New National Qualifications – Support and information for Parents
Update from the Scottish Qualifications Authority
The Scottish Qualifications Authority has a number of resources for parents to help you understand the changes to Scotland’s qualifications.
The parent and carer section of our websiteexplains how and why Scottish qualifications are changing and what the changes mean for young people and their families.
Our new video introduction explains the changes and outlines the information available on our website.
Our Mythbustervideos answer common questions about the new qualifications to help parents understand what’s happening – these new clips are now available. We also have videos explaining our development process and the groups working with us to develop the new qualifications.
We have a leafletespecially for parents and carers which can also be downloaded from our website or is available from schools.
We’re publishing draft documents on our website between now and April 2012 which show each stage of our thinking and plans. We are looking for feedbackat each stage of the development.
On 31 August 2011 we published Unit Specifications for National 4 and National 5, Course Rationales and Summaries for Access 2, Course Rationales and Summaries for Access 3, and Course Specifications for Higher.
The documents are quite technical and are aimed at teachers and education specialists but are also available for parents to comment on.
Comments on these documents can be made by 31 October 2011 using our website’s Have Your Say facility. A summary of feedback we have received so far is also on our website.
Keep visiting www.sqa.org.uk/curriculumforexcellencefor all you need to know about the new qualifications. Sign up for MyAlertsto receive e-mail updates.