Form SA1(2)
APPLICATION FOR VALIDATION AND/OR
APPROVAL TO OFFER A SPECIFIC QUALIFICATION /
Please complete in black ink or typescript
For advice on how to complete this form, please see A Guide to Approval and the attached validation support notes
COVER SHEETAbout your centre
1Centre Name
2Centre Number
3Name of SQA Co-ordinator (see note 1)
4Name of person responsible for the development of
this qualification (if different from above) (see note 2)
5Telephone Number
6Qualification title and Code
Type of application
If you are seeking APPROVAL ONLY, please tick here:
National Qualifications (NQ)
Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ)Please attach Part A only
Higher National Qualifications (HNQ)
If you are seeking VALIDATION of a Higher National Qualification or a named Scottish Group Award (SGA) at the same time as APPROVAL, please tick here (see note 4) Please attach Parts A and B
If you are seeking VALIDATION ONLY of a Higher National Qualification or a Scottish Group Award
please tick here (see note 5):Please attach Part B only
Please list all documents submitted with this application form(see note 8):
Declaration
The centre agrees to provide access to the Scottish Qualifications Authority moderators or other staff and to appropriate national agencies. I understand that this is to allow national standards to be monitored and maintained.
Signed (by authorised signatory)
Name (printed) /

Date

FOR APPROVAL ONLY
Please attach Part A and return to:
The Approval Section
Approval and Audit Unit
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Hanover House
24 Douglas Street
GLASGOW G2 7NQ
Tel: 0141 242 2121 / FOR BOTH VALIDATION ONLY or VALIDATION AND APPROVAL
Please return to:
Development Coordination Manager
Development Division
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Hanover House
24 Douglas Street
GLASGOW G2 7NQ
Tel: 0141 242 2090
* SQA will acknowledge applications within 7 working days

sa1(2).doc/APP/200600

1

PART A
Application for approval to offer a specific qualification
Section 1Qualification details
(Please photocopy as required)
Full Title of Qualification
Level /

Qualification Number

/ For SQA Use Only
Unit Code /

Full Unit Title

When approved to offer the above do you wish SQA to disclose this information to third parties (excluding NTO and Government Departments)? / YES/NO
Section 2
Details of previous experience of assessment in this qualification area
Have you experience of delivering SQA qualifications (or those of its predecessor bodies, SCOTVEC and SEB) in this subject/occupational area? YES NO
Group Award or Unit Number / Title
Please complete this section if you would like to support this application with additional information.
Section 3
Resources to be used to support the assessment of the Qualification(s)
(Continue on a separate sheet if necessary)

1Accommodation is suitable and takes account of technical/specialist needs

Accommodation to be used:
If sites are to be used, please submit your site selection checklist.
2Suitable reference material which supports the qualification
Please list reference material available to candidates:
Section 3 (Continued)
Resources to be used to support the assessment of the Qualification(s)
(Continue on a separate sheet if necessary)
3Sufficient appropriate equipment is available for the qualification and takes account of technical/specialist needs.
Equipment to be used:
4Sufficient appropriate learning material which supports the qualification is available and accessible to all candidates.
Learning materials to be used:
5Assessment material is available for, and appropriate to, the requirements of the qualification.
Details of the assessment materials to be used
National Qualifications
If you are using material from the National Assessment Bank please tick here and go to page 4.
If you wish any assessment material to be prior moderated please tick here and submit.
(For National Qualifications, where you have developed your own assessment material, you are strongly advised to seek prior moderation, please refer to publication A0892 Putting Assessment Moderation Policy into Practice).
Scottish Vocational Qualifications and Higher National Qualifications
Please tick to confirm that assessment material has been subject to internal moderation, and that
this is available for scrutiny by an external moderator.
Please give brief details of the type of assessment materials to be used
(eg observation checklists, project, case study).
(for guidance on the amount and type of material a moderator will expect to see for each qualification type, please see the Guide to Approval)
Criteria for Internal Moderation
Details of the centre’s system of internal moderation as it relates to this qualification.
Number of Assessors: / Number of Internal Moderators:
Initial Number of Candidates:
Assessors and internal moderators are appropriately qualified/experienced.
Please provide a list of the members of staff who will be involved in the assessment and internal moderation of the qualification.
Name / Assessor and/or Internal Moderator / Responsibility for Units as Listed in Section 2
Unit Number / Site
(where applicable)
Staff information
(Please photocopy as required and complete a separate sheet for each member of staff involved in the assessment and internal moderation of the qualification). This section should be completed and signed by the member of staff.
Name
Assessor or Internal Moderator
Site (if applicable)
Areas of the qualification you will assess/internally moderate:
Details of competence in subject/occupational area
Qualifications:
Experience of working and/or training and assessing in this area:
Assessors and Internal Moderators should be competent to the standards defined by the Employment National Training Organisation (ENTO) commonly known as the ‘D’ Units Exemptions are TQFE and TQSE
Achieved year achievedworking towards entry date
D32 ……………..……………..
D33……………..……………..
D34……………..……………..
TQFE……………..
TQSE……………..
Other…………….. (please specify)Please tick all apply
Details of familiarity with the qualification content, procedures and documentation:
Signed / Date
If applying for approval to offer NQ, HN or SVQ qualifications, your application is now complete. Please send your application form to SQA, as indicated on the cover sheet.

