1. SQA College Co-ordinator National Qualifications Update1

2. Topics Quality assurance Approval Post-results services
Grade D and Recognising Positive Achievement 2018
Examination timetable 2018
Support for teaching staff and Co-ordinators 2

3. NQ Quality Assurance SCQF level 5 freestanding units Advanced Higher
External Verification
SCQF level 5 freestanding units
National 5 courses
Higher
Advanced Higher
Quality assurance of internal assessment for the session is over.
Round 1 verification for units took place in February. Unit selection was purely based on college entries and verification history.
There were 63 selections in round 1. Colleges with Not Accepted outcomes were offered subject specific support to achieve national standards and key message reports were published to offer ongoing support.
Round 2 verification took place between March and May. There were 12 selections (split 3 for AVU, 5 for IACCAs and 4 for specified units. We will continue to offer support to colleges with Not Accepted outcomes to resolve any quality assurance issues that could delay August certification.
Overall there was 22% not accepted, 40% accepted* and 38% accepted. (Is this overall for Rd1 and 2 or just for the 3 types of verification in round 2?)
Moving forward with National Qualifications there will be a greater focus on course assessment and a reduced volume of internal assessment, so less internal assessment for us to quality assure. However we will continue to use proportionate and intelligence led approach to selection.
In 2017/18 session we will use the same basic quality assurance approach with 2 rounds of verification;
Round 1 in February for units
Round 2 in March to May principally for Added Value Units and internally assessed components of course assessment.
With the exception of Higher and Advanced Higher course units we will reintroduce random selections for unit verification from National 2 to National 4 awards and stand-alone Units, as we do for all other Units in our other qualifications portfolios. So if you do use the SCQF level 5 freestanding units they will be subject to normal quality assurance processes and your college could be selected for verification.
The other significant change, and you will have seen this from the recent communications, is that the system we introduced to support understanding of internal assessment standards using Nominees from colleges trained in applying standards and used to support lecturer understanding has now ended.
Verification activities will be undertaken by our Appointees. We will be inviting interest in these appointments which we hope your Nominees will apply for. With the reduction in internally assessed units we believe that support should be refocussed, principally to support delivery of revised courses. Our Understanding Standards materials will continue to be available across our range of units.
The decision to retain units as SCQF level 5 free-standing was to support flexibility in meeting the different needs of individual learners. Some learners may for instance be presented for a number of full courses and additionally for a number of free-standing units in different subjects.
This may be particularly relevant for Colleges to consider, especially when enrolling students on full time courses with a number of other National 5 course awards and units which are required for progression purposes.
Colleges should, therefore, decide for any given National 5 course whether a young person is presented either for units or for the full course award.

4. Approval required for:
Practical Electronics, Practical Metalworking and Practical Woodworking due to specific requirements this year
If you are already offering these courses, approval carries over
If you have not delivered the course in the past 3 years you will need to apply for approval
Approval applications must be with us by 29 September
Contact your Regional Manager for support
This year due to specific requirements for Practical Electronics, Practical Metalworking and Practical Woodworking course approval is now needed. If you are already offering the courses, approval carries over. However if you have not delivered the course in the past 3 years you will need to apply for approval.
Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Care and Childcare and Development have always required approval.
Approval is required at each level. So if you have say National 5 approval for Psychology but want to offer Higher, you need to get approval.
Group awards such as Skills for Work, National Progression Awards and National Certificates may also require approval.
If you are introducing any of these for the first time next session you need to get approval.
All approval applications must be with us by 29 September.
If you don’t have course approval any entries you make in January will be rejected and you really risk no certification for candidates in August. Approval is in place to ensure you have the right resources and skills to deliver the course. It gives us the opportunity to offer support from subject specialists. So please when you go back to your college check if any of these subjects appear for the first time at National 5 to Advanced Higher. If they do you need to get approval. You can get quickly from SQA Navigator details of all qualifications you currently have approval for. Your Regional Manager can point you in the right direction of people to talk to move the approval process forward. 7

