Further to my post in April, I am pleased to advise that the outstanding assessments for the NPA Computing Technologies have now been released. Therefore, there are assessments on SOLAR for all the units listed below: J8DW 44 – Computing Foundations J8DY 44 – Computing Project J8DW 45 – Computing Foundations J8DY 45 – Computing Project J8DW 46 – Computing Foundations J8DY 46 – Computing Project A list of all available assessments can also be viewed on the Solar website. In…
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As part of our ongoing maintenance of qualifications, centres can suggest alterations to qualification frameworks via the DAVAL 2 form. Throughout 2024-25, we received four change requests to our qualifications. These requests were considered, and approved, at our annual QST meeting, which was held in early May. The changes have been actioned and the updated frameworks will be available from August 2025. Please see below for details of the changes: Group Award Approved request HNC Computing (GF3E 15) Addition of unit…
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SQA has published new guidance on the use of AI in qualification assessment for the 2025-26 session. The new guidance explains what’s acceptable, what’s not, and — crucially — why. The use of GenAI tools is considered acceptable in assessment when it does not undermine learners’ ability to demonstrate that they have the required knowledge, understanding, and skills to meet the assessment standards of the qualification. It is also acceptable to use when the course or unit specifications explicitly allow…
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Regular readers will know that we’ve been developing HNC Esports for some time. The development commenced last Autumn and is nearing completion. The final stage in the qualification development process is validation. This will take place on Tuesday, 24 June, when an independent panel of experts will scrutinise the qualification. The validation panel comprises educators, employers, representatives of universities and others with an interest in the field. The Qualification Development Team (QDT) is represented by myself (Qualifications Manager), Helen (Qualifications…
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At last year’s QST (Qualification Support Team) meeting, a proposal to amend the following units was approved. The changes are minimal. For example, the units no longer specify how many MCQs are required in the assessment. The dated information has also been removed from the Support Notes of the unit specifications. The updated units are now published on the SQA website and you can access them via the links below: FR24 35 Networking Technology – national unit specification: general information FR23…
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At our annual CBQ Support event held on Wednesday, 26 March, we advised centres that a new Teams group would be created to enhance the communication between SQA and the centres delivering the Diplomas in Digital Technology. This Team has now been set up and relevant colleagues added. We (the SQA Computing team) will use the team to post relevant updates regarding CBQ qualifications, as well as any other information that may be of interest to centres. We encourage centres…
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I recently posted an update about this development, which I won’t repeat here. Since then we’ve made a lot of progress with the component units, which are nearing completion. We will shortly turn our attention to the validation event, which will take place in the first half of June. It would be helpful to know of any centres that are considering running this qualification next session (session 2025/26). This is so we can give you enhanced support before and during the…
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The Diploma in Digital Application Support (GL2K 46) was due to lapse on 30 June 2025. Several centres raised concerns as this qualification is still widely delivered and centres have medium-term plans for the delivery of this award. Taking our centres’ views into account, we sought approval from SDS and requested an extension from SQA Accreditation. I am pleased to advise that the extension request was approved at the Accreditation Co-ordination Group (ACG) meeting of 2 April. Therefore, the qualification…
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Newly developed assessments for one of the mandatory units within the NPA Computing Technologies have been published. The following assessments can now be accessed on SQA Solar: J8DW 44 – Computing Foundations J8DW 45 – Computing Foundations J8DW 46 – Computing Foundations A list of all available assessments can also be viewed on the Solar website. Assessments for Computing Project (J8DY 44/45/46) will be published by end April. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions…
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It’s been a few months since I last updated you about the forthcoming HNC Esports. The Qualification Development Team met for the fourth time yesterday to discuss progress. The framework has now been finalised and, in total, nine new units will be developed in areas ranging from game performance to tournament organisation. The qualification has a simple core (3 units, 9 credits) and option (10 units from which learners select 6 credits) structure. The focus of yesterday’s meeting was the…
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