The framework for qualifications of higher education institutions in Scotland - January 2001

Preface

The Garrick Committee's* first recommendation was to:

'Recommend to providers of higher education programmes in Scotland, the Quality Assurance Agency, the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the Scottish Advisory Committee on Credit and Access that they should together consider and adopt an integrated qualifications framework based round level of study and Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme credit points'.

Their report further emphasised that 'the realisation of key aspects of the Committee's vision relies on the adoption by institutions of this framework, and many of our subsequent recommendations are therefore contingent upon institutions taking this forward'.

Key aspects of the qualifications framework stressed in the report included:

a parallel framework of qualifications for the rest of the UK (para 4.12);
a framework in which the providers of Scottish higher education can offer, and maintain, a high quality higher education system which is amongst the best in the world (para 4.4);
a framework which includes school and further education provision...(anticipating that Vocational Qualifications will also be mapped on to the framework in due course (para 4.5));
professional bodies and institutions...should formally consider how their requirements could be embedded within the qualifications framework (recommendation 4);
a framework to be used by individual students to plan and map their own personal progress. By allowing for movement in different directions, the framework will represent...a network, rather than a ladder, of opportunities (para 4.9);
qualifications should be based on outcomes and attainment, not on years of study - related to the accumulation of credits linked to levels (para 4.10).

In the Government's response to the Garrick Report** it stated that:

'the Government welcomes this recommendation and the opportunity to contribute towards its implementation. The framework will be built through agreement with those who provide, award and quality assure Scottish Qualifications. It will provide a common language for describing the qualifications system with considerable potential to promote its coherence and assist learners to progress to their full potential'.

*The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education; July 1997: Report of the Scottish Committee

** Higher Education for the 21st Century: Response to the Garrick Report: The Scottish Office, February 1998

Overview

This paper has two sections. Section 1 provides details of the purpose, features and structure of the framework for qualifications of the higher education institutions in Scotland. Section 2 provides some guidelines on specific aspects of the framework. There is a parallel document for the framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The two frameworks share many core purposes and features. In particular, they are aligned at the Honours degree, and the qualification descriptors for postgraduate awards are identical.

Section 1: The framework

The purpose of the framework

This framework for qualifications of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Scotland has been developed as part of the wider Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) as referred to in the Garrick Report. Within the context of the SCQF, the purposes of the framework for qualifications of higher education institutions are:

to enable employers, schools, parents, prospective students and others to understand the achievements and attributes represented by the main qualification titles, and how qualifications relate to one another;
to assist HEIs, learners and others to clarify potential routes for progression and credit transfer, particularly in the context of wider participation in lifelong learning;
to maintain international comparability of standards, especially in the European context, to ensure international competitiveness, and to facilitate student and graduate mobility;
to assist higher education institutions, their external examiners, and the reviewers of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (the Agency), by providing an important point of reference for setting and assessing standards.

Public confidence in academic standards requires public understanding of the achievements represented by higher education qualifications. The higher education framework in Scotland, like the SCQF as a whole, and also the framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is an outcomes-based structure that helps make explicit the nature, level and volume of outcomes. It also relates closely to other key elements of the quality assurance framework, including subject benchmark statements and programme specifications. This quality assurance framework as a whole is designed to make clear to providers, users and all stakeholders, the purposes and outcomes of higher education.

The higher education qualifications framework will also help professional and statutory bodies to relate their qualification structures to the wider Scottish context and so assist with the development and recognition of a range of routes to professional recognition and continuing professional development. This was a specific recommendation of the Garrick Committee (recommendation 4).

The positioning of the qualifications of the higher education institutions within the full SCQF will facilitate comparisons with other kinds of qualifications, including work-based qualifications. This will also enable the establishment of progression and credit transfer opportunities between the full range of qualifications in Scotland, an important foundation for widening access to lifelong learning opportunities.

Comparison of qualifications across the UK and internationally

The two parallel frameworks for higher education, one for Scotland and one for the rest of the UK, reflect the features of these different education systems whilst making clear the many similarities and alignments.

The frameworks share many common principles and components. At the postgraduate levels, the two higher education frameworks have common structures, qualification titles and qualification descriptors. Below the postgraduate levels, the Honours degree levels are considered to be in broad alignment. Below the Honours level, the frameworks reflect the particular features of the different educational structures and contexts. To reflect the similarities, the levels of the two frameworks have shared labels as follows: D (Doctorates); M (Masters); H (Honours). Below these levels, the frameworks have individual numbering systems. It is anticipated that the SCQF numbering system of levels will be increasingly widely used, supplemented where appropriate by the D, M and H labels.

