Qualifications Body Transition Board minutes - February 2025

Attendees and apologies

Members

• Clare Hicks, SG Director of Education Reform – Transition Board Co-Chair (CH)
• Shirley Rogers, SQA Board Chair – Transition Board Co-Chair (SR)
• George Brown, SQA Head of Accreditation (GB)
• Liz Cunningham, Unison (LC)
• Ronnie Erskine, SQA Board (RE)
• Seán Hagney, SQA Board (SH)
• Andy Harvey, EIS (AH)
• Erin McCabe, Unite (EM)
• Stuart McKenna, Scottish Training Federation (SM)
• Claire McPherson, Universities Scotland (CM)
• Isabel Nisbet, Independent Adviser (IN)
• Pauline Radcliffe, SCQF (PR)
• Mark Ratter, ADES (MR)
• Ken Thomson, SQA Board (KT)
• Andy Witty, Colleges Scotland (AW)

In attendance

• Andy Alston, SQA (AA)
• Naureen Ahmad, SG Deputy Director of Lifelong Learning and Skills (NA)
• Lisa Bird, SG Deputy Director of Education Reform (LB)
• John Booth, SQA Director of Communications (JB)
• Steve Borley, SQA (SB)
• Bill Cullen, SQA (BC)
• Sarah Hart, SG (SaH)
• Dawnne Mahmoud, SQA Director of People (DM)
• Jaxon Parish, SG (JP)
• Richard Pidgeon, SQA (RP)
• Seamus Season, SSTA (SS) - depute for Euan Duncan
• John Stephens, SG (JS)
• Graham Thomson, SG (GT)
• Kieran Watson, SG (KW)

Secretariat

• Karen Ferguson, SQA (KF)
• John Keenan, SG (JK) 
• Anna Kerr, SQA (AK)
• Niamh McGhee, SG (NM)

Apologies

• Reid Aiton, Young Scot
• Kirsty Ayed, SLS
• Debbie Carter, SG
• Tom Hall, Colleges Scotland
• Allan Lindsay, Young Scot
• Jon Reid, SLS/ADES, Falkirk Council
• Fiona Robertson, SQA

Items and actions

Opening remarks

Welcome and apologies

CH welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted apologies.

Declaration of any conflicts of interest

There were no declarations of conflicts of interest.

Previous meting - approval of minutes from 21 January 2025 and matters arising

The minutes of the meeting on 21 January were approved as an accurate record of the meeting. 

CH noted the resignation of Fiona Robertson in her role as SQA Chief Executive, and SR said a few words that included thanking her for her contribution to the work of SQA and the Transition Board and outlining next steps in the appointment of a new Chief Executive.

CH noted that following discussions at last month’s meeting, an agenda item on High Level Programme Risk has been included for this meeting.

A member requested an explanation around the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skill’s intention to lay an order to allow appointments to the Board of Qualifications Scotland’s (QS). CH and JP responded that this was a technical amendment that is required to enable SG to start the Board appointment process before QS is formally established, and that members will be updated in due course.

Implementation Plan

Vision for QS - where are we trying to get to?

Update on tertiary education reform

NA updated members on post-school reform in light of the announcements to simplify the post-school funding landscape and the introduction of the associated Tertiary Education and Training Bill. NA highlighted that apprenticeships funding would be moved to SFC and student support funding would move to SAAS, then went on to discuss the implications for Qualifications Scotland.

SM asked to be involved in discussions around the options being considered for the Bill. NA will follow up with SM and CH invited other members to contact the Secretariat if they’d also like be involved.

In respose to members asking if the decisions had actually been taken regarding the Bill, NA confirmed that the powers in the Bill are not yet enacted but will give enabling power to the SFC for apprenticeships funding delivery, although options are still being considered regarding where elements of the apprenticeship development and certification might sit.

Action – Members who wish to have a follow-up on the detail of the Bill including timelines and decision making, to contact secretariat.

Transition - what's required for Day 1?

SR updated members on the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills’ response to the Commission. SR noted that the response was very positive, particularly on the creation of a Schools Unit. SR added that SQA has been interviewing headteachers for the Schools Unit lead role and the candidate should be in place shortly.

Action - To provide an update on Schools Unit at the next meeting.

Transition Programme Dashboard and finance update

BC presented members with a high-level dashboard report, highlighting key achievements including the development of the logo, core values and engagement with the trade unions. BC noted that all project boards have now met twice, then went on to discuss upcoming work for the next month. BC said that the Project Boards and leads are working well and that no issues have emerged requiring the attention of the Transition Board. BC added that he is meeting with trade unions every month to discuss the risks.

BC thanked RE for his support in relation to risk management. RE expressed the need to ensure that no risks will be missed and noted that the appointment of a new Chief Executive should be considered as both a risk and an opportunity.

In response to member concerns around the accreditation risk that was currently graded as ‘red’, SR and GB provided reassurance that irrespective of where accreditation sits, work is being done to ensure that there will be robust accreditation processes.

JB confirmed that QS is planned to retain SQA’s coat of arms.

High-level programme risks

BC provided Transition Board members with an update on high level programme risks noting that this sits separately from the individual project risk registers and will be delivered monthly to Transition Board and the Body Implementation Project (BIP). BC went on to highlight the RAG status of the risks and discussed the associated mitigations.

Noting the strong focus on risks relating to National Qualifications, members expressed the need to also carefully consider Higher National Qualifications’ Next Generation risks.

Members noted the importance of clear risk ownership and the ability to report risks as they arise and the need for inclusion of wider issues in the register.

In response to members’ queries regarding the challenges around managing the large number of risks some of which are rated ‘Red’, noting the assurances BC had described earlier and the associated mitigations, CH said she was confident that successful delivery for the programme was achievable. SR added that progress was in line with her expectations and went on to emphasise the importance of looking beyond Day 1 in terms of risk mitigation.

Action – Continued focus on high level risks in relation to responsibilities of the Transition Board, making clear the respective responsibilities of members for their mitigation.  

Transformation - what will happen longer-term?

Update on Comms plan

GT and RP provided an update on Comms and Engagement, with GT focusing on 2025 Education Reform Comms and Engagement plan and RP providing an overview of SQA’s comms approach. Actions to engage with stakeholders including key events that would provide key opportunities for collaboration, were highlighted.

PR indicated that the SCQFP would be keen to work with SQA on the development of Comms and engagement approaches. CH noted the importance of wider engagement and ensuring that key messaging was effective.

The importance of having Comms messaging tailored for different audiences was discussed, where accreditation was highlighted as a particular issue that required careful thought due to its complexity.   

Any other business

N/A

Date of next meeting

The date of the next meeting has been moved to 25 March due to timing issues between meetings. SR to chair.