Frequently Asked Questions

Recognition of Prior Learning is a method of assessing whether a learner’s experience and achievements meet the evidence requirements for a unit (or units) in an SQA qualification. This experience may or may not have been developed through a course of learning. For further information visit: SQA RPL Policy

You can make changes to your registered candidate's personal details as long as these details are accurate and the proper identification is provided to support this change. If you have any queries relating to this process please email:

• schools: national qualifications
• colleges, training providers and employers: candidate records

You can update your centre's details, including details for the SQA Co-ordinator, either by contacting our Customer Service Team or on SQA Connect by your Centre Administrator.

If you don't have a named contact within SQA, contact our Customer Service Team. Our Customer Charter gives information on how to make a complaint.

Please complete our Freedom of Information request form. Full details on how to make a request are available in our Access Information section.

If you know the name of your Business Development Manager/Consultant then you can contact them.

Alternatively call 0303 3330330 or contact myCentre and we will put you in touch with the relevant contact.

For more information visit: How do I deliver SQA qualifications

A range of documents and support materials is available from the NQ subject pages. Support materials for unit assessments and coursework are held on our secure website

You can arrange access through your SQA co-ordinator. These materials must be stored securely and treated as confidential.

Any requests for additional support needs must come from the centre and should be sent to assessment arrangements or call 0303 3330330

For more information and to apply for Appointee positions please visit: Applying to be an Appointee

Or contact us by email appointee management or call 0845 2791000

SQA will quality assure the qualification/learning programme once it has been credit rated if you have signed up to our external quality assurance service. This is at an additional annual cost and is carried out by an SQA Officer.

Yes.

Yes. For further details please contact our Credit Rating Service.

This will result in general credit and not specific credit being allocated.

SCQF Credit Rating will not result in accreditation or validation by SQA. SQA is the credit rating body.

Customised Awards are qualifications owned and developed by you. They allow you to decide the content and structure of the qualification with SQA providing assistance on its development, external quality assurance and certification.

Find out more about our customised awards service.

No. A Customised Award can be created with little or no training in place. Similarly, a Customised Award can be created if there is already training in place. A member of our Business Development Team will be able to talk you through your options.

The process to create a Customised Award can vary, depending on the amount of work required. A member of our Business Development Team can give you more information about the length of the process depending on what you are hoping to achieve. Our experience tells us that a development can be completed in approximately 4- 6 months.

You will work with a member of our Business Development team. They will introduce you to our Specialist Awards and Services team, who will work with you to create your award. Our Business Development team member will be your first point of contact and will guide you through the process from start to finish.

There are several benefits to your business for creating a Customised Award. They can include:

• Creating a truly bespoke qualification
• Accredit your own learning and obtain recognition for it
• Exclusively own your own qualification
• Help you achieve business objectives
• Increase skills levels in your workforce and improving work practices and motivation
• Assist the management and development of human resource functions
• Provide recognition and development opportunities for employees
• Help meet regulatory requirements and demonstrate the competence of your employees to external parties.

No - not without your permission. When you create your Customised Award, you exclusively own and deliver this qualification, but you are free to allow other SQA Centres to deliver your award.

You may be interested in our Credit Rating service. More information can be found by visiting www.sqa.org.uk/creditrating.

The costs for creating a Customised Award can vary depending on the development time, and your requirements. A member of our support team will be able to talk to you about this and give a full breakdown of costs.

You can access past papers for National Qualifications using our Past Paper Finder.

Replacement certificates can be arranged for a fee and takes between 2-3 weeks.

You can order your replacement certificate online at www.sqa.org.uk/eshop

You can sign up to receive exam results by email and / or text on MySQA.

Please note: registration for MySQA closes a few weeks before results day, so make sure you register early.

For general support and advice, please complete our candidate enquiry form.

Your Scottish Candidate Number (SCN) is displayed directly under your name on your certificate.

If you do not have your certificate you should complete the Candidate Enquiry Form, this will allow us to locate your records and provide you with your SCN

Alternatively, call us on 0345 279 1000 and we will confirm your details then provide you with your SCN Number.

Please note, if you currently attend school, college or are an SQA learner through your employer or training provider, then your centre has the responsibility to amend your record for you. Please ask your teacher, lecturer or employer/contact to update your record.

If you no longer attend school or college, and would like to update your SQA record, please complete and return our change of name declaration form and contact us directly. To enable us to process and update your record we require two copies of identification - one is required to be a link from your previous to your current name. Please note you do not need to send us the original documents; photocopies or scanned copies will be sufficient. You can scan and e-mail these documents to candidate records or send them by post to the following address:

Operations
Centre Support
Fourth Floor
The Optima Building
58 Robertson Street
Glasgow
G2 8DQ

Updating personal information - guidance for transgender learners

If you are currently studying your school/college or training provider will have to change your address as this must be done by the centre who have registered you for the qualification you are studying.

If you are no longer studying, we will require more information to allow us to locate your Candidate record, please complete our Candidate Enquiry Form

We will then be able to complete your change of address.

Recognition of Prior Learning is a method of assessing whether your experience and achievements meet the evidence requirements of a unit (or units) in an SQA qualification. This experience may or may not have been developed through a course of learning. For further information visit: SQA RPL Policy

Yes. Before you make a request, check with your school or college to see if materials were sent to us.

Get your coursework back

Not normally but in 2024 but we are running a trial for some subjects.

We do not provide access to or copies of exam scripts, even if this is requested under Data Protection or Freedom of Information legislation.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

A request for an examination is a request for personal information, which is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Data Protection Legislation

This legislation gives you the right to access the personal information that SQA holds about you. However, exam scripts are exempt from release.

Text and emails will be sent to candidates who have an activated MySQA account from 8 am onwards on results day. Please note that emails and texts cannot be re-sent.

If you are abroad, you will only receive a text if your phone is set up to receive messages abroad and if you have enough credit.

Check your spam/junk folder, as delivery times can vary.

Foundation Apprenticeships provide work-based learning opportunities for S5 and S6 learners. For further information visit Foundation Apprenticeships.

National Qualifications are one of the most important types of qualification in Scotland, and almost everyone leaving school or college today has one or more National Qualification. They are mainly taken by learners in the senior phase of secondary school (S4 to S6) and learners in colleges, including adult learners.
They cover a range of subjects and are designed to develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed beyond the classroom; whether progressing to other SQA qualifications, training, employment or university. Find out more at www.sqa.org.uk/nq

As well as developing subject-based skills, learners studying National Qualifications will also develop the following broad skills:

Practical skills – such as data collection and team-working Core Skills – which include literacy, numeracy, communication, information and communication technology (ICT) and problem solving. Skills for Learning, Life and Work (SfLLW) - such as employability, independent thinking, and enterprise and citizenship.

View more information on skills development in National Qualifications.

Learners will develop literacy and/or numeracy skills across all their National Courses. How they develop these skills will vary depending on the subject area. National Literacy Units and National Numeracy Units are also available. These units are a required part of some National Courses; however, learners can also complete them as separate qualifications.

View more information on our Literacy and Numeracy webpage.

SQA does not specify the number of qualifications that schools should deliver. The number of subjects that learners study in S4 is decided locally by the school or local authority.

National 2, National 3 and National 4

In National 2, National 3 and National 4 courses, learners complete unit assessments throughout the year. National 4 courses also include an end-of-year assessment called an added value unit.

These assessments are marked internally by the teacher, lecturer or training practitioner. National 2, National 3 and National 4 courses are assessed as ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ and are quality assured by SQA.

National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher

In National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses, learners complete a course assessment towards the end of the course. This will usually involve one or more of the following:

• Exam
• Coursework (such as an assignment, project or portfolio)
• Performance
• Practical activity

Exams and coursework are submitted to SQA for marking. Depending on the subject, performances and practical activities will be marked through one of the following approaches:

• The teacher, lecturer or training practitioner will mark the assessment and it will be quality assured by SQA.
• The assessment will be marked by a visiting examiner appointed by SQA.
• The assessment will be marked in collaboration between the teacher, lecturer or training practitioner and a visiting examiner appointed by SQA.

National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses are graded A to D or ‘No Award’.

National 2, National 3, and National 4 courses are not graded — the units that make up these course are assessed as pass or fail.

