Bengaluru :  Dr. Ashwath Narayan, Hon’ble Minister for Higher Education, Karnataka, met John McMorris, Director, and Margaret Curran, International Partnership Manager of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) in Edinburgh. SQA is the national awarding body in Scotland responsible for developing, accrediting, assessing, certifying, and awarding qualifications other than university degrees. During the meeting, the minister expressed an interest in exploring access to SQA and Partner Universities in Karnataka. He stressed the importance of internationalisation and collaboration.

As an internationally recognised awarding body, many of the qualifications accredited and certified by SQA are accepted by the UK and international universities for advanced entry and credit transfer to undergrad and postgrad programmes. In addition, the UK university sector is an essential stakeholder of SQA, which is integral to the development and validation of SQA qualifications which can facilitate progression to higher education.

ISDC (International Skill Development Corporation) has been associated with SQA to offer ISDC Business Qualifications with SQA rating. Numerous UK universities accept ISDC qualifications for articulation. ISDC Level 6 is recognised by the Association of Indian Universities as equivalent to 10+2 for entry to undergrad studies in India. Furthermore, Indian universities, specifically JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University) in Bengaluru, have recruited many international students through ISDC-SQA Partnership.

ISDC is the leading provider of British education and skills, working with Universities and Professional Bodies in the UK to expand their reach and visibility internationally and has an active presence in India with an excess of 200 University Partnerships.

Mr. Tom Joseph, Executive Director for Strategy & Development at ISDC, said, “ISDC has been actively engaging with many Indian Higher Education institutions. This year it focuses on the new UGC regulations related to partnerships between Indian and foreign institutions in higher education. ISDC is enthusiastic about taking UK universities and SQA into the Indian market. ISDC is organising several university round tables in Indian cities in this context.”

In light of the new UGC regulations about dual degrees/credit exchange in India, ISDC Partner Universities consider incorporating levels 7 & 8 into their Degree programs to enable students to complete their Bachelors’ at a UK University after two years in India.