CfE Subject Implementation Event

I attended the first Subject Implementation Event for the new CfE courses yesterday, which was held at the Stirling Management Centre. The purpose of the event was the kick-start the delivery of the new CfE courses in Scottish schools. Around 100 teachers from central Scotland attended.

Derek Middleton, the Development Manager for CfE, introduced the event, and described the contents of the new courses in Computing Science available at SCQF Levels 4, 5 and 6 (called "National 4", "National 5" and "Higher" respectively). The courses at Levels 4, 5 and 6 have identical structures, consisting of two mandatory units:

1. Software Design & Development
2. Information System Design  & Development

There is also a Level 3 ("National 3") course with a similar, but not identical, structure (consisting of Building Digital Solutions and Information Solutions). The contents of the corresponding Advanced Higher course are currently out for discussion.

The assessment at Levels 3 and 4 is internal, with external assessment at Levels 5 and 6, including an examination. Assessment Support Packages (ASPs) will be available for all of these courses. We had the first opportunity to look at a sample ASP at yesterday's event.

The new courses will be offered in schools from August 2013, with the first examinations in 2014.

These new courses are important to colleges and universities, since students will be coming to college/university with some of these awards. The focus on computer science, rather than IT, is particularly significant for colleges that offer HNC/D Computing. For me and my team, we need to ensure our awards build on or compliment these school qualifications.

You can find out more about the new courses here or contact Derek if you have a specific question. Derek will be speaking at the forthcoming Heads of Computing event.