Once a year, me and my team take a day out to discuss how we do things and how we can do things better. We had our annual team meeting yesterday and discussed a range of things including: the qualification development process how to improve the quality of qualifications our communication and collaboration tools how to reduce the time it takes to develop qualifications. Our processes have evolved over a long period of time, so they’re pretty mature and robust.…
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July 4, 2018 - sqablogs -
We are currently recruiting writers and vetters for two units in Blockchain. One unit will be at SCQF level 7 and the other one at SCQF level 8. The two units will be included in the development of the HND Cyber Security, which will be kicking off shortly. However, we are in a position to start developing these units immediately. We already have unit outlines for these two units, which you can have a look at (and contribute to) via…
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The Qualification Support Team (QST) met last week.The QST has two main functions: (1) to identify the support that centres need to better deliver SQA awards; and (2) consider changes to qualifications. The membership consists of school teachers, college lecturers and trainers. These meetings are not talk-shops. At this one, we agreed a number of changes to qualifications (most of which were requested by centres prior to the meeting) and also agreed to develop a number of new support materials…
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I’m pleased to let you know that conditions and recommendations that were placed on HNC Cyber Security at the recent validation event have now been addressed. So, the award is now validated. I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in the development but particularly the Lead Developer (Joe Harkins from West College Scotland) and the other members of the QDT. I’d also like to thank the members of the validation panel, particularly the convener (Chris Deegan of Glasgow…
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We’re about to commence the review of HN Computing qualifications. The “big review” will involve the revision of the following awards: HNC Computing HND Computer Science HND Computing: Networking HND Computing: Software Development HND Computing: Technical Support These were last updated in 2013 so they are overdue a review. They will be reviewed as a group because they are closely related and best considered a “family” of awards. The aim of the review will be to update the structure and…
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The launch event for the support materials for NPA Cyber Security was held yesterday at the Royal College in Glasgow. It’s a beautiful building and there was an excellent turnout with almost 80 teachers in attendance, which reflects the huge interest in this qualification. You can get a sense of how the event went by checking the Twitter hashtag. The event was opened by a representative of the Scottish Government explaining Scotland‘s Cyber Resilience Strategy and ended with a hands-on workshop…
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June 11, 2018 - sqablogs -
Further to my previous blog post, I can now confirm that the existing Group Awards (version 2010) have been replaced and will go into lapsing on 31/07/18. The finishing date for these qualifications is 31/07/2021. Furthermore, the Unit Assessment Support Packs (ASPs) have been commissioned. These will be available in time for assessment in the 2018/2019 academic year.
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June 7, 2018 - sqablogs -
Further to my colleague Emma’s blog post, we are still recruiting for ASP writers for the new/revised units for the NC Computer Games. Any work undertaken will be paid. The following ASPs are required: Code Unit Title SCQF Level Credit Value New/Rev. Mand./Opt. HY2F 45 Gameplay 5 6 Rev. M HY2C 45 Computer Programming 5 6 New M HY2C 46 Computer Programming 6 6 New M HY95 45 Computer Games: Mathematics 5 6 New O* HY95 46 Computer Games: Mathematics …
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June 7, 2018 - sqablogs -
Supplementary learning and teaching resources for the NPA PC Passport are now available on the website. You will find them on the subject page underneath the tab “Learning and Teaching materials.” These resources correspond with the Workbooks: Presentations, Spreadsheets and Word Processing (SCQF levels 4,5 & 6). For any queries relating to these resources, please contact me directly.
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June 6, 2018 - sqablogs -
As previously blogged the NPA Computer Games Development was in the final stages of development. I’m now happy to advise that this Award has been finalised and is available on the subject page of the SQA website. The Group Award Specification can be found here. If you continue to see the previous subject page, please clear your cache in your browser. Please note, Mapping of Core Skills (Table 5.3, Page 7 in the Group Award Spec.) has been updated to reflect…
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