Centres need to apply for approval before delivering the qualification for the first time, and must consider the resources that are available to them to do this.

In order to deliver this qualification in the next academic session, and in order for candidates to be certificated in August the following year, centres must apply for approval by the end of September of the previous year (for example, the deadline for applications for approval must be submitted by September 2026 in order to deliver and certificate the qualification by August 2027).

Subject specific requirements

Centres must demonstrate that teachers and lecturers delivering/assessing Sociology have completed at least two years successful study of Sociology at University or Higher National Diploma (HND) level (minimum SCQF level 8), including the study of research methods.

Find out more about our approval process

On 1 February 2026, Qualifications Scotland replaced SQA and became Scotland’s new national awarding body. The documents on this page remain current and you can continue to use them. We’ll update them in the style of Qualifications Scotland when they’re next due for review.