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Description

Abstract

There are four Proposals discussed in the consultation: -

1. National qualifications at Access, Higher and Advanced Higher will be retained as points of stability.  Highers, in particular, will remain the ‘gold standard’ of the Scottish education system.  The content of all National Qualifications will be updated to reflect the values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence.  Some aspects of the structure of these qualifications will also be reviewed.
2. A new qualifications will replace the present Standard Grade General and Credit levels and Intermediate 1 and 2 (SCQF 4 and SCQF 5) qualifications.  The new qualification will reflect the best features of Standard Grade and Intermediate.  Standard Grade Foundation level will be removed and Access 3 will provide certification at SCQF level 3.
3. New awards in literacy and in numeracy will be available at SCQF levels 3 to 5 underwriting the Curriculum for Excellence focus on developing literacy and numeracy skills in young people.  To help strengthen this focus the Scottish Government is proposing new separate awards to accredit young people’s literacy and numeracy skills – the Scottish Certificate for Literacy and the Scottish Certificate for Numeracy.  The awards will be SCQF levels 3 and 5.  The expectation is that all young people will be presented for these awards unless there are exceptional reasons for not doing so.  The intention is also to ensure that the structure of these awards is flexible enough to make them available to adult learners.
4. Increased flexibility to better meet the needs of young people.  Suggestions include:
   • studying National Qualifications over 18 months (or 2 years) as well as one year;
   • introducing a winter diet of examinations; and
   • encouraging the most able young people to bypass lower level qualifications and to study Highers from S4 onwards.

The consultation can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/06/09084232/0

Associated with each of these Proposals are a set of questions.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology Trustees propose submitting a response to this public consultation and invite comments from Members who have expertise in this area and studied the consultation document.  As the consultation poses a number of questions it is preferable that Members provide input in the form of answers to these questions.  In its capacity as a professional body the IET will confine itself to only addressing those questions that are within its area(s) of competence.

Members contributing are asked to state their relevant experience.  All inputs will be treated confidentially in the production of a corporate view and individual contributors will not be named.

In the above “Member” should be interpreted as IET Technician Member, Members and Fellows.