I received an e-mail this week from a school teacher who wanted my help to convince his Head Teacher to offer more vocational qualifications in his school. He currently offered the NPA in Computer Games Development (which he described as “very, very good”) but wanted to offer more vocational awards. He posed several questions: what is available? do they contribute towards a school’s achievement? do they generate UCAS points? do they articulate with college courses? I tried to address each question.

There is a wide range of vocational qualifications available for schools, ranging from Digital Literacy to Cyber Security. These qualifications are nationally recognised, and appear on the same Scottish Qualification Certificate as Nationals and Highers. The full portfolio can be seen here. They also count towards a school’s achievement record and are included when the school is benchmarked using Insight. Some (not many) vocational qualifications also generate UCAS points. In my own portfolio, only PC Passport provides UCAS points. However, universities do take vocational qualifications into account when selecting students. Of course, colleges fully recognise vocational qualifications. In many instances they actually count towards larger qualifications that are offered in college (such as National and Higher National Certificates). And they are designed to articulate. So, for example, Digital Passport counts towards, and underpins, the National Certificate in Computing.

Of course, they are worthwhile in their own right since they provide real-world knowledge and skills, ranging from Social Media Literacy to Ethical Hacking. The number of schools that offer vocational awards is growing. Over 1,000 pupils are currently undertaking the NPA in Computer Games Development. Some schools require every S2 pupil to undertake the Internet Safety unit. The recent Education Working for All report was very supportive of schools mixing vocational qualifications with traditional qualifications.

I’ve created is a Yammer group for Scottish schools that offer vocational Computing qualifications. I hope that this new group will help you deliver vocational qualifications. Both me and my team will be there to help you. To join the group, first join the SQA Computing network on Yammer and then browse for the Schools Vocational Qualifications group. It’s a public group so anyone can join. Contact Helen if you need any help.