1

PART B

SECTION 1: Validation of Higher National Qualifications and Scottish Group Awards

Validation is the process of confirming that any new qualification fully satisfies the Scottish Qualification Authority’s validation criteria for units and group awards. Please refer to the SQA publication Quality Assurance Principles, Elements and Criteria (pages 13-15) (see notes 10-12).
Please read the guidance notes before completing this proposal form for:
  • revalidation of an existing qualification(start at section 2.1)
  • validation of a new qualification (start at section 2.2)

SECTION 2:Validation of a new qualification or revalidation of an existing

qualification

2.1If your proposal is for the revalidation of an existing qualification please give full title and code of the original qualification (see note 13)
Original qualification title:
Original qualification code:
2.2Please give the full title of the qualification for which validation is sought (see note 14)
2.3Please provide details of the aims, structure and level of the qualification, the target candidate group, their likely progression routes and types of potential employment (see note 15)
2.4Are you developing the proposed qualification as a member of a consortium?
YesPlease continue completing section 2.5 onwards
NoPlease complete section 2.8
2.5Please identify the lead centre and the person who can be contacted about any aspect of the qualification (see note 16)
2.6Please indicate the contact person (if different from the above) who is responsible for the development of the qualification (see note 17)
2.7Please name the other centres in the consortium
Please go to section 2.9
2.8If you are not a member of a consortium, would you be willing to join other centres interested in developing a similar qualifications? (see note 18)
Yes No
Please go to section 3
2.9If your proposal is for a Higher National qualification, by whom do you wish the validation meeting to be arranged and hosted? (see note 19)
(Please tick as appropriate)
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Your centre
SECTION 3:Qualification Structure
3.1Please list below the structure of the qualification using additional sheets if required (see notes 20 + 21)
Mandatory units and courses(see note 22)
Code / Unit/Course Title / Credit
Value / Level
Optional units and courses(see note 23)
Code / Course/Unit Title / Credit
Value / Level
Section 3 (continuation)
Additional information relating to the structure of the qualification, including any restriction which may apply to the choice of optional units (see note 24)
3.2Articulation: is this qualification designed to articulate with any existing or new provision at your centre or another centre? (see note 25)
Yes (Please give details)No
3.3Recognition: does the qualification lead to recognition by an industry or professional body?
(see note 26)
Yes (Please give details)No

1

Guidance notes for the completion of the form Application for Validation and/or Approval to offer a Specific Qualification

About your centre

1The SQA Coordinator is the person who is nominated by the centre as the primary point of contact for all applications from the centre and for liaison between the centre and the Scottish Qualifications Authority

2It may be that the person responsible for the development of the qualification is different from the SQA Coordinator – if so please tell us

3If you are seeking approval only of existing qualifications, please complete Part A.

For advice on completing this part of the Form please see Guide to Approval or contact the Approval Section on 0141 242 2121.

4If you are seeking validation of a Higher National qualification or a Scottish Group Award at the same time as approval please send us Part A and B (NB Part A Section 1 does not have to be completed as this information should be submitted on Part B Section 3).

Please note that proposals for validation of National Qualifications are specific to Scottish Group Awards which comprise existing validated units and courses. Proposals for validation of Higher National Qualifications include Higher National Units, Higher National Certificate, Higher National Diploma and those Professional Development Awards which are made up exclusively of Higher National Units.

5If you are seeking validation only of a Higher National qualification or a Scottish Group Award please complete and submit Part B only.

6Please speak to SQA's Qualifications Manager for the subject area about any proposed modifications to existing awards. Depending on the scale of the modification, there may not be a requirement to complete this form – the Qualifications Manager will advise you how to proceed.

7There is no requirement to complete this form for a request for an extension to a period of currency of a group award – a letter from the authorised centre signatory to the Systems and Validations Manager is adequate.

8Please list all documents which you are submitting to support your application – this is a useful cross check for your centre and for SQA. It may be easier to append copies of existing documents than to repeat the information within the application – clear cross referencing between appendices and page numbers/paragraphs is essential.

