The Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) is the successor to the

Scottish Certificate of Education The Scottish Certificate of Education (or SCE) was a Scottish secondary education certificate, used in schools and sixth form institutions, from 1962 until 1999. It replaced the older Junior Secondary Certificate (JSC) and the Scottish Leaving Ce ...

and the

Record of Education and Training A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

, and is the main educational qualification awarded to students in secondary, further, and vocational education. The SQC is awarded by the

Scottish Qualifications Authority The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA; Gaelic: ''Ùghdarras Theisteanas na h-Alba'') is the executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for accrediting educational awards. It is partly funded by the Ed ...

. It forms part of the wider array of qualifications available in the

Scottish education system Education in Scotland is overseen by the Scottish Government and its executive agency Education Scotland. Education in Scotland has a history of universal provision of public education, and the Scottish education system is distinctly differ ...

, including

Scottish Vocational Qualification A Scottish Vocational Qualification, or SVQ, is a certificate of vocational education in Scotland. SVQs are available to people of all ages. SVQs are developed by Sector Skills Councils, in partnership with industry and awarding bodies. After th ...

Higher National Certificate A Higher National Certificate (HNC), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is a higher education/further education qualification in the United Kingdom. Overview In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the HNC is a BTEC qualificatio ...

s and

Higher National Diploma Higher National Diploma (HND), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is an academic higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and various other countries. They were first introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongsi ...

s. Each level is fully integrated with the

Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is the national credit transfer system for all levels of qualifications in Scotland. Awards are classified under the framework at ''levels'', and study undertaken at that level is valued ...

and the three upper levels are awarded UCAS Tariff Points. The SQC recognises performance in National Qualifications, Higher National Qualifications, Scottish Vocational Qualifications and other awards. As it is not part of the National Qualifications Framework of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, it is not available to

state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...

s there, but students from other nations do study for the qualification.

National Qualifications Levels and grades

National Qualifications are available at several levels, with the possible

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also r ...

and rough

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

and

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

equivalent shown: {, class="wikitable" ! SCQF Level ! SQC Level ! Grades ! New UCAS Tariff ! Old UCAS Tariff ! GCSE/A-level , - ! rowspan="5" , 7 , rowspan="5" ,

Advanced Higher The Advanced Higher is an optional qualification which forms part of the Scottish secondary education system brought in to replace the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (CSYS). The first certification of Advanced Higher was in 2001. It is normally ...

, - , A , , 56, , 130 , , Equal to A-level at A* , - , B , , 48, , 110 , , Equal to A-level at A , - , C , , 40, , 90 , , Equal to A-level at B , - , D , , 32 , , 72 , , Equal to A-level at C , - ! rowspan="5" , 6 , rowspan="5" , Higher , - , A , , 33, , 80 , , Same as A-level at C , - , B , , 27, , 65 , , Greater than A-level at D and AS at A , - , C , , 21, , 50 , , Less than A-level at D and greater than A-level at E; same as AS-level at B , - , D , , 15, , 36 , , Less than A-level at E and greater than AS at D , - ! rowspan="5" , 5 , rowspan="5" ,

Intermediate 2 Intermediate 2 level is Level 5 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework; it was the level between Higher and Standard Grade Credit. It was initially available to pupils (generally in S5) who achieved a grade 3 or 4 Standard Grade but, ...

National 5 Curriculum for Excellence is the national curriculum for Scottish schools for learners from the ages 3–18. It was developed out of a 2002 consultation exercise – the 'National Debate on Education' – undertaken by the-then Scottish Execut ...

, - , A , , 0, , 42 , , Greater than A-level at E and AS at C , - , B , , 0, , 35 , , Greater than AS at D , - , C , , 0, , 28 , , Greater than AS at E , - , D , , -, , - , , - , - ! rowspan="5" , 4 , rowspan="5" ,

Intermediate 1 Intermediate 1 ( gd, Meadhan Ìre 1) is an educational qualification in Scotland on the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) achievement ladder similar to General Level at Standard Grades; it is the ...

National 4 Curriculum for Excellence is the national curriculum for Scottish schools for learners from the ages 3–18. It was developed out of a 2002 consultation exercise – the 'National Debate on Education' – undertaken by the-then Scottish Execut ...

, - , A , , -, , - , , - , - , B , , -, , - , , - , - , C , , -, , - , , - , - , D , , -, , - , , - , - ! rowspan="5" , 3 , rowspan="5" , Access 3 / National 3 , - , A , , - , , - , , - , - , B , , - , , - , , - , - , C , , - , , - , , - , - , D , , - , , - , , -

External links

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
School qualifications Educational qualifications in Scotland Vocational education in Scotland

National Qualifications Levels and grades

See also

External links