Increasingly higher education institutions, students and employers operate and compete in a European and international context. The frameworks for higher education throughout the UK are designed to meet the expectations of the Bologna Declaration, particularly in respect of the place of the Honours degree as a 'first cycle qualification' that enables progression to the second cycle.

Supporting flexibility and future development

The framework must be able to accommodate new qualifications as the need for them arises. In general, it must also recognise and facilitate diversity and innovation, and promote a wider understanding of qualifications internationally. It should be regarded as a framework, not as a straightjacket.

The Agency will work with the higher education institutions in Scotland to ensure that any new higher education qualifications and other relevant developments are properly accommodated and described. In conjunction with Universities Scotland, we have established a new role for the Scottish Advisory Committee on Credit and Access (SACCA) as the body to advise the Agency on the future development of the higher education section of the SCQF.

In terms of the SCQF as a whole, a partnership of Universities Scotland, the Agency, the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has established a Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) as the vehicle for implementing and further developing the SCQF in line with the needs of the key stakeholders in education and training in Scotland.

Implementation timetable

A transitional period is needed to implement the framework for HEIs. In terms of qualifications awarded, the status of existing programmes cannot be altered to the possible detriment of students who have already accepted places on them. Because programmes are of differing lengths, differing periods of time will be needed before all qualifications are awarded in accordance with the framework.

Accordingly, there will be an implementation date based on the time when programmes commence. Institutions should be able to demonstrate that all students commencing programmes after that date would gain, on successful completion, qualifications that were awarded in accordance with the framework.

The implementation date is the start of the academic year 2003-04.

The framework

The framework for qualifications of higher education institutions is an outcomes-based structure based on a consistent qualification nomenclature; qualification descriptors; and credits.

These concepts are used consistently throughout the SCQF and, apart from credits, are shared also with the higher education framework for the rest of the UK.

As indicated above, the framework is not intended to be, and should not be used as, a straightjacket. The descriptors of levels and qualifications, whilst setting out clear and meaningful reference points, are nevertheless generic descriptors. Similarly, the credit definitions of qualifications, set out below, are designed to set some minimum expectations in terms of overall volume and level of outcome. At the same time, however, they should also support the desirable diversity in the structure of the programmes which reflect the increasingly innovative and diverse nature of higher education in Scotland.

The nature and number of levels in the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework

Table 1 outlines the levels and associated principal qualifications of the SCQF as a whole.

The levels of the SCQF are broad generic levels of outcome. Each SCQF level has a descriptor, which sets out in relatively brief, generic terms, the outcomes associated with each level. The levels and the descriptors are designed as a national set of reference points for use by all providers and all stakeholders and against which any learning outcomes can be located.

The SCQF level descriptors are published by the Joint Advisory Committee for the SCQF. They relate to all qualifications within the SCQF and therefore refer not only to qualifications of higher education institutions but also, for example, at a single level (SCQF 7) to Advanced Highers and HNCs as well as to Certificates of Higher Education. Each qualification will be distinguished by its particular purpose and characteristic outcomes (as outlined in the qualification descriptors) and by the volume of credit required for its award. The level descriptors can, therefore, aim to provide only a general shared understanding of each level. In designing their own programmes or parts of programmes, institutions may use these generic descriptors, or they might wish to develop their own set of descriptors that reflect the particular focus of their provision. Alternatively, and where the focus is on whole qualifications, they will use the qualification descriptors as set out below.

Defining qualifications - quantitative and qualitative descriptors of outcomes

One of the main aims of the framework is to define qualifications and how they relate to one another. In addition to a consistent use of titles, the framework provides a mechanism to describe the outcomes of qualifications in two ways: generic qualification descriptors and descriptions of the number and level of credits. These two descriptions are designed to be complementary and mutually reinforcing statements of the nature and outcomes of qualifications.

Table 1 Levels and associated qualifications of higher education institutions and the main qualifications of other awarding bodies within the SCQF

SCQF level (SHE = Scottish higher education level)	National qualifications (units, courses and group awards)	Higher National qualifications	Qualifications awarded by higher education institutions in Scotland	SVQs**
12 (SHE D*)			Doctorates
11 (SHE M*)			Masters/Postgraduate Diploma and Certificate	SVQ 5
10 (SHE H*)			Honours degree
9 (SHE 3)			Degree
8 (SHE 2)		Higher National Diploma	Diploma of Higher Education	SVQ 4
7 (SHE 1)	Advanced Higher	Higher National Certificate	Certificate of Higher Education
6	Higher			SVQ 3
5	Intermediate 2/Credit Standard Grade			SVQ 2

4	Intermediate 1/General Standard Grade			SVQ 1

3	Access 3/FoundationStandard Grade

2	Access 2

1	Access 1

* Labels H, M and D refer to Honours, Masters, and Doctoral and are used consistently across the UK.

