Edinburgh Education - National Qualifications

National Qualifications (NQs) are one of the three main groups of qualifications awarded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). The other two groups are Higher National qualifications (usually taken at college) and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (work-based qualifications).

NQs are taken by students in secondary schools and colleges (and some training centres). They cover subjects to suit everyone’s interests and skills, from Chemistry to Construction, History to Hospitality, and Computing to Care.

The types of NQ that you will come across are:

• Standard Grades
• National Units
• National Courses
• Group Awards (built up from National Units).