters” include: fewer and larger units less assessment inclusion of metaskills project-based learning. New Higher Nationals will have a consistent framework consisting of: Common…
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