New National Qualifications called National 4 and National 5 will be introduced.
They will replace a number of current National Qualifications – Standard Grade General, Standard Grade Credit, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2. Standard Grade Foundation will be replaced by the updated Access 3.
Revisions will also be made to the current Access 1, Access 2, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications.
The new National 4 and National 5 qualifications will be introduced in 2013/14, as will the new Access qualifications. The new Higher will follow in 2014/15 while the new Advanced Higher will be available from 2015/16 onwards.
Over 1,000 people - including sector professionals, subject experts and nominated representatives from partner organisations, among them stakeholders, teaching professionals and parent groups from across Scotland - have contributed to the development process.
To guide the development, SQA set up a number of groups to take the development process forward:
Curriculum Area Review Groups provide advice and guidance in each curriculum area. Each group is made up of nominated representatives from partner organisations, stakeholders, teaching associations and parent groups.
Qualifications Design Teams work on the design of qualifications within individual subjects such as Physics, History or English. They are made up of nominated subject experts.
Subject Working Groups carry out specific pieces of work as designated by the Qualifications Design Teams. Teachers and lecturers can nominate themselves to join these groups.
There are a number of internal governance groups which oversee and sign off the work of all our groups. All work produced by the Subject Working Groups is reviewed by Qualifications Design Teams and Curriculum Area Review Groups before they are signed off.
The new qualifications will be phased in between session 2013/14 and session 2015/16.
| Timeline | New qualifications |
|---|---|
| 2010/11 | New curriculum introduced to S1 pupils |
| April 2012 | Formal publication of Qualifications/Course Arrangements and Specifications for Access 1-3, National 4, National 5 and Higher on SQA website |
| April 2013 | Formal publication of Qualifications/Course Arrangements and Specifications for Advanced Higher on SQA website |
| August 2013 | Last certification of Standard Grade qualifications |
| 2013/14 | Access 1-3, National 4 and National 5 introduced – ‘dual run’ alongside Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 |
| 2014/15 | New Higher introduced – ‘dual run’ alongside current Higher, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 |
| 2015/16 | New Advanced Higher introduced |
Literacy and numeracy are the responsibility of all and will be developed across learning. Literacy and Numeracy Units will be available as freestanding Units at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 5. These Units will also be available to adult learners.
There will be mandatory Units in Access 3 and National 4 English and Mathematics Courses and National 5 Lifeskills Mathematics.
At National 5, some, but not all, literacy and numeracy skills will be included within English and Mathematics Courses. These skills will not be separately certificated by SQA.
For those who require full, separate certification, freestanding Literacy and Numeracy Units at SCQF level 5 will be available.
For more information on Literacy and Numeracy, go to the SQA Literacy and Numeracy page.
The latest information about advice and guidance which will support practitioners delivering courses within the new national qualifications (NQ) framework.
SQA are publishing draft documents on their website which outline their proposals and plans for the new National Qualifications.
You have the opportunity to be involved with the new National Qualifications development process.
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