As the Scottish economy recovers, the need to improve training and develop relevant skills has never been more important; which is why the work of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is so vital.
The team at Scotland’s national accreditation and awarding body works in partnership with employers, colleges, universities, industry and government bodies throughout the UK and internationally, to provide high level, flexible and relevant qualifications and assessments that are relevant to today’s increasingly competitive global marketplace.
SQA’s experience and innovation in qualification design are recognised, and sought after, by businesses across the UK. Through its work, SQA ensures that its qualifications provide clear progression pathways, facilitate lifelong learning and recognise candidate achievement.
For Denise Monteith, who heads up SQA’s team of Regional Managers in Scotland, SQA’s work is crucial to the health of the economy.
She said: “Skills development and training are massively important to the Scottish economy. There is a proven link between the prosperity of the economy and the skills of the workforce.
“I think that more and more employers acknowledge that. During the recent recession, we anticipated that there would be a drop in training – when times are hard, investment in training tends to be the first thing to go – but it was much less than we expected, which was reassuring.
“I believe that employers realised that training their workforce was important to help them through the down-turn and to take advantage of the recovery when it came.”
SQA is proud to be at the heart of the education and skills system in Scotland. SQA is committed to helping people realise their potential and to achieve their ambitions.
SQA has the track record of providing qualifications that are fit for purpose and deliver for Scotland’s people and economy.
The Scottish Government’s Developing the Young Workforce – Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy sets out how the Scottish Government will implement the recommendations from the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce. The main aim of the strategy is to make sure that schools, colleges and employers are working closely together to provide vocational pathways into industry.
SQA’s suite of qualifications are already enabling vocational pathways in schools – for example, Skills for Work and National Progression Awards; SQA already has a working model of Higher National qualification delivery in schools – enabled through school-college partnerships; SQA works with other national organisations, such as Skills Development Scotland, in the delivery of the Certificate of Work Readiness and SQA is in a pivotal position to help make the connections between schools, colleges, training providers, employers and other stakeholders. Uniquely, SQA already works with them all.
Denise said: “There is a chance here to make a huge difference to the development of knowledge and skills in Scotland by bringing everything together.
“We see our role as liaising between the various different organisations to make sure that the pathways to qualifications and training are as effective as possible.
“It’s not just about young people going to university and we are constantly looking at ways to develop other routes to positive destinations, such as apprenticeships, SVQs and new college courses.
“SQA is constantly talking to people about any gaps in our provision. We want to find out what employers want and to make sure that our offering meets their needs while being attractive and relevant to students.
“Our dedicated Regional Managers, committed to delivering excellent customer service, have a varied role; they could start the day talking to an engineering company and finish it talking about animal husbandry!
“We now have more than 30,000 qualification units in our portfolio and are always looking for ways to make them as relevant as possible to those people seeking to develop their skills.
“We anticipate that the next twelve months will be very busy, which is exciting. SQA is ambitious for Scotland and we aim to continue improving our links with business and industry and are totally committed to the ongoing process of developing new qualifications to meet the country’s changing needs.“
To find out more, visit www.sqa.org.uk/mysector
Meet the team www.sqa.org.uk/businessdevelopment
