The validation event for the revised HNC/D Interactive Media took place yesterday afternoon in central Glasgow. The purpose of validations is to review a new or updated qualification to ensure that the qualification meets its aims. The validation panel included representatives of colleges, universities and employers, none of whom had been involved in developing the qualification. A subset of the Qualification Development Team (QDT) answered the questions. Yesterday’s validation event went well. It’s great to see these events in action,…
Read moreRead more about Validation event for HNC/D Interactive Media
I got good news this morning. PC Passport has been validated. A number of conditions were placed on the award at the recent validation event, and it has taken time to address these conditions but I’m delighted to let you know that the revised award is now validated. Emma is now busy “operationalising” the new award. That means adding codes, publishing the Group Award Specification, and creating a subject page. This will all be done in the next week or two. In the…
Read moreRead more about PC Passport is now validated
Now that Emma has joined the team, we are able to progress some developments that were put on hold. As previously mentioned, Helen is the Lead Officer (LO) for advanced qualifications (SCQF Levels 7-10) and Emma is the LO for non-advanced (SCQF Levels 3-6). Helen gave me an update this afternoon on how the following developments are progressing. HNC Computer Science/HNC Data Analysis HNC/D Computer Games Development HNC/D Information Technology HNC/D Interactive Media. Most of these developments are at the…
Read moreRead more about HN developments
SQA was the first awarding body in the UK to introduce a qualification in online safety when we produced a National Unit entitled Internet Safety in 2007. The Unit quickly became popular in Scottish schools and colleges. Some schools required every pupil to undertake it early in their secondary education (typically S2). The original Unit was updated in 2012 and the current version is used within the Award in Internet Safety, which became available at the same time. Such is the…
Read moreRead more about Internet Safety
February 26, 2016 - Bobby -
The QDT for the review of HNC/D Interactive Media met yesterday afternoon for the fourth time. The previous meeting was held last January. The purpose of the meeting was to review progress and agree future tasks and timescales. I recently met with the Lead Developer and we felt it was a good time for the QDT to meet again. The QDT is proposing new titles for the awards: HNC Digital Design & Web Development HND Web Development HND Digital Development. This development has…
Read moreRead more about HNC/D Interactive Media review
February 15, 2016 - Helen -
The core Units within the revised NPAs in PC Passport SCQF Levels 4, 5 and 6 have now been published on the SQA website. There are nine new Units in total. These are: HA6J 44 Web Apps: Presentations (SCQF Level 4) HA6J 45 Web Apps: Presentations (SCQF Level 5) HA6J 46 Web Apps: Presentations (SCQF Level 6) HA6L 44 Web Apps: Spreadsheets (SCQF Level 4) HA6L 45 Web Apps: Spreadsheets (SCQF Level 5) HA6L 46 Web Apps: Spreadsheets (SCQF Level 6) HA6M 44 Web Apps: Word Processing (SCQF Level 4) HA6M 45 Web Apps: Word Processing (SCQF Level 5) HA6M 46 Web…
Read moreRead more about NPA PC Passport – core Units are coded and published
January 22, 2016 - Bobby -
This development commenced in August and since then we’ve made good progress. I met with the Lead Developer (Denise Doyle of Glasgow City College) yesterday afternoon to discuss recent progress. The prime aim of the development is to create two awards that articulate with the University of Strathclyde’s Digital Academy but they will be national qualifications and, therefore, must serve a wider audience. So they are being developed in the normal way — with a Qualification Development Team (QDT) and…
Read moreRead more about HNC Computer Science and HNC Data Analytics
January 20, 2016 - Bobby -
Helen and I met with the Lead Developer (Fiona Murnin of New College Lanarkshire) this afternoon to discuss progress with this development. It’s at the same stage as the HNC/D Computer Games Development review – the team are busy writing the new and revised units. This is a larger development than Computer Games, with 27 new or revised units being written. Some are almost complete and some are at an early stage. I’ve asked for all of the units to…
Read moreRead more about HNC/D Interactive Media update
January 18, 2016 - Bobby -
One of the conditions arising from the recent validation event for the new PDA in Software Development was to finalise the component Units. We’ve been working on them since then and they’re almost ready for publishing. The PDA (at each level) consists of three, double credit, Units in Analysis & Design, Implementation & Testing, and a Project unit. SQA units are written by practitioners, checked by vetters, and validated by SQA officers so they go through a rigorous quality assurance…
Read moreRead more about PDA Software Development Units
January 13, 2016 - Bobby -
Helen and I met with the Lead Developer for this award today. The aim of the meeting was to review progress. This development is progressing well. The development team are currently writing the Group Award Specification (GAS) and the Unit Specifications. The aims, structures, articulations and unit briefs have all been completed. The revised awards will contain a number (11 in total) of new or revised Units including two new Maths units. It is being proposed that the role of Maths…
Read moreRead more about HNC/D Computer Games Development update