Candidate registration and results
Find out how to register, enter and result your candidates for accurate and timely certification.
Register a candidate
To register a candidate you must provide:
- the candidate's name
- date of birth
- gender
- address (where the certificate will be delivered)
Once we have this information we will allocate a Scottish Candidate Number (SCN). A candidate should only ever have one SCN where their achievements will be recorded. If we find a candidate with similar details on our database, we will tell you about a possible match. You will then be responsible for checking if the candidate record we already hold is or is not your candidate.
If you find a candidate on our database with more than one SCN you can request that these records are merged by competing a merge request.
Registering a candidate under 16 years old
All candidates going through the Scottish education system are allocated a Scottish Candidate Number (SCN) from Primary 1.
For College and Training Providers, the SCN must be obtained from the candidate’s school. The SCN won't be activated on SQA Connect yet. Once the SCN has been confirmed, you can request for the candidates record to be activated by completing the candidate registration form.
For candidates under 16 years of age who have never gone through the Scottish education system and want to undertake an SQA qualification at your centre, please email candidate records.
Please note, this process is only available for College and Training Providers registering candidates under the age of 16.
You can contact candidate records for any queries regarding this process.
Once the candidate is registered, you can process entries and results in your normal way.
Private candidates – information for centres
Your centre may be approached by a private candidate, such as a home-schooled learner, or their representative with a request that you act as their presenting centre.
Private candidates - information for centres
Updating candidate details
It's important that candidate details are kept up to date as these will affect the certificate. Changes to a candidate's first name, surname or address can be made using SQA Connect Candidate Services or your MIS system. If the address the certificate is to be sent to is the centre's address, it's the centre's responsibility to amend this back to the candidate's home address once certification has taken place.
Other changes that can be made on SQA Connect Candidate Services include:
- date of birth
- gender
Adding a qualification to a candidate
Adding qualifications can be done on SQA Connect and on college MIS systems.
All SQA qualifications are allocated a six digit code broken into the code and level (4+2) - e.g. G7F5 22. The first 4 digits identify the subject and the last 2 digits refer to the level.
When adding a group award to a candidate's record you must also include the units the candidate is doing which make up the award.
When adding qualifications you enter a completion date. This is an estimated date and can be extended at a later date.
The maximum completion dates are:
- units - four years
- group awards - four years
- SVQs - five years
Adding a lapsed or finished qualification to a candidate
Lapsed awards
For Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) only.
Entries for qualifications which have lapsed cannot be made on SQA Connect or the college MIS system and you should complete an EC02 form.
Before submitting your request, please ensure the candidate has been entered for the mandatory units.
You must provide the following information in your email:
- details of when the candidate started the award
- the reason why the candidate was not entered prior to lapse date
Finished awards
Any request to enter a finished qualification must be made on the EC02 form.
Before submitting your request, please ensure the candidate has been entered and resulted for every unit required to gain the qualification.
You must provide the following information in your email:
- details of when the candidate started and finished the award
- the reason why the candidate was not entered prior to the finish date
- confirmation that the college still has the candidate portfolio available for external verification
For finished SVQs we will present this information to our regulatory body and inform you of their decision.
Entering candidate results
Results can be submitted on SQA Connect or your college MIS system.
Results include:
- P - Pass
- F - Fail
- W - Withdraw
- A, B, C, D for graded units
Results are only required for the individual units, not the group award. Once all contributing units have been achieved we will evaluate the group award and issue a certificate.
Amending a result
Where a result or withdrawal has been input in error and the candidate has not yet been certificated, this can be updated on the Candidate Entries page of SQA Connect.
Where a result has been processed in error and has resulted in a certificate being produced, the amendment can be requested on the Candidate Entries page of SQA Connect. An email is automatically sent to SQA Candidate Records to review and action.
Certification
Certification takes place continuously throughout the year.
See the certification timetable.
Replacement certificates
We offer a replacement certificate service.
It is important to ensure your candidate's details are up to date. If a replacement certificate is required because the candidate's name is incorrect or address has not been updated, the centre will be charged.