Chamber and committees

Scottish Qualifications Authority submission of 30 November 2021

PE1867/B: Establish a new national qualification for British Sign Language (BSL)

Thank you for your letter, dated 10 September 2021, regarding petition ref. PE1867.

I am happy to outline the process required to develop a new qualification along with some background information that will hopefully add some context that will be helpful to your committee.

With regard to the second part of your enquiry,

‘…what qualifications must be in place to provide students with the opportunity to learn BSL, or any other additional language, from Primary 1’

I’m afraid the answer to that question is not strictly in SQA’s gift. You may be better to seek advice on this from our Scottish Government colleagues, who will be better placed to answer questions on their policy ‘Language Learning in Scotland: A 1+2 Approach’.

Developing a new qualification

As you will know, SQA is responsible for a wide range of qualifications delivered by schools, colleges, employers, training providers and commercial clients. The petitioner has specifically called for a new National Qualification in BSL at SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework) level 2.

The particular qualification types that are deemed to be part of the ‘National Qualifications’ suite, include National Courses and National Units, at each level from SCQF level 1 up to SCQF level 7. SQA has a statutory duty as the regulator for National Qualifications in Scotland as defined by the Equality Act (2010). SQA must design National Qualifications that support the aims and principles of Curriculum for Excellence and that are suitable for delivery to learners in the Senior Phase of school (S4, S5 and S6).

Qualification levels and progression

The different levels in our National Qualifications help us to recognise the attainment of learners of all abilities. The levels also ensure there are appropriate progression routes for learners. Therefore, progression is a key consideration when developing new qualifications in a new subject area. We would not normally seek to develop a course in a new subject at just one level, without looking at the progression opportunities available for learners that might complete that course.

As mentioned already, National Qualifications are available from SCQF level 1 through to SCQF level 7 and the following table may help your committee members understand the full range of these qualifications.

This table can be found in

Annexe A. (102KB, pdf) posted 24 January 2022

*The number of courses started by learners and entered onto SQA’s system.

When they reach S4, most learners in school will begin working towards National 4 and/or National 5 qualifications. A much smaller number of learners, when they reach S4, will work towards National 2 qualifications and these are usually learners with additional support needs (ASN), often attending Special Schools or ASN units within mainstream schools.

Deciding whether new qualifications should be developed

This is not the first time SQA has been asked to develop National Courses in a new language. In the past there have been strong calls from a few communities in Scotland, for additional languages to be added to the existing range that learners can study in the senior phase. To ensure a fair appraisal of new requests, SQA has adopted a common set of criteria against which proposals for new languages can be judged.

All of the following criteria need to be met before SQA will consider developing National Courses in a new language:

1. Evidence of demand for a National Course from language learners and delivering centres.
2. Sufficient qualified and registered teachers to develop, deliver and assess the National Course.
3. Strategic support from a range of partners within Scottish Education.
4. The availability of specific grant funding from the Scottish Government.

The first and second criteria are the ones that BSL has previously struggled to meet. There is currently not enough evidence of demand from learners, nor is there sufficient availability of suitably qualified teachers, registered with GTCS, that could deliver BSL qualifications in schools. These two issues were the focus of considerable debate after the BSL (Scotland) Act was passed in 2015 and while the BSL: National Plan 2017 to 2023 was being developed. It was recognised at that time that learner demand could only grow if young people were given the opportunity to study BSL at school, likewise more teachers might be attracted to the subject and initial teacher education might adapt accordingly.

Before the BSL: National Plan 2017 to 2023 was published, it was agreed that SQA should develop ‘Awards’ in BSL, rather than National Courses. SQA uses the term ‘Award’ to refer to a flexible qualification type that can be delivered in schools and other centres but that are not recognised as National Courses.The intention was that the awards could be designed to be of equivalent size (in terms of learning hours) as a National Course and to be made up of internally assessed units. This meant that SQA would not need to produce centrally marked exams in BSL for potentially a very low number of candidates. The Awards could then act as a stepping-stone towards the development of full National Courses in the future, if learner numbers increased sufficiently and if the teacher base expanded sufficiently.

When The BSL: National Plan 2017 to 2023 was published, in October 2017, it contained a specific action relating to the development of awards:

‘Action 19 - Work with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to develop an initial suite of awards in BSL, which will form the basis for any future development of BSL qualifications up to Level 6 of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF).’

SQA had reached an understanding that Awards would be required from SCQF level 3 to SCQF level 6.

SQA development of BSL Awards

As per the action 19 mentioned above, SQA has already developed Awards in BSL at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 5 and is currently working on an Award at SCQF level 6. So far, the uptake of these new Awards has been low but we are pleased to note that the schools that have been involved in the development to date have shown great enthusiasm and support for this work.

I hope this information will be of some help to the Committee in considering the petition.