October 12, 2015 - Bobby -
I came into good news this morning — the NPA Digital Literacy at SCQF Level 3 has now been validated. A number of conditions and recommendations were placed on it at the recent validation event, but these have now been addressed. This (almost) brings to a conclusion a development that commenced last February. The final stage is to “operationalise” the qualification (code it, put it on the website, add it to our database, etc.) so that centres can register candidates for…
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October 6, 2015 - Bobby -
Following last week’s launch event, the new Cyber Security qualifications have been in the news. Today’s Herald has an article about them and the Scottish Government has been promoting them too. SQA has made a YouTube video to encourage schools to offer them. There has been a great deal of interest in these new qualifications. Many schools are offering one or more of them alongside more traditional qualifications, and several colleges are offering them as part of the National Certificate.…
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October 2, 2015 - Bobby -
The launch event for the new qualifications in Cyber Security took place yesterday in the Stirling Highland Hotel. There was an excellent attendance, on a beautiful day, with 90 people attending both sessions. Sixty five schools and ten colleges were represented at the event, with representatives of regional councils, universities and employers also in attendance. The agenda included a lot of interesting talks, not just about the contents of the awards but also about the growing importance of cyber security, including the excellent…
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September 19, 2015 - Bobby -
As you may know, the NPAs in Cyber Security and Digital Literacy have recently been developed. The next stage is the production of Assessment Support Packs (ASPs). We have moved away from paper ASPs to a combined online and offline version. We still produce ASPs for new Units but we take out the knowledge part and offer that through SOLAR, which is SQA’s e-testing system, leaving a stripped down version of the ASP, normally containing only the practical assessment(s). The training…
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September 17, 2015 - Bobby -
The validation event for the revised NPA in Digital Literacy was held this morning. The Validation Panel was chaired by Loraine Johnston of Ayrshire College. I’m pleased to report that the qualification was validated with a few conditions and recommendations. There is nothing major to change. The qualification structure was approved without change and the rationale and aims of the award were accepted (with minor changes). The Panel made helpful comments about assessment, core skills and employment opportunities. It won’t take…
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I am meeting with Microsoft later today to discuss the new version of PC Passport (working title PC Passport 2016). So it seemed like a good time to update the FAQ. I know that many of you are interested in how this development is coming along and the FAQ should answer all of your questions at this time. The qualification is on schedule to be available to centres in January 2016. We’re currently working on the Group Award Specification and…
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I’m pleased to let you know that the NPAs in Cyber Security went live today. A webpage is now available, where you will find the Group Award Specification [PDF] and other information about the suite of qualifications. The awards are auto approved so any Scottish school or college can deliver them. A number of centres have already expressed an interest in delivering the awards in the coming session and I expect several schools and colleges to offer them in session 2015-16. The component…
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The web page for NPA Computer Refurbishment (GK7G 44) – http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/74702.html is now live. This NPA has two component units at SCQF level 4 – Refurbishing and Recycling a Computer and Setting Up a Computer and both Units are mandatory. It is auto-approved and already in our system. Scottish schools and colleges can now register candidates for this qualification without going through approval process. The assessment materials will include an Assessment Support Pack for each Unit and SLOAR assessment for the cognitive…
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I came into good news this morning. The convenor of the Validation Panel (Professor Bill Buchanan) has lifted the conditions imposed at the recent validation event. So we can now proceed to operationalising the awards. We hope to have the NPAs available to centres from 1 August. Please note that the component units are available now. Scotland is the first country to develop this kind of national qualification for schools. We won’t be the last. It seeks to fill a critical…
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I got back from holiday this morning to discover that all of the Units within the NPAs in Cyber Security have now been published. There are nine units in total (three at each SCQF Level) [PDFs]. Data Security (Level 4) Data Security (Level 5) Data Security (Level 6) Digital Forensics (Level 4) Digital Forensics (Level 5) Digital Forensics (Level 6) Ethical Hacking (Level 4) Ethical Hacking (Level 5) Ethical Hacking (Level 6) We’re pretty pleased with these new National Units. The…
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