Courses at National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher are graded A-D.

Yes. National 5 Courses (which are graded A – D) are worth 24 Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) credit points at SCQF level 5.

National 4 Courses (which are not graded) are worth 24 SCQF points at SCQF level 4 and have a lower level of demand and challenge compared with National 5 courses.

National 4 courses have been designed to provide flexibility in timetabling and assessment. Internal assessment is more suitable for courses at National 4 level and will help to build learners' confidence in preparation for National 5. Learners do a National 4 Added Value Unit assessment instead of an exam, and the Added Value Unit assessment allows them to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have developed throughout the course.

No. All internally assessed qualifications are subject to robust quality assurance by SQA, to ensure that schools, colleges and training providers are assessing the qualifications to the national standard. More information is available from our Quality Assurance webpage.

National 4 also follows a similar model to other qualifications such as the Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher National Diploma (HND), which are both internally assessed by colleges and quality assured by SQA. Many people use HNCs and HNDs to progress into employment or to get into higher education, often with advanced standing (where the university accepts the qualification as credit towards completing an undergraduate course, enabling the student to enter the course at a more advanced stage, for example entering at second year instead of first year).

Individual schools, colleges and training providers will decide whether to hold prelims. Prelims are not part of the formal assessment process for National Qualifications and are not a requirement.

SQA does not produce or mark prelim papers. Prelim papers are set and marked by the school, college or training provider.

Study leave is a matter for individual schools, colleges and training providers to decide.

SQA can allow assessment arrangements to be made for learners in their exams and assessments. For example, a learner who experiences difficulties with handwriting can use a laptop to write up their work. We allow many kinds of assessment support, such as using sign language, human readers, scribes or prompters, or allowing extra time to complete assessments. We can also provide adapted question papers, including Braille question papers, digital question papers, large print question papers and question papers that printed on coloured paper.

Schools, colleges and training providers are responsible for making an ‘assessment arrangements’ request to SQA on behalf of the learner. We will then work with them to find the most suitable arrangement for the learner to complete their assessments. In most cases, the school, college or training provider has already identified the learner's needs and is providing support for them during their studies.

Courses at National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher are graded A-D.

National 2, National 3, and National 4 courses are not graded — the units that make up these course are assessed as pass or fail.

Yes. grades in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher have:

• upper A (band 1) or lower A (band 2)
• upper B (band 3) or lower B (band 4)
• upper C (band 5) or lower C (band 6)
• Grade D (band 7)

This information is not included on your certificate.

Your school, college or training provider can tell you your grade band and how many marks you were awarded for each part of your course assessment (for example, exam and coursework).

You may need to wait until the start of term to request this information, as it is sent to the SQA co-ordinator at your school, college or training provider. Even if staff are available during results week, they may not have access to this information yet.

Alternatively, you can ask SQA for this information by submitting a subject access request. You can do this by completing our online form or by emailing data.protection@sqa.org.uk with details of your request. You will also need to include your name, Scottish Candidate Number (SCN) and your date of birth.

View more information on how to make a subject access request.

Grade boundaries are the marks needed to achieve a particular grade for a course.

In each National Course, the course assessment (which may involve an exam or coursework, or both) has an intended level of demand and difficulty. This reflects the grade descriptors for the course and the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) level at which the course is set.

If we find that a course assessment has been easier or more difficult than intended, we adjust the grade boundaries to make sure that the level of difficulty required to achieve an A, B, C or D in the assessment remains unchanged from one year to the next.

More on how grade boundaries are decided.

We take our responsibility to uphold the high standards of Scottish qualifications very seriously.

National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses are awarded at grades A to D, so if you receive a grade D result it means you’ve been awarded the course.

Grade D represents a score of 40-49% in the course assessment. Candidates who score less than 40% are not awarded the course and will receive a ‘No Award’ result.

Yes. National 5 courses (which are graded A - D) are worth 24 SCQF credit points at SCQF level 5. National 4 courses (which are not graded) are worth 24 SCQF credit points at SCQF level 4 and have a lower level of demand and challenge compared with National 5 courses.

For National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses, ‘No Award’ means you have not passed the course assessment.

