Service statements

We design, quality assure and certificate qualifications which develop the skills, knowledge and competence of individuals, contributing to their personal development and the economic growth and development of Scotland.

There are two ways we achieve our aims: we act in partnership with others to develop and deliver our qualifications and services, and we are driven by the needs of our customers in all that we do.

We recognise that we have a clear responsibility to our customers to carry out our duties efficiently and effectively, and to apologise if we get things wrong.

We are committed to continually improving the quality and responsiveness of our service, and we constantly work to tailor our service as closely as we can to the needs of our customers.

What do we do?

We are the national accreditation and awarding body for Scotland. Our purpose is to help people fulfil their potential and maintain standards across Scottish education. Find out more about what we do.

Our commitment to customer service

We are committed to consultation with customers

To offer services that are as relevant as they can be, we have to keep in touch with those who use them. That is why we are committed to a dialogue with our customers.

We carry out regular satisfaction surveys of our customers to assess their needs and measure the quality of our performance. We also use other methods - such as feedback from our teams of Customer Support Managers and sectoral focus groups - to build the fullest possible picture of how customers see us and our performance.

We are committed to being accessible to our customers

Our Customer Service Team is open between 8.30am and 5pm on weekdays, with the exception of public holidays. Contact: 0303 333 0330 or Customer Service form

All our staff have personal email addresses and telephone numbers that you can use to access them direct (and outwith opening hours).

Queries can also be submitted to our Customer Service Team through social media (SQA Facebook, Sam SQA Facebook, @sqanews, @mysqa_sam, Linkedin).

We cater for visitors with special needs, and wheelchair access is available at our main offices. A guide to the facilities available at all our offices is sent to customers in advance of pre-arranged visits.

We deal with personal callers promptly and courteously.

We are committed to responding to enquiries promptly

We are committed to responding to all written communication in a timely manner and all enquiries receive a prompt and courteous acknowledgement. 

Our aim is to provide a full response to enquiries within five working days. If your enquiry is complex in nature or needs further research or investigation we may need to refer it to another team, in these cases it may take longer for us to provide a response. If this is the case we aim to provide a full response within 20 working days. If our investigation into your enquiry will take longer than 20 working days, we will let you know when to expect a response.  

We handle telephone calls - whether received at our Customer Service Team or by staff using direct-dial lines or mobile phones - promptly and courteously. The Customer Service Team aim to answer incoming calls within 15 seconds.

Our staff identify themselves by name when answering calls. If the staff member you have called is unavailable, you will be invited to leave a message. Telephone messages and voicemail messages will be responded to when the staff member returns to the office.

We are committed to the following service targets for our awarding and accrediting functions

Assessment and Quality Assurance

Validation

We will:

• ensure that all our qualifications are fit for purpose and meet all the published design criteria
• respond to feedback, through formal and informal channels, from all users of our qualifications

Approval

We will:

• provide a fair and efficient system for approving centres and individual qualifications
• provide outcome in writing to centres within 10 working days of an approval visit/event

Verification and Systems Monitoring

Validation

We will:

• provide systems verification, at least once every three years to colleges, employers and training provider centres with current entries
• provide a service of prior verification of assessment instruments
• conduct at least one verification visit a year to centres for each SVQ subject area with active candidates
• verify other qualifications by visit or SQA organised event from a sample of centres each year
• provide verification feedback to centres promptly
• arrange development visits by agreement

Centres outwith Scotland will be subject to individual contract arrangements.

External Assessment

For our National Courses we will:

• publish the summary timetable for the May/June examination diet at least one academic year ahead
• ensure that all external assessment is carried out timeously and to a high standard

Contract Services

For our Contract Services contracts we will:

• deliver a cycle of examinations to agreed timescales, as specified by contractual obligations

E-assessment

We will:

• work pro-actively to capture the potential of e-assessment to add value to our qualifications and support centres and learners.

Candidate Data Processing and Certification

For candidate registration and entry for qualifications, we will:

• accept information for candidate registration from approved centres at any time and provide a unique Scottish Candidate Number
• accept candidate entries from approved centres at any time
• publish timetables for entry dates for the external assessment of National Courses
• provide facilities for centres to verify entries and access their candidate records

Certification

We will:

• issue a Scottish Qualifications Certificate to all candidates who have achieved a Unit, Course or Group Award (for National Courses, the certificate will be sent to arrive on the date published for the summer diet) Where a candidate only sat and achieved an external assessment, this would also be certificated
• issue Group Award certification, for candidates with appropriate Unit results, three times per week

Replacement Certificates

We will:

• replace lost or mislaid certificates within 15 working days, on receipt of a completed request form

Finance and Charges

Notification of charges

We will:

• resolve customers' invoice queries within 10 working days
• aim to pay 95% of our suppliers within 10 days of receipt of a valid invoice
• issue invoices to our customers monthly for HN and SVQ product lines; NQ product invoices will be issued monthly from April to August inclusive

Communication

• Customer Service Team, staffed by specially trained advisors to provide information and support to our centres, the team are available between the hours of 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Friday with the exception of bank and local holidays; telephone 0303 333 0330/+44 (0)141 500 5030 (international callers) or Customer Service form
• telephone, email addresses and fax numbers for all key contacts
• information, including lists of qualifications, on our website
• For Dangerous Goods Driver Training (DGDT), Dangerous Goods Safety Advisers (DGSA), Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Petroleum Driver Passport: 0345 270 0123
• Streetworks: 0345 270 2720
• Or visit 
  • Dangerous Goods Driver Training
  • Dangerous Goods Safety Advisers
  • Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA)
  • Petroleum Driver Passport
  • Streetworks.

Qualifications

Our qualifications must be fit for purpose and are reviewed periodically as part of our five-year review schedule. Regular updates are posted on our website.

Accreditation

For further information on SQA Accreditation please refer to the Accreditation section.