An Introduction to the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework

For SQA qualifications, reference to the SCQF levels and credit points will be made in appropriate
documentation and other sources of information as these are revised and re-published. As they are
published they will be available online from the website (www.sqa.org.uk).
The process of describing qualifications within the context of the SCQF is underway — the first stages
are illustrated on page 7 onwards — but, a great deal of work has still to be done to improve
everyone’s understanding of qualifications across the education and training sectors. This work will
result in a series of publications tailored to the needs of particular audiences, for example employers,
learners, and guidance advisers.
Credit points
SCQF credit points are used to quantify the outcomes of learning and give them a value or currency.
These general credits are allocated to outcomes of learning that are subject to valid, reliable methods
of assessment.
The number of credits is worked out on the basis of the amount of time that an ‘average’ learner at a
specified level might expect to take to achieve the outcomes. In common with other credit systems, the
SCQF works on the basis that one credit represents the outcomes of learning achieved through a
notional 10 hours of learning time. However, this is merely a guide and no credits are added or
taken away if more or less time is taken to achieve the outcomes. No credits are ‘earned’ by a learner
if the outcomes of learning are not achieved.
Most mainstream qualifications in Scotland have been developed on a credit basis with design
principles related to the amount and level of credit required. For example, the achievement of an
Honours Degree requires the accumulation of 480 credits, at least 90 of which must be at level 10,
while an SQA Higher Course requires the accumulation of 24 credits at level 6.
General SCQF credits can be used to assist learners to transfer between programmes. The awarding
bodies — SQA and individual universities — decide the extent to which this kind of transfer can take
place. They determine how much of the credit already achieved is relevant to the new programme and
the specific number of credits that can be transferred.
Through the SCQF, the processes involved in making these decisions should become clearer, more
consistent, and more public. More detailed information on the nature and uses of levels and credits,
plus examples of credit transfer, is given in Appendix 2. Guidelines on credit rating activity will be
published in section 1 of the SCQF Handbook towards the end of 2003. A working draft is available
on the website (www.scqf.org.uk).
In due course, there will also be guidelines on credit transfer and the recognition of prior certificated,
but not credit rated, learning and prior informal learning.
The table, which starts overleaf, shows the levels and general credit values of the main Scottish qualifications.
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