Candidates must score at least 40% to be awarded. Those who score less than 40% will receive a ‘No Award’ result.

No, there is no automatic fallback. For example, if you fail a National 5 course, you will not automatically receive a National 4 award.

Yes, it is possible to repeat a National Course. However, you will need to discuss this with your school, college, or training provider first as they will make the final decision on whether to re-enter you for the course.

If you repeat a National 5, Higher or Advanced Higher course, you will need to re-take the full course and its assessments.

If you have previously completed a coursework assessment, such as a project or an assignment, you need to produce a new one. However, you may be able to use your previous research.

Please check which course you are missing a grade for, and whether it is a National Course or a Skills for Work course (Skills for Work courses are available at National 5 and Higher).

Skills for Work courses are not graded – they are assessed as pass or fail by your teacher or lecturer. If a Skills for Work course is listed on your certificate, this means you have passed the course.

If your certificate is missing a grade for a National Course at National 5, Higher or Advanced Higher, this normally means you have not achieved a grade A to D in the course assessment and have received a ‘No Award’ result.

If you have received a ‘No Award’ result for one or more of your courses, this would normally be stated on the letter that accompanies your Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC).

National Units are not graded – they are assessed as pass or fail by your teacher, lecturer or training provider. If the units are listed on your certificate, you have passed them. If they are not on your certificate, it is possible you have failed them, or that your school, college or training provider has delayed a decision on your result until you complete the evidence needed for a pass.

If you think your unit results are missing, please discuss this with your school, college or training provider.

Some National Units do not have levels. These are usually units called 'modules' or 'short courses' that were offered by SQA's predecessor bodies. We now call them 'unlevelled National Units'.

Unfortunately, this means that you have not achieved grades A-D in any of the course assessments for the National Courses you took this year.

If you have concerns about a grade or (grades), you might want to consider submitting an appeal using our free Appeals Service. You can appeal directly to us, or you can ask your school, college or training provider to do this for you.

Visit appeals.

If you have concerns about a grade (or grades) you might want to consider submitting an appeal using our free Appeals Service. Your appeal can be prioritised if you have a conditional place at university or college, or in training or employment that depends on your grade.

Visit appeals to find out more.

UCAS

If you don't get the results you were hoping for, the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) can give guidance on what to do next.

• Telephone number: 0371 468 0468
• Facebook: facebook.com/ucasonline
• Twitter @ucas_online
• Hours:  08:30 am - 6.00 pm.

Skills Development Scotland

You can contact Skills Development Scotland Results Helpline, where qualified careers advisors will be on hand to discuss careers advice, clearing vacancies and alternative options.

• Telephone number: 0808 100 8000
• Website:My World of Work
• Hours: 6 to 7 August 08:00 to 20:00; 8 to 9 August 09:00 to 17:00

SCQF stands for Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework. The SCQF shows how all qualifications in Scotland, such as those awarded by SQA and universities, compare with each other. More information about SCQF.

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework has 12 levels. The different levels indicate the level of difficulty of a particular qualification, with 12 being the most challenging.

Credit points are a way of showing how much time it takes, on average, to complete a qualification or learning programme. They allow learners, learning providers and employers to compare different qualifications at the same or even different levels. One credit point is approximately 10 hours of learning. For example, 15 credits involves 150 hours of learning.

Knowing your SCQF information can help you make decisions about what to do next. It also helps colleges and universities make decisions about entry or progression and helps employers understand how your qualifications compare to other qualifications.

SCQF information also helps people outside of Scotland to compare Scottish qualifications to qualifications on their own frameworks.

The certificate has three sections:

• The summary of attainment, which lists all of the Group Awards, Courses and stand-alone Units that you have achieved and shows SCQF levels of the qualifications which have been credit-rated
• The detailed record of attainment gives more detail about the qualifications you've achieved since the last certificate was issued, and will include SCQF levels and credits
• The profiles section shows your current achievements in Core Skills and SCQF credits

No, SCQF credit points do not relate to UCAS tariff points. 

The SCQF level is the level of knowledge and skill needed to achieve that award. The number of SCQF credit points gained doesn't change depending on your grade - the SCQF credit points reflect how much learning you've achieved, not how well you've learned it. Your grades show how well you have done.

