OVERSEAS income generated by Scotland’s exam body has plummeted in recent years, new figures show.
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) generated just £1.9 million from selling its qualifications overseas in 2017/18 compared to £5.4m two years earlier.
When the £1.4m cost of running its international operations is factored in, it means the SQA made a profit of just £500,000 from overseas work last year compared to £2.6m in 2015/16.
READ MORE: Glasgow University declares climate emergency
The body has already come under fire for the amount of money spent on international flights and hotels.
Selling qualifications such as HNDs and HNCs overseas is seen by the SQA as an important way to generate income to lessen the burden of running the organisation on the taxpayer.
However, while its work in China has been profitable, the SQA is now making a loss in several of the regions it has expanded to including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Liz Smith, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, called for greater scrutiny of the SQA’s overseas business.
She said: “The SQA plays a valuable role abroad, as well as at home, but it is essential that all of these operations provide best value for money.
“In this case, it appears the money being spent on international business is significant yet is not generating the necessary income. That will be a matter of concern to many parents and teachers.”
Iain Gray, education spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party, said the SQA should focus on the delivery of domestic qualifications.
“The SQA’s pursuit of international work is too much of a distraction and these figures suggest it does not even create the significant profits claimed,” he said.
Tavish Scott, education spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, added: “The SQA has significant questions to answer about its international work. As income from overseas reduces, the SQA needs to reassess their primary purpose.”
READ MORE: Parents 'left in the dark' over curriculum reforms
An SQA spokesman said it had worked internationally for more than 25 years.
He said: “International activities in the higher education and vocational sectors showcase Scotland’s leadership role and support the Scottish Government’s international framework.
“Services are funded by international governments, the EU, aid agencies and organisations in selected areas of expertise ... including standard setting and qualification design and development. This generates contribution to SQA’s finances and reduces dependency on the public purse.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel