Accreditation Customer Service Statement

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Our Mission:

“Scottish Qualifications Authority will work in partnership to provide high quality, recognised and relevant qualifications and assessment.”


Customer Service Statement: SQA as an Accrediting Body

SQA’s statutory role as the Accrediting Body for Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs), qualifications based on national occupational standards and qualifications required for regulatory purposes in Scotland involves three separate parts.  This statement sets out the levels of service which customers should expect to receive in each of these three parts of the accreditation role.

1.    Approval of national occupational standards, qualifications structures and assessment strategies

This function is performed jointly with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and working closely with the Qualifications, Department for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning (DCELLs) and the Council for Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).

SQA and QCA will:
  • Publish annually the dates of the United Kingdom Coordinating Group (UKCG) meetings.
  • Publish the dates for bidding submissions for UKCG meetings.

 

2.    Approval of awarding bodies and accreditation of SVQs and other qualifications accredited by SQA Accreditation

SQA will:
  • Publish annually the dates of the Accreditation Committee (AC) and the Accreditation Coordination Group (ACG).
  • Publish annually the deadlines for submissions for corresponding ACG meetings.
  • Acknowledge receipt of accreditation submission within 5 working days.
  • Present the submission to ACG within 6 weeks of receipt (providing that the submission meets the Awarding Body Criteria 2007).
  • Provide written confirmation of the decision made at ACG within 7 working days.

 

3. Audit of awarding bodies and centre monitoring visits

SQA will:
  • Confirm in writing the date of the audit and the name(s) of the auditor(s) at least 8 weeks prior to the audit.
  • Provide verbal feedback on the day of the audit.
  • Confirm the findings of the audit in writing in the form of an audit report within 6 weeks of the audit.
  • Conduct monitoring visits to a sample of centres within 5 months of the audit date (providing suitable dates can be agreed with the centres).
  • Provide the awarding body with a formal report on the centre monitoring visits within 6 weeks of the last centre visit.


General standards of service

Communication

SQA will:
  • Ensure that the telephones are staffed between 0900 and 1700
  • Provide telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses, for all key contacts
  • Maintain the accreditation section of the SQA website (www.sqa.org.uk)
  • Respond to all enquiries within 10 working days
  • Publish the SVQ Update each quarter.

 

Complaints

SQA will:
  • Log all complaints

 

For complaints relating to our service:
  • Respond fully, or provide a progress report within 10 working days of receiving complaints.
  • For more complex complaints, resolve the complaint within an agreed timescale.

 

For complaints relating to the services offered by awarding bodies:
  • We will ascertain whether the complaint has exhausted the awarding body’s complaints procedure.
  • Where the complaint has not given the awarding body an opportunity to resolve the complaint, we will refer the complainant to the awarding body (although we reserve the right to investigate serious complaints).
  • Where the awarding body s system has been exhausted we will investigate the complaint.
  • For all complaints, we will respond fully, or provide a progress report within 10 working days of receipt.
  • For more complex complaints, we will resolve the complaint within an agreed timescale.


Contacting SQA Accreditation

You can contact us by:

E-mail: accreditation@sqa.org.uk
Telephone: 0845 213 5249 
Fax: 0845 213 5000

Or in writing to:

Accreditation Unit
The Optima Building
58 Robertson Street
Glasgow
G2 8DQ