Please download Ready Reckoner (134 KB) of SQA qualifications.

The SCQF credit points given to a qualification are 'general' credit points. They don't relate to any subject or any particular purpose - they just help people understand how qualifications relate to one another.

More information about SCQF

Units have an SCQF level and credit points.

The Scottish Qualification Certificate (SQC) reports the level and credit points of each unit a candidate achieves.

Detailed information about each part of your Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) 

If your certificate has been damaged in the post, your school, college or training provider can request a new one. Please speak to your teacher, lecturer or training practitioner once the new term starts.

If there is an error on your certificate, your school, college or training provider can request a new one. Please speak to your teacher, lecturer or training practitioner once the new term starts.

If you're missing results, or there are results listed that you weren't expecting to see, please speak to your teacher, lecturer or training practitioner once the new term starts..

Your school, college or training provider will look into this for you. We'll send an updated certificate once the school, college or training provider sends us the necessary information.

You may have two different Scottish Candidate Numbers linked to your name.

Please take both certificates to your school, college or training provider and ask them to contact us. We will then merge the information together on a single certificate.

We can only amend your certificate if there has been an error. If you think there has been an error, please speak to your teacher, lecturer or training practitioner once the new term starts.

If you're missing results, or there are results listed that you weren't expecting to see, please speak to your teacher, lecturer or training practitioner once the new term starts.

Your school, college or training provider will look into this for you. SQA will only send you an updated certificate once they provide us with the necessary information.

This means that you have not been awarded an A-D grade in one or more of the National Courses you did this year.

Any National Units you have achieved will be recorded on a separate certificate.

If you're missing results, or there are results listed that you weren't expecting to see, speak to your teachers or lecturers when you return to school or college.

The detailed record of attainment is a full and detailed breakdown of the content of all qualifications you have achieved this year.

Record of attainment

This part of your certificate is a summary of all the SQA qualifications you’ve achieved so far, not just the ones from this year.

Summary of attainment.

If you have completed National Qualifications in Gaelic, you will receive a single certificate that displays these qualification titles in Gaelic.

SQA awards the following courses:

• National 3 – National 5 Applications of Mathematics (Gnìomhachas Matamataigs Nàiseanta 3 - Nàiseanta 5)
• National 4 Biology (Bith-eòlas Nàiseanta 4)
• National 3 – Advanced Higher Geography (Cruinn-eòlas Nàiseanta 3 - Àrd-Ìre Adhartach)
• National 3 – Advanced Higher History (Eachdraidh Nàiseanta 3 - Àrd-Ìre Adhartach)
• National 4 – Advanced Higher Mathematics (Matamataig Nàiseanta 4 - Àrd-Ìre Adhartach)
• National 3 – Advanced Higher Modern Studies (Nuadh-eòlas Nàiseanta 3 - Àrd-Ìre Adhartach)

MySQA

If you signed-up for MySQA, the qualifications you achieved will be displayed in Gaelic in the text message and in the email you receive.

All Gaelic medium course and unit titles will be reported in Gaelic on your certificate, followed by an English translation in brackets.

If you have achieved the full course award, your detailed record of attainment will include a recognition statement (in English) to indicate that you completed the course in the medium of Gaelic and were assessed in the medium of Gaelic.

If you have not completed the full course, or received a ‘No Award’ result, your detailed record of attainment will still include the units you have achieved and these will also be reported in Gaelic.

Unfortunately, some characters used in Gaelic cannot be printed on your results certificate. We are reviewing this as part of our Gaelic Language Plan commitments.

You can order a replacement certificate. If you are requesting a replacement certificate for qualifications completed before 2012, your replacement certificate will be issued in English.

There is usually a fee for replacement certificates. However, if you are a care experienced learner aged 26 or under, you can request a replacement certificate for free.

View more information on SQA’s Replacement Certificate Service.

Core skills are a group of five skills that are key to learning and working in today's world. These are:

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

Any core skills you have achieved will show on the Core Skills Profile of your Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC).

Visit Core Skills.

The core skills that are built into our qualifications are not always at the same level as the courses or units.

Visit Core Skills.