Information for Awarding Bodies

The Awarding Body Approval section includes all relevant information about applying to be an approved awarding body.

The Accreditation of Qualifications section includes information on the types of qualifications we accredit and the various stages that lead to accreditation.  This includes what you have to do when developing and submitting a qualification for accreditation.

The SCQF Credit Rating of Accredited Qualifications section describes what you have to do in order for us to approve your recommended credit rating and  includes:

• information on what we can credit rate
• our methodology
• approval processes
• forms for SCQF credit rating
• the support we can provide.

The Regulation section includes all relevant information about our regulation  activities for approved awarding bodies.

Clarification and guidance relating to the qualification requirements for the assessment and verification of accredited qualifications is given in Assessor and Verifier Competence.

This should help you when developing your  assessment  methodologies in response to standards setting organisations (SSO) assessment strategies and assessment principles.

Please note this is not an exhaustive list and assessment and verification of SVQs must always be in line with the current Learning and Development (L & D) National Occupational Standards (NOS) and the specific assessment strategies dependant on the requirements of the sector.

You must recognise that where an assessor or verifier has achieved a relevant qualification then there is no stipulation for them to repeat with the most current version.

Where assessment is undertaken by employers, please see the employer direct model of assessment section.

If you require any clarification on assessor and verifier competence, please contact your designated Accreditation Manager

We encourage you to produce and use Progression Pathways.  These should indicate the possible progression routes from SQA accredited qualifications.

Benefits of Progression Pathways to Learners

• clear routes to academic or career progression in any given area.
• coherent programmes of learning for industry
• promotion of credit accumulation and transfer
• transferability of skills

Progression pathways should identify appropriate start points for learners, based on their current academic abilities and skills, so that learners can make informed, confident choices on the most appropriate route for them.

Benefits of Progression Pathways for Organisations

• a sound foundation for development of learners, ensuring that they can contribute to maintaining high standards of performance.
• clarification of academic or skills requirements for operation in any given area.
• opportunities to market the benefits of undertaking learning or choosing a career in any given area.

Progression pathways should enable stakeholders to market qualifications in any given area and can be used as a marketing tool to encourage learners to pursue a prolonged career in any given area.

To maximise the potential benefits, it is important that any Progression Pathway model should be developed and promoted appropriately. SQA Accreditation has developed Recommendations for the Creation of Progression Pathways

We have published a guidance document for Awarding Bodies who are developing qualifications for Accreditation.