The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) serves as the national accreditation and awarding body for Scotland. Its objective is to support individuals in realizing their full potential and to uphold standards in Scottish education.
The SQA interacts with learners, educational institutions, colleges, and training providers both domestically and internationally to establish and continually improve a system of qualifications and to set and maintain standards for various other awarding bodies and accredited qualifications.
Offered Programs
About
Awarding and Accrediting
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is divided into two separate entities: SQA Accreditation and SQA, the awarding body.
Awarding
As an awarding body, SQA is responsible for creating, maintaining, and enhancing a comprehensive framework of qualifications. These qualifications can be obtained at schools, colleges, employers, and training providers in Scotland, and include National Qualifications, Higher National Qualifications, and a range of vocational qualifications developed in partnership with industry.
Accrediting
As an accrediting body, SQA sets and maintains standards for numerous other awarding bodies. This includes accrediting Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) to demonstrate that learners have the necessary skills to perform their job effectively. SQA Accreditation also provides extensive support and quality assurance, which serves as a symbol of quality for awarding bodies and their clients. The accreditation process also plays a crucial role in supporting Foundation Apprenticeships and other youth workforce development initiatives, and SQA's qualifications are an integral part of most of Scotland's Modern Apprenticeships.
SQA Accreditation is referred to as such to differentiate it from SQA as the awarding body. Additionally, SQA Accreditation works with standards setting organizations and others in the development of National Occupational Standards, qualification structures, and credit rating qualifications for the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.
SQA values
SQA will be known for being:
- Progressive
- Enabling
- Trusted
Vision
We will digitally transform our organisation to offer customers better service by delivering efficient, scalable and new enabling approaches.