Your Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC)

You'll get a letter with your name, address, Scottish Candidate Number (SCN), and a short message.

If your letter has a box saying 'You sat the National Course(s) listed below but you have not attained grades A-D in the external exam', this means you have not passed the subjects/courses listed.

You'll receive a commemorative certificate if you have passed one of the following qualifications:

• Advanced Certificates and Diplomas
• Award
• Customised Award
• Higher National Certificate (HNC)
• Higher National Diploma (HND)
• International Vocational Award
• National Certificate
• National Progression Award
• National Workplace
• Ofqual (Regulated Qualification Framework)
• Professional Development Award
• Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ)
• Specialist Award
• Scottish Baccalaureate

The certificate has the following information:

• the title of the qualification
• the level of the qualification (if applicable)
• your result (Distinction, Merit – if applicable)
• your name
• the month and year you gained the qualification
• the code of the qualification (called the Group Award code)
• your Scottish Candidate Number (SCN)

This part of the certificate is a summary of all the SQA qualifications you’ve passed since 1995.

Gained qualifications before 1995? You can order a certificate for these, using the Replacement Certificate Service.

The summary of attainment includes:

• all the SQA qualifications you have passed so far
• the grades you got (if applicable)
• any stand-alone National Units you have passed
• the month and year you gained each qualification
• the level (difficulty) of each qualification – we use the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) to measure this

Any units you failed or didn’t complete will not appear on your certificate.

This part of the certificate gives more detailed information on the qualifications you’ve passed recently. It includes:

• the code that we use for the qualification
• the full title of the qualification(s) you've passed and any units you gained as part of the qualification(s)
• any stand-alone National Units you have passed
• the grade you got for each course/unit (if applicable)
• the month and year you gained each qualification/unit
• the level (difficulty) of each qualification – we use the Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF) to measure this
• SCQF credit points - this is a way of measuring the amount of learning in a course (one credit point equals about 10 hours)

Any units you’ve failed or didn’t complete will not appear on your certificate.

You might see a note or statement next to some courses/group awards - for example, if a course was assessed and attained through the medium of Scottish Gaelic.

This page of your certificate contains your Core Skills and SCQF profiles.

Core Skills

Core Skills are important for work. The Core Skills are:

• Communication
• Numeracy
• Information & Communication Technology
• Problem Solving
• Working with Others

Not all the Core Skills will be listed on your certificate. Your profile will show the ones that you have achieved so far. Core Skills can be awarded at different SCQF levels and your profile will show the level you have achieved. It will also show the month and year that you achieved each Core Skill.

SCQF credit points

Each time you pass SQA qualifications, more SCQF credit points get added to your profile. Your SCQF credit points will be updated each time a new certificate is issued.