No connection with the previous item, but Higher Still is no more - or at least its name is to be consigned to outer darkness.
From next year, the Scottish Qualifications Authority plans to brand the new qualifications as National Qualifications. Thus we shall have national units, national courses, national clusters (at Access level) - but Scottish Group Awards will soldier on as they are.
The latest SQA guidance on Higher Still recognised an immediate problem. “The national course in history at Higher is a bit of a mouthful,” its series of questions and answers (known in the SQA as Q and A) postulated in order to create a helpful reply.
The reply was stunning in its simplicity. “In everyday usage, all courses will be referred to by their level and title - we will talk about the national course in history at Higher as ‘Higher history’.”
Quite so.
