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Quality assurance

We have a role in quality assuring and approving courses provided in Scotland.

Our role includes quality assuring, approving and enhancing the degrees in social work, childhood practice awards and specialist awards for practice learning qualifications, mental health officers, chief social work officers and residential child care.

We advise course providers who want to deliver a course and provide support during the development process to enable positive outcomes

Once we approve courses we monitor programmes annually to make sure they continue to meet the rules and requirements.

As the workforce regulator we must ensure that high standards of education and training are maintained. To do this we have rules and requirements that qualifications must adhere to.

There are three sets of rules, each applying to a different kind of course:

SSSC Handbook for Quality Assurance and Enhancement

The SSSC Handbook for Quality Assurance and Enhancement outlines the procedures that should be followed by us, course providers, and other stakeholders and forms our quality assurance and enhancement responsibilities. In this context quality enhancement refers to the continuous process of improvement that demonstrates a responsive and reflective approach to course development. Please remember that the guidance in this handbook cannot act as a substitute for the Rules themselves. We recommend you refer to the appropriate set of Rules depending on the type of course being provided, or proposed, when using this handbook.

While the Rules set out what is to be done, the purpose of the handbook is to give guidance on who is involved and advise on the best approach.

For more information about the handbook, contact us using the web form on our Contact us page.

 

Are you a student who wants to make a complaint about a course provider?


We can only investigate complaints about issues which seem to constitute a breach of the Rules under which we have approved the course provider to deliver a course. The need for course providers to inform students about the SSSC’s procedure for complaints in respect of any proposed course provision are in the Rules under criteria for the approval of courses.

Complaints must first follow the internal complaints procedure for that course provider. Guidance for this should be in your course or student handbook. If the outcome of this process is unsatisfactory, students and other stakeholders have a right to lodge a complaint with us.

More information and the process for making a complaint about a course provider are in section 10 of the SSSC Handbook for Quality Assurance and Enhancement.


 

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