Education (Hansard, 13 April 1994)

§ Mr. McFall
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration has been given to re-organising the arrangements for assessment and certification of(a) vocational and (b) non-vocational education in Scottish schools.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
The policy document "Higher Still: Opportunity for All" sets out plans to draw together Scottish Examination Board—SEB—and Scottish Vocational Education Council—SCOTVEC—courses into a single curriculum and assessment framework. There will be a mixture of internal and external assessment. All passes will be presented on a single certificate.

§ Mr. McFall
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has considered instituting a points system to enable comparison between standard grades, highers, advanced highers and national certificate modules.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
Our policy document "Higher Still: Opportunity for All" stated that we propose to consult those who use qualifications and awards about a possible points system to make clearer the compatibility and equivalences within the new system.

§ Mr. McFall
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration has been given to merging the Scottish Vocational Education Council and the Scottish Examination Board; and what representations he has received from Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and other interested bodies on this matter.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
Our policy statement "Higher Still: Opportunity for All" stated that we will be examining options for the best relationship between SCOTVEC and SEB for the administration of the new awards. During consultation on the Howie committee208W report on upper secondary curriculum and awards 73 respondents, including COSLA, commented on this matter.

§ Mr. McFall
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which body will be responsible for assessing and issuing achievement certificates for the new highers, advanced highers and national certificate modules.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
Arrangements for administering the new awards will be developed by the Scottish Office Education Department, SCOTVEC and SEB as part of the development programme for implementing the decisions announced in "Higher Still: Opportunity for All".