Professional Recognition

Since you are paid a fee by SQA for Appointee work such as marking, setting, examining and verifying, the work does not in itself qualify as formal CPD. However, SQA is working with the General Teaching Council Scotland to encourage Appointees to use the experience and expertise they gain as the basis for formal recognition.

This could be achieved in two ways:

  • Framework for Professional Recognition. For this you will need to demonstrate how the knowledge and expertise gained in the Appointee role has impacted on your own professional development and how pupils and colleagues gain from it.
  • Standard for Chartered Teacher. For this you will have to provide for GTCS evidence of enhanced teaching practice in at least three areas of work. Your Appointee work is very likely to give you an excellent starting point in one area.

GTCS and SQA have produced an introductory leaflet which has more information and details of a pilot programme which was run in 2006.

Guidance and illustrations on how SQA Appointees can develop their submissions to meet the standards for either of the pathways mentioned above will be provided by the SQA Academy.

SQA Academy is being developed to extend and enhance the training and development opportunities available to all those that contribute to the assessment processes that underpin our qualifications. Agreement has been reached between SQA, through SQA Academy, and the General Teaching Council for Scotland, which will allow Appointees to submit claims through the Professional Recognition Framework or the Chartered Teacher Initiative. Further details can be found in the leaflet Recognising the value of SQA appointees.

In May 2006 a course for Business Management Markers was piloted, and the intention is to run similar courses in 2007 for other subject areas. You can see the course by registering at www.sqaacademy.com, and entering the "Marking to National Standards: Business Management" course using the enrolment key "SQAmarkers". If you have difficulty accessing the site you can contact the SQA Academy team at academy@sqa.org.uk.

Another source of useful information is the Understanding Standards website which has been created to allow teaching professionals the opportunity to understand more fully the standards of assessment as they are applied by the SQA examination teams. Visitors to the site will have the opportunity to consider the principles which underlie the marking of their subjects and then apply this understanding by marking a number of candidate responses and comparing their marks with those given. Login and password details can be obtained from your centre's SQA coordinator, or by contacting the Understanding Standards website team at usw@sqa.org.uk.