Failing to Pass the Trust Test: SQA's Replacement

From December 2nd, Scottish qualifications will now be judged under a new authority.

Qualifications Scotland has now replaced the SQA in an attempt to reform Scottish education.

The SQA was responsible for curricula and awards for a range of qualifications from National 5s to HNDs.

University of Strathclyde - Unsplash

All previous responsibilities held by the SQA have been transferred to Qualifications Scotland.

They claim their main goals are to put students, teachers and stakeholders first.

Essentially, it's just a rebrand with the majority of people who worked for the SQA staying in their jobs for the new authority.

However, they hope to improve the system as a whole, especially after 2020, when students were unable to take their exams, and teachers were instructed to estimate grades based on students' past work.

As of 2024, only one in five parents, learners, and educators believed the SQA had earned back their trust after 2020.

Many felt that the SQA was detached from schools and wasn't involved enough with the curriculum, and are now hoping this new authority will be more involved in education as a whole.

Exam hall - Unsplash

But a rebranding won't be enough. Unions and students will need to see some improvement before there can be any trust in Qualifications Scotland.

While current curricula do not align with exams, students and teachers hope to see a change that makes everything more concise and coherent.

Qualifications Scotland will be fully operational by February 2026, featuring new certificates and a new brand.

School classroom - Unsplash

But will anything change?

The main thing is that they've created a board of 10 people, 7 of whom will have experience in education, I.e teachers and college lecturers.

This is in the hope that more informed decisions will be made when working specifically with educators.

They have also established an Accreditation Committee that will be independently governed and entirely separate from the awarding functions, a feature the SQA did not have.

There are high hopes across the country that Qualifications Scotland can build on the strengths of its predecessors.