Level Descriptors

The SCQF has 12 Levels, reflecting the current Scottish system of education and training. Level 1 is the least demanding and Level 12 the most demanding. The descriptors show how each level becomes increasingly demanding by changes to factors such as complexity and depth of knowledge, links to associated academic, vocational or professional practice, and the degree of autonomy exercised by the learner.

The SCQF Levels provide a basis for broad comparisons between learning and qualifications achieved in different contexts such as the workplace and formal classroom study.

The level descriptors have been designed to provide a general understanding of each Level, and their development has drawn extensively on:

• related criteria developed by SQA;
• the levels for courses and core skills developed for SQA's National Qualifications;
• earlier work to develop level descriptors for the SCOTCAT Framework;
• the benchmarks developed by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) for Honours Degrees;
• the level descriptors for Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) / National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) developed by the regulatory bodies — Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) for SVQs, and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) for NVQs.

The development of the descriptors was a complex task and involved workshops and consultations with a range of interested bodies in the different sectors. The SCQF Handbook contains the Level Descriptors developed as a result of these consultations, and these will be subject to periodic review by the SCQF Quality Committee.