Approval for centres and SQA qualifications

Approval is the quality assurance process which you would follow to:

• initially become an SQA centre so you can deliver SQA qualifications
• add new HN and vocational qualifications to the range of qualifications you are approved to deliver

 Approval is carried out against SQA’s Quality Assurance Criteria 2015–18.

Becoming an approved centre

This involves two stages:

Systems approval confirms that your centre has the management quality assurance systems to support the delivery, assessment and internal verification of SQA qualifications irrespective of what qualification(s) you intend to offer.

Qualification approval confirms that your centre has the staff, reference materials, learning materials, assessment materials, equipment and accommodation needed to deliver and assess the qualifications listed on your application. This relates to the following SQA qualifications:

• Higher National Certificates and Diplomas (HNC/HND)
• National Qualifications
• Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ)
• Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) Units
• Customised Awards (CA)
• Professional Development Awards (PDA)
• International Vocational Awards (IVA)

Schools and colleges may get automatic approval to deliver some new National Qualifications.

Once you are approved as a centre, you can apply for additional qualifications approval when you wish to offer a new qualification.

The Systems and Qualification Approval Guide 2015–18 (510 KB) has more information on the approval process and requirements.

How to apply for approval

If you wish to apply for approval, or if you want to find out more about SQA’s approval process, please visit our centre approval section.