Quality Assurance

 

As part of its core activity, SQA Accreditation has a responsibility to ensure that the awarding bodies and qualifications that are approved and accredited are delivered to candidates at a high standard. Quality assurance activities, in the form of awarding body audits and visits to monitor their centres of learning, help to make sure that awarding bodies act in accordance with the set criteria. Audits are, ordinarily, carried out on an annual basis, depending on several factors including:

• Length of time an awarding body has been approved
• Perceived risks associated with an awarding body
• Size of awarding body
• Number of AU approved qualifications offered by an awarding body
• Outcomes of an awarding body's centre monitoring visits

SQA Accreditation presently works with around 30 approved awarding bodies, delivering a range of approved vocational qualifications. It is anticipated that this number will grow in future and this has, to a degree, has an impact on the future of quality assurance activities. In future, it is anticipated that audits will be carried out on a 3 year rolling basis, unless it is deemed necessary that an annual audit is required. Awarding body audits can follow various designs, depending on the factors listed above and our historical understanding of each specific awarding body. Most audits will be one of the following:

• Full audit
• Scoped audit
• Data systems audit

Awarding bodies are audited against the Awarding Body Criteria 2007. The criteria and accompanying guidance were updated recently to reflect changes to UK regulatory practice and the extended function of SQA Accreditation to accommodate vocational qualifications other than SVQs.

Full audits examine each aspect of the Awarding Body Criteria and record awarding body compliance / non-compliance with each. Full audits are usually only completed for new awarding bodies and for those that have undergone significant change, or are perceived as being 'high risk'. Data systems audits are carried out on a rolling basis to ensure that awarding bodies are collecting, recording and submitting candidate data accurately and in the correct format. Scoped audits are designed to look only at specific areas of the Awarding Body Criteria, but in much greater detail than would be possible during a full audit.

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