The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has today signed a five year assessment partnership agreement with BTL Group Ltd, a leading independent provider of assessment solutions.

The partnership will see SQA licence BTL’s Surpass® Assessment Platform for the development and delivery of its whole assessment programme including the new National Qualifications being developed to support Curriculum for Excellence.

SQA has been using Surpass for the SOLAR e-Assessment programme since 2008; this new contract sees Surpass rolled out throughout the SQA – with Surpass being used to develop and deliver both paper and on-screen assessments.

SQA’s initial focus is on use of Surpass to develop assessments for the new National Qualifications. Over the five year duration of its contract with BTL it is anticipated that assessments to support all SQA’s key business streams will be developed and delivered using the Surpass Platform. The agreement will also see BTL providing a number of assessment related services; including full hosting, training, technical support and project management.

Keith Myers, Managing Director of BTL, states:

“Surpass has evolved to become more than just an e-Assessment system, it now offers the flexibility to develop and deliver both paper and on-screen assessments. We have a long and successful working partnership with SQA and we are delighted that SQA has chosen BTL to support them in this exciting new approach to managing their processes for assessment development from one single platform.”

Dr Janet Brown, SQA Chief Executive, said:

“This agreement between SQA and BTL Group Ltd demonstrates our continuing commitment to the use of the latest technologies for the development and delivery of on-screen and paper-based assessments for our entire provision of assessments, including the new National 4 and National 5. Use of these technologies allows SQA to further enhance the service we offer to our customers and to improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of our operations. Our experience working with Keith and the team at BTL has been overwhelmingly positive and I look forward to continuing and developing our successful partnership.”

SQA Signs Partnership Agreement with BTL for Assessment Services