** Provisional: work is continuing to refine the placing of SVQs within the SCQF.

Qualification descriptors

Qualification descriptors make explicit general expectations of the purpose and outcomes of the main qualifications at each level, and make clear how these differ from other qualifications, both at that level and at other levels.

Qualification descriptors are in three parts. The first part is a general description of the qualification. The second is a statement of general outcomes, achievement of which students should be able to demonstrate for the award of the qualification. This part will be of particular interest to those designing, approving and reviewing academic programmes. The third part is a statement of the wider abilities that the typical student could be expected to have developed. It will be of assistance to employers and others with an interest in the general capabilities of holders of the qualification.

In addition to level descriptors, the qualification descriptors also provide a point of reference that can help HEIs determine at which point in the framework individual short courses might be placed.

The Agency will keep under review the need for any additional qualification descriptors in the light of future developments.

The relationship of the framework to other points of reference for academic standards

Qualification descriptors are generic statements of the outcomes of study. Further guidance on the expectations for degrees in particular subjects can be found in subject benchmark statements. These have been produced for the Honours level, and will be produced for other levels, where there is significant taught provision in a subject.

In areas where there is no benchmark statement, or where more than one such statement may be relevant, the statements of generic outcomes contained in the qualification descriptors provide a particularly important point of reference.

Many academic programmes aim to develop general and specific skills. These are not addressed in the qualification descriptors, as many skills, and the extent to which they need to be developed, are discipline or profession specific. As such, they are addressed more appropriately in subject benchmark statements and individual programme specifications.

Credit

Levels, level descriptors and qualification descriptors provide reference points for locating the 'level' of any group of outcomes (a qualification, a module or other programme element). Credit points provide the associated measure for describing the volume of outcomes. The definition of the credit point remains unchanged from the SCOTCAT framework and is now shared by the whole of the SCQF: one credit point represents the learning outcomes expected to be achieved by the average learner at the relevant level in 10 hours of total learner effort. It is important to note that credit is a measure of outcome, not of study time.

SCQF credit points allow the volume of outcomes of all qualifications, modules or other programme elements to be described. The credit definitions of the main qualifications of HEIs are set out in Table 2.

These definitions specify the minimum total number of credits for each qualification together with the minimum number required at the exit level. The Honours degree credit definition refers to the minimum amount of credit at both the Honours level and SHE 3 to reflect the breadth and depth of the Honours degree in Scotland.

Together, the credit definitions and the qualification descriptors set out generic expectations in terms of the nature and volume of outcomes of qualifications and will be of particular interest to those designing and approving academic programmes. They will need to be satisfied that, for any programme, the curriculum and assessment arrangements provide all students with the opportunity to achieve, and to demonstrate achievement of, the outcomes. In Scotland, as elsewhere in the UK, academic review processes will focus on the qualification descriptors (as opposed to credit definitions).

Within the minimum credit definitions, institutions will continue to structure programmes in whatever ways are appropriate to the achievement of the aims of the qualifications, the teaching and learning strategy, and the characteristics of the associated learner groups.

The SCQF is designed to support lifelong learning by enabling, where appropriate, the transfer of credit between programmes and between institutions. There is no intention, however, that the framework should do other than facilitate this process. It is not a mandatory process, and individual institutions remain solely responsible for all matters of credit recognition towards their awards.

Table 2: Credit definitions of the main qualifications of higher education institutions in Scotland

Level	Typical HEI qualifications and their credit definitions

SHE D (SCQF 12)	PhD/DPhil Not credit rated*	Other Doctorates Min 540 with min 420 at SHE D

SHE M (SCQF 11)	MPhil	Either not credit rated or min 300 with min 270 at SHE M*
	Masters	Min 180 with min 150 at SHE M
	Masters (following an integrated programme from undergraduate to Masters level study)	Min 600 with min 120 at SHE M
	Postgraduate Diploma	Min 120 with min 90 at SHE M
	Postgraduate Certificate	Min 60 with min 40 at SHE M

SHE H (SCQF 10)	Scottish Bachelors degree with Honours** Min 480 with min of 180 at SHE 3 and SHE H of which a minimum of 90 at SHE H	Qualifications that are typically for graduates or equivilent but are not of postgraduate level of outcome Graduate diploma Minimum of 120 at minimum of SHE 3 Graduate certificate Minimum of 60 at minimum of SHE 3
SHE 3 (SCQF 9)	Scottish Bachelors degree** Min 360 with min 60 at SHE 3 (*)

SHE 2 (SCQF 8)	Diploma of HE Min 240 with min 90 at SHE 2

SHE 1 (SCQF 7)	Certificate of HE Min 120 with min 90 at SHE 1

Notes

* Programmes of work that are assessed solely by a final thesis, or by published work, artefact or performance that is accompanied by a written commentary placing it within its academic context need not be credit rated.

