Develop: Phase 4 - developing the Group Award specification
Introduction
The Group Award specification (304 KB) is a dynamic document that evolves naturally as part of the product development process through building on information sourced (38 KB) at various stages (44 KB) of the process.
The document should:
- give details of the Group Award and the support there is for it
- contain all the information the validation panel needs to be able to judge whether the Group Award meets SQA's validation criteria (30 KB).
Once the qualification is formally validated, the Group Award specification will play a vital part in the implementation and delivery of the Group Award as it will:
- assist centres to implement, deliver and manage the Group Award
- provide a guide for new staff involved in offering the Group Award
- inform stakeholders (Course managers, teaching staff, assessors, candidates, employers, HEIs) of the aims and purpose of the Group Award.
Group Award specification production
Who produces the Group Award specification?
The person leading the development is responsible for updating the Group Award specification following consultation with stakeholders. A writer should have been identified and contracted as part of phase 2 - Unit development and validation process. The writer is responsible for extracting relevant information from each Unit specification making up the Group Award and updating the Group Award specification.
What information should be supplied to the Group Award specification writer?
The person leading the development is responsible for providing the Group Award specification writer with the following documentation:
- Group Award specification writer brief (48 KB)
- partially completed Group Award specification
- guidance on producing a Group Award specification (134 KB)
- evidence to support the validation of a Group Award (29 KB)
- copies of any existing Unit specifications or the link to the relevant SQA Unit search facility on SQA's website
- copies of any new/revised Units (if applicable) following Unit validation
- Unit codes for new/revised Units once operationalised
- Group Award specification checklist 4 - writer (113 KB)
Does the Group Award specification need to be technically edited?
The person leading the development should technically edit the Group Award specification using Checklist 5 (132 KB).
Does the Group Award specification need to be vetted?
There is no requirement to have a Group Award specification vetted by another subject specialist prior to validation as the validation panel are made up of subject specialists independent of the development.
Note: there is no need to have separate documents for a suite of Group Awards in the same subject area for example, HNC Computing; HND Computing: Software Development; and HND Computing: Technical Support could be included in a single document.