9The application must be signed and dated by the authorised signatory eg Head of Centre or SQA Coordinator. This should be a senior member of your centre with delegated authority for implementing and monitoring the quality of delivery of the Scottish Qualifications Authority qualifications in your centre.

PART B

Section 1: Validation of Higher National Qualifications and Scottish Group Awards

10Further information is available from the following SQA publications:

  • Quality Assurance Principles, Elements and Criteria
  • Validation and Approval of Scottish Group Awards: Guidance for Centres (provisional title) for publication in February 2000
  • Validation and Approval of Higher National Awards: Guidance for Centres
  • Higher National Qualifications: Latest information
  • Guidelines for Validation Panel Members

11This form should be used to submit validation proposals for Higher National qualifications or Scottish Group Awards where the centre does not have devolved responsibility for the validation of SQA qualifications. Please note the following changes and timescales which affect validation:

  • from 1 August 2000 validation of Scottish Group Awards comprising exclusively of existing validated units and courses will be devolvable to centres
  • from 1 January 2001 validation of units will be carried out by SQA and will be non devolvable to centres from that date

12Before starting to plan your developments, we would encourage you to speak to our Qualifications Managers who are responsible for specific subject areas. They will be able to tell you about any relevant developments which are taking place and can give advice on how to proceed with your validation proposals. If you are not certain who to contact, our Validation section on 0141 242 2090 will be able to put you in touch with the relevant Qualifications Manager.

Section 2: Validation of a new qualification or revalidation of an existing qualification

132.1 Only the centre responsible for developing a qualification can propose the revalidation of the original qualification. If other centres have a need for this, please contact the Qualifications Manager responsible for the qualification to discuss this further.

142.2 The title should make it clear what the successful candidate has achieved ie it should be unambiguous and should not conflict with existing titles.

152.3 Please provide a rationale of the aims, structure and level of the proposed qualification with information about your target candidate group, any potential progression routes and the types of potential employment you may envisage.

162.5 Within a consortium, one centre acts as the 'lead centre' to submit documentation and to circulate information to the other members of the consortium. When the qualification has been validated each centre within a consortium should submit a request for approval using sections 1-4 of this form.

172.5 If the person who is responsible for the development of the qualification is different from the consortium lead centre contact, please provide this additional contact information

182.8 We would encourage you to join in a consortium development as we believe this is the most effective way of meeting centre, candidate and SQA interests in developing a meaningful portfolio of qualifications. If you express an interest in exploring this further, we will advise the Qualifications Manager who will include you in consultation on future development plans.

192.9 Please note that for Scottish Group Awards, the validation meetings will be organised by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Validation meetings for Higher National qualifications may be organised either by the Scottish Qualifications Authority or by your centre and the implications are:

Organised by the Scottish Qualifications Authority:

  • The Scottish Qualifications Authority selects the validation panel members and is responsible for the expenses of the invited panel members (please note the expenses of the course team are the responsibility of the centre)
  • the validation meeting normally takes places in the Scottish Qualifications Authority offices
  • The Scottish Qualifications Authority determines the date of the validation meeting

Organised by your centre:

  • your centre is responsible for nominating members of the validation panel, and for submitting these nominations to the Scottish Qualifications Authority for approval
  • your centre is responsible for panel members' expenses, with the exception of the Scottish Qualifications Authority representative
  • the validation meeting normally takes place in your centre
  • you determine the date of the validation meeting

Section 3: Qualification Structure

203.1 Please refer to the design rules for Higher National qualifications and Scottish Group Awards to help you define the structure of your proposed qualification.

Scottish Group Awards and their component units and courses all have a level assigned to them based on the design rules. From 2001 we will begin to introduce levels into some Higher National qualifications as part of a rolling programme. Credit values of units and courses are determined by the design rules of the relevant qualification.

213.1 Each unit/course title should be entered separately and the title must be given in full ie:

Manufacturing Operating Systems and Technology 1

Manufacturing Operating Systems and Technology 2

not

Man Opr Sys & Tech 1 & 2

223.1 The mandatory section should contain any unit/course which must be successfully completed as a condition of qualification.

233.1 The optional section should show optional units/courses

243.1 Please use this section to provide any other information which you feel is relevant to the structure of the qualification, including any restrictions on the choice of optional units.

253.2 Please indicate any possible articulation between your proposed qualification and those offered at your own or other centres. For example:

  • Scottish Group Award at Higher to Higher National Certificate/Higher National Diploma
  • Higher National Certificate/Higher National Diploma to Scottish Vocational Qualification level 4
  • Higher National Certificate to Year 2 of a degree programme
  • Higher National Diploma to Year 3 of a degree programme

263.3 Please tell us about any membership recognition which may be granted by professional bodies eg full or partial exemption from the bodies' own examinations.