** A small number of universities have a tradition of awarding 'MA' as opposed to 'BA' in this category.

*** The recommendation for a minimum of 60 credits at level 3 reflects the need to encompass both breadth and depth within the definition. Where there is a clear subject or professional focus to the degree, this minimum requirement may well be exceeded in line with particular professional body or other requirements.

Levels, credits and programme design

The qualifications framework has been designed to bring consistency and a common language within which institutions will describe the particular features and purposes of their individual programmes and qualifications. The framework also provides a tool for assisting programme design.

There is no expectation, however, that, other than the minima set out in Table 2, any programme has to follow a set pattern of a specified number of credits at each level. It is for the institution and programme designers to determine the most appropriate structure and progression towards the final outcomes and the award of the qualification. In particular, there is no expectation that, for example, level 1 credits are always required to be taken in, and only in, year 1. Many programmes offer learners some choice of levels within each year of study. In general, it is important to emphasise that it is not the purpose of the framework to prescribe the internal organisation of academic programmes.

Assessment

Effective and appropriate assessment is essential to the operation of an outcomes-based qualifications framework. It is the assessment of the outcomes of learning that is important, rather than the nature of any component element of study. For example, a student may, in an appropriate learning environment, build on introductory material and be assessed against outcomes of a qualification at a level above that associated with the introductory material alone.

See Code of practice, Section 6: Assessment of students and especially precept 11 dealing with compensation and condonation; and Code of practice, Section 4: External examining and especially precept 1 dealing with general principles.

Use of the framework in academic review

The framework will provide reference points that may be used to determine whether the intended outcomes for programmes, and actual student achievement, are appropriate to the level of the qualification awarded. See the Handbook for academic review (the Handbook), and especially paragraphs 32 and 82. Reviewers will also assess whether curriculum design is effective in achieving intended programme outcomes (the Handbook, paragraph 83). In this context, institutions should be able to demonstrate that the volume and nature of learning is adequate to achieve the outcomes indicated by the framework. Claims that those outcomes can be achieved from volumes of learning that are significantly below those found necessary by institutions generally, are likely to be tested by reviewers with particular thoroughness.

The above statement applies throughout the UK. In this context, the key feature of the frameworks will be the qualification descriptors rather than particular credit ratings.

Section 2: Specific guidelines

The guidelines take the form of a series of precepts and accompanying outline guidance. The precepts identify key matters that an institution should be able to demonstrate that it is addressing effectively through its own quality assurance mechanisms. The accompanying outline guidance is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive, but for many institutions it will constitute appropriate good practice.

Awarding qualifications

Qualifications should be awarded to mark the achievement of positively defined outcomes, not as compensation for failure at a higher level, or by default.

Failure at a higher level does not mean that a lower qualification cannot be awarded. However, where a student does not demonstrate the outcomes set out in a qualification descriptor, a lower qualification should only be awarded if the student has demonstrated the outcomes required for that qualification.

Institutions should ensure that:

the outcomes required for each of their qualifications are specified clearly;
achievement of those outcomes is demonstrated before a qualification is awarded; and
assessment procedures that permit compensation or condonation are not applied in a way that might allow a qualification to be awarded without achievement of the full outcomes being demonstrated.

Positioning qualifications within the framework

Institutions should be able to demonstrate that each of their qualifications is allocated to the appropriate level of the framework.

In considering the appropriate level for a qualification, institutions should consider:

the relationship between the intended outcomes of the programme and the expectations set out in qualification descriptors;
whether there is a sufficient volume of assessed study that will demonstrate that the learning outcomes have been achieved; and
whether the design of the curriculum and assessments is such that all students following the programme have the opportunity to achieve and demonstrate the intended outcomes.

Naming qualifications

Institutions should ensure that the name given to any qualification represents appropriately the level of achievement, reflects accurately the field(s) of study, and is not misleading.

In naming qualifications, institutions should:

use the title 'degree' only for a qualification that meets the expectations of a qualification descriptor and credit definition at SHE levels 3, H, M or D;
use the titles 'Honours', 'Masters' and 'Doctor' only for qualifications that meet the expectations of the qualification descriptors and credit definitions at SHE levels
H, M and D respectively*; and
have regard for the more detailed guidance in Annex 2 on qualification nomenclature.

* See footnote to Annex 2.

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