5. Post-results Services
Opened on 8 August and will close on 29 August
Candidates’ certificates will be issued in November
Call
Priority marking review request were made by 18 August to allow us to meet the UCAS deadline for results by 30 August 7

6. Grade D change
Grade D attainment will be broadened from the current position (notional 45-49%) to a notional 40-49%
This ten per cent range brings a Grade D award into line with the ranges for Grades B and C
Will be introduced for National 5 in session , Higher in session and Advanced Higher in session
Grade D is being extended to 40-49% of marks. This is to allow a candidate to achieve a qualification at the level they were entered for in light of changes to RPA.
This will be introduced on an incremental basis as course structures change. So National 5 in 2018 will certificate grade D at 40-49%, Higher and Advanced Higher in 2018 will certificate grade D at current arrangements 45-49%. Higher will change in 2019 and Advanced Higher in 2020 certification.
We will be issuing an RPA guide at the end of August. If you have any questions regarding RPA please contact your Liaison Manager who can help. 7

7. Exam Timetable 2018 Timetable
25 Days
30 April 2018
Starts
7 August 2018
Results day
4 June 2018
Ends
2018 exam timetable has been extended to 25 days
Starts on Monday 30 April and ends Monday 4 June
Certification will be Tuesday 7 August
You should expect the number of days in the 2019 timetable to increase
Consider now what action you may need to take when planning for assessment arrangements for example.

8. Support for lecturing staff
National 5 CPD webinar programme
National 5 audio presentations for some subjects
Face-to-face Understanding Standards course events September 2017 – January 2018
Regular updates via Centre News and subject webpages
SQA recognises the need to support practitioners in understanding the Revised Documentation.
Webinars are an opportunity for us to elaborate on the arrangements for each subject and answer any subject-specific questions, customise it to the needs of subject practitioners and for subject specialists to confirm/ clarify specific questions to practitioners. Practitioners can book on to the webinars via our online booking system. The webinars are running until the end of September For those unable to tune into a webinar session, a recording will be published on our website after the webinar has taken place (no later than six weeks) after it has been edited to rationalise the question and answer section to make it easier to follow. Links to the webinars will be available from the CPD tab on the National 5 subject page.
For subjects which don’t have a webinar planned, we will publish an audio presentation. This covers the same content as a webinar. Audio presentations will be published between the end of May and the end of September 2017.
For a very few subjects, we will hold Understanding Standards events where we think face-to-face contact is essential.
*it’s worth mentioning at the documents which have been published are updated weekly on the NQ changes page, and it also shows which have still to come. .

9. Support for lecturing staff
View full list of National 5 documents and assessment support materials at
View full list of webinars and Understanding Standards materials published this session at

10. Your questions answered
Q&A document available from
Key headings:
Changes to assessment and documents
Removal of National 5 units
Entry requirements and presentation decisions
Grading and Recognising Positive Achievement
Support for schools and colleges
SQA has been able to progress the curricular modifications as a result of the September ANQ announcement to remove units and unit assessment as a mandatory part of the N5 course. However, we are still working through the operational implications that follow on from this decision and we will provide further information on those in due course. We have been receiving lots of enquiries from centres with regard to the changes and we have published answers to these in our Q&A document: Your Questions Answered, which is available on our website.
At present, you need to scroll down the page to find it but we are looking at its placement on the website page.
This is a live document (currently marked June 2017) that will be updated over time as more information becomes available and we will alert centres via Centre News whenever this is updated. It is our intention to answer any questions we receive on the changes as fully as we can on a regular basis a– we know centre co-ordinators will be anxious about any changes to procedures and want time to assimilate them and brief subject staff.

11. Support for SQA Co-ordinators
NQ Co-ordinator Guide for session 2017 – 18
Calendar of Key Dates
Your Liaison Manager/Regional Manager
Both will be available on SQA Connect soon. Any operational queries around certificating NQ or units contact your Liaison Manager.

12. Stay up-to-date Visit our dedicated web page: www.sqa.org.uk/nqchanges
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Encourage colleagues to subscribe to Centre News:
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@sqanews Scottish Qualifications Authority
You will also receive regular updates through Centre News.