Core Skills news

Changes to Core Skills Communication ASPs at SCQF levels 4, 5 and 6 (2022)

We have made the following minor amendments to the NQ Communication Core Skills ASPs (SCQF levels 4,5 and 6):

• Planning sheets:  clarification of their purpose and how to use them as part of the assessment process.
• Assessment checklists:  the NQ Core Skills standards have been added to these for easy access

You will find the links for the revised webpages below:

• Level 4 -  F3GB10 Communication
• Level 5 -  F3GB11 Communication
• Level 6 -  F3GB12 Communication

Extension to the accreditation of Workplace Assessed Core Skills units

The accreditation end date for Workplace Assessed Core Skills units has been extended from 31 January 2015 to 31 January 2020. All centres that already had approval for Workplace Assessed Core Skills units prior to 31 January 2015 can continue to offer these Units during the extended accreditation period.

No changes have been made to the standards and technical content of the Workplace Assessed Core Skills units, but there are slight changes to the information given on the second last page in each of the unit specifications. These changes are as follows:

• change to the wording under the heading “Becoming an approved awarding body”
• new statement has been added, along with the heading “Unit reference codes”

There are no changes to the unit codes.

• Workplace Assessed Core Skills unit codes

Exemplification material for Core Skills Communication Units, Speaking and Listening (level 3 to 6)

Exemplar materials for Core Skills Units in Communication, covering Speaking and Listening requirements (SCQF levels 3-6) are available on the secure area of the Understanding Standards website.

Accessing the materials

To access this secure material, ask your SQA Co-ordinator to read the instructions at Previous NQs > Core Skills > Communication Examplar Assessment Materials section on the secure website. The instructions are at the bottom of the page.

These exemplification materials contain:

• a description of the skills required at each level
• task remits designed for educational contexts
• assessment evidence in the form of video recordings of candidates
• completed assessment checklists
• commentary from SQA external verifiers

Webinar recordings

Recordings of recent webinars and Q&A documents of questions asked during the webinars. These recordings provide general advice on assessment.

• Communication Core Skills Unit SCQF levels 3-6 webinar 29 August 2018 (197.64 MB)
• Numeracy and ICT Core Skills Unit SCQF levels 3-6 webinar 2 May 2019 (52.25 MB)
• Numeracy and ICT Core Skills Unit SCQF levels 3-6 webinar Q and A (63 KB)