Understanding Standards Event, May 2015

Level 1 & 2 Qualifications UpdateSandy Riddell

(Qualifications Manager, SQA)

Level 1 & 2 Qualifications

National 2 CoursesThe new National 2 Courses have been available since August 2013There were 15 Courses (including the 4 languages: German; Spanish; Italian; and French)We’ve added 3 more Courses for: Gaelic Learners; Gaelic Speakers; and Maths for Gaelic Speakers.We have also amended the UASPs for two of the English and Communication Units (see Sept Update for details - http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/SubjectUpdateNational1and2Sep2014.pdf)

Level 1 & 2 Qualifications

National 1 Units The new National 1 Units were developed and

released to centres in 3 phases during 2013/14 The last phase of new Units were made available for

centres in May 2014 There are now 76 National 1 Units available

Level 1 & 2 Qualifications

Freestanding Units at National 2 level There were a number of Units that were not part

of Courses within the Access 2 suite Units now reviewed, revised and/or replace The new range of Freestanding Units will be

available from August 2015:– 16 Units covering various topics (Comm’s,

Media Studies, Ind’ Living, etc)– 13 Units covering employment skills

Awards at Level 1 and 2

‘Awards’ are not part of the National 1 and 2 suite: There are several Awards available at SCQF level 1

and 2:

Personal Development (level 2);

Personal Achievement (level 1&2);

Cycling (level 1&2);

Steps to Work (level 2)

Scottish Studies (level 2)

Lapsing dates for Access 1 and 2

Most of the old Access 1 Units and Access 2 Units & Courses will still be available up until July 2016

We would encourage centres to move over to the new Courses and Units by session 2015/16

Candidate’s cannot be resulted for the old (Access) Units after 1st August 2016

Level 1 and 2 Qualification Codes

All SQA qualifications have a six digit code, e.g.– Science: Practical Experiments (H8M6 72)

New Units codes start with ‘H’, Course codes start with ‘C’ and Award codes start with ‘G’

The last two digits indicate the level:

Product type and level Level codeNational 1 Units 71National 2 Units 72Units from Level 1 Awards 41Units from Level 2 Awards 42

Level 1 & 2 Qualifications

Update to the Level 1 Personal Achievement Award:Outcome 3 had included:

3.1 Communicate one thing about the activity which was liked/disliked

3.2 Communicate the reason for this view

Outcome 3 will change to:

3.1 Communicate whether you liked or disliked the activity

Level 1 & 2 Qualifications

Navigating the SQA websiteInformation about level 1 and 2 qualifications is now held in various sections of the SQA websiteDocuments relating to National 1 and 2 qualifications are held in a different section from level 1 and 2 AwardsThe sheet enclosed in your packs lists a few URLs that may help you find the information you need.

Any Questions ??

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