Get to know the people behind the SCQF Partnership (SCQFP). In this new blog series, we shine a spotlight on our Board members and the valuable experience, perspectives and leadership they bring to the organisation. This week, it’s the turn of Claire McPherson.
Claire is Director of Universities Scotland and has spent much of her career working at the intersection of education, skills and public policy.
Having held senior roles across the Scottish Government, UK Government and the Scottish Funding Council, she brings extensive experience of the policies and partnerships that shape opportunities for learners across Scotland.
As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the SCQF, we caught up with Claire to learn more about her vision for the Framework’s future.
What’s been the most rewarding aspect of serving on the Board?
Although I am relatively new to the Board, one of the things that has struck me most is the breadth of organisations and perspectives that come together around a shared commitment to learners.
The SCQF is one of those rare pieces of national infrastructure that has relevance across schools, colleges, universities, employers and training providers.
Being part of conversations that bring those perspectives together, while keeping the learner at the centre, is both rewarding and important.
What do you see as the SCQF’s most important contribution to Scottish education and skills development in the past 25 years?
The Framework has helped Scotland create a more coherent and connected education and skills system.
It provides a common language that helps learners, educators and employers understand how different qualifications relate to one another and the opportunities that can follow from them.
Perhaps most importantly, it has helped to demonstrate that there are many different routes to success.
By recognising learning wherever it takes place and showing how qualifications connect, the SCQF has supported greater flexibility, mobility and opportunity for learners throughout their lives.
How do you see the SCQF evolving over the next 25 years?
The core purpose of the Framework remains as relevant as ever, but the environment around it is changing rapidly.
Learners are likely to experience more varied pathways, move between education and employment more frequently, and undertake learning throughout their careers.
The SCQF has an important role to play in helping people navigate that increasingly complex landscape.
I would like to see the Framework continue to support innovation in qualifications, strengthen understanding of different learning pathways, and become more visible to learners, employers and the public.
As Scotland’s skills needs continue to evolve, the Framework can provide the clarity and confidence people need to make informed choices.
Can you share an example of how you’ve seen the SCQF make a real difference to learners, training providers & employers?
One of the most powerful aspects of the SCQF is that it helps learners recognise that achievement is not always linear.
Many learners take non-traditional routes through education, whether that is progressing from college to university, returning to learning later in life, or combining work and study.
The Framework helps make those pathways visible. It allows learners to better understand where they are, what they have achieved, and the range of options available to them next. That transparency can make a real difference to confidence, aspiration and progression
Why should learners, training providers and employers care about the SCQF?
For learners, the SCQF helps make sense of a wide and sometimes complex qualifications landscape. It provides reassurance that different types of learning have value and that there are multiple routes towards a chosen goal.
For universities, the Framework supports fairness, transparency and progression.
It helps institutions recognise prior learning, supports articulation and access pathways, and enables clearer communication about entry routes and qualification levels.
It is an important part of ensuring that Scotland’s tertiary education system is connected and accessible.
What makes the Partnership model effective for Scotland’s qualifications landscape?
The Partnership model reflects a key strength of Scotland’s education and skills system: collaboration. No single organisation owns the learner journey. Schools, colleges, universities, employers, awarding bodies and government all have a role to play.
The SCQF Partnership provides a space where those different perspectives can come together in pursuit of a shared goal.
By working collectively, we can develop solutions that are more coherent, more practical and ultimately more beneficial for learners.
What’s one thing you would like more people to understand about the SCQF?
I would like more people to understand that the SCQF is not simply a framework for qualifications. At its heart, it is a framework for opportunity.
It helps people see how learning connects, how different pathways relate to one another, and how progress can be achieved in many ways.
In a rapidly changing world, that ability to recognise and value diverse forms of learning will only become more important.
The SCQF helps ensure that learners can navigate their own journey with confidence, whatever route they choose to take.