SQA Qualifications

The Scottish Government provides information on the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ and the new qualifications that pupils will complete during their time at school which you can read more about on the SQA website.

Schools offer a variety of subjects and can cover different content within them at each level, but you can read more about schools could offer from National 2 up to Advanced Higher on Learning at School.

Qualification

When will this be completed?

National Qualification 1-5 (NQ)

National 5 exams are sat whilst in S4 - S6

Highers

Higher exams are sat whilst in S5 - S6

Advanced Highers

Advanced Higher exams are sat whilst in S6

Higher National Certification (HNC)

Taken at college - this is a one-year course which can lead on to a degree qualification.

Higher National Diploma (HND)

Taken at college as a two-year course OR as a one-year course (after a HNC) which can lead on to a degree qualification.

Degree

This is completed at university and can be 4-5 years long depending on the subject.

There are no set compulsory subjects that your school has to teach your child, or that your child is required to sit at National or Higher level. In Scotland there is a ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ which means that the Government has set guidelines about certain subjects and the content included, but each school can individualise this e.g. in their projects or the specific content taught.
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is a guideline for qualifications to be compared against. There are 12 levels to SCQF (Level 1 the lowest going up to the highest at Level 12). These levels allow various qualifications to be compared on worth or difficulty e.g. SQA Qualifications, Qualifications at Higher Education and Apprenticeships or SVQ’s (Scottish Vocational Qualifications).
Arts degree subjects tend to focus on the Humanities and Social subjects such as English or Law, whereas Science degree subjects are more scientific based such as Biology or Engineering. There isn’t a difference in the difficulty or the quality of the qualification as a degree, it is just a difference between the type of subject being studied.

SQA Qualifications

How many Nationals will my child have to take?

How many Highers is typical for a student to sit?

What subjects are compulsory in the curriculum?

My child wants to leave school and not do Highers, is this possible?

What is SCQF?

What is the difference between an ‘Arts’ degree and a ‘Science’ degree?

Subject Chooser