Bishopbriggs Academy is a non-denominational six-year comprehensive school formed in 2006 following the merge between Bishopbriggs High School and Thomas Muir High School.
Pupils study a variety of subjects to discover and develop their strengths, likes and aptitudes.
From S2, pupils choose courses that will lead to national examinations and certification. Pupils also receive personal and social education that is designed to help them develop into responsible young adults with the necessary life skills to function effectively in society.
The fifth and sixth years are devoted to preparing our young people for the demands of SCQF level 6 and above, and the demands of the world of work.
We are very fortunate to have outstanding young people in our school, and staff go over and above to ensure that all learners leave with positive destinations. The school has a record of excellent SQA results.
The school has recently updated its vision, values and aims following consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders.
New school vision
Together we care. Together we learn. Together we thrive.
New school values
Respect. Effort. Resilience.
New school aims
Successful learners. Confident individuals. Responsible citizens. Effective contributors.
We believe that this will support the school on its journey to excellence by being the driving force behind school improvement.
As part of our School Improvement Plan, we are aiming to increase the variety of qualifications on offer to our pupils. We have already built more forms of accreditation into the curriculum this session and would like to continue this next session.
Raising awareness of the SCQF
This session, we have implemented several initiatives to raise awareness of the SCQF. Some of these were targeted to all three groups – staff, pupils and parents.
Staff
At the beginning of the year, we conducted a curriculum audit to find out all forms of accreditation on offer in the school and encouraged staff to input SCQF levels into the spreadsheet. This has provided a new resource in which staff can filter for departments, qualifications, SCQF levels and which year groups qualifications are offered to. This resource will be updated on a yearly basis and it is hoped that it will grow as time progresses.
Donnie and Kamila from the SCQF Partnership visited the school in May 2025 to train nine members of staff on the SCQF. We had staff from a variety of departments at the session. This session will have encouraged staff to consider additions to the curriculum for session 2026-27.
Monthly pathways update emails have also been sent out to staff. These have included pathways interviews and links to newsletters created by the SCQF pupil ambassadors.
Pupils
We formed our SCQF pupil ambassador group earlier this year which consists of a mix of S4 and S5 pupils. The ambassador group was trained on the SCQF and has undertaken numerous activities to raise awareness of the SCQF.
Pupils have helped to produce pathways posters that show progression routes from S1 all the way through to potential careers in each of our subject areas. These posters are on display in every classroom in the school and include all types of qualifications on the SCQF, including NPAs and Skills for Work courses, and the SCQF level they are offered at. These allow pupils to see progression routes in a user-friendly way and help them understand that there are different routes to their future career.
SCQF Ambassadors have also helped to create pathways newsletters which have been produced on a bi-monthly basis since February. These announce new additions to the curriculum, give information on the SCQF and showcase pathways interviews with current and former pupils.
Our options forms now display subjects by SCQF level, rather than by type – National 5/Higher/Advanced Higher. This reflects our focus on encouraging a variety of qualifications on the SCQF.
We now have a dedicated SCQF section on our website. This explains what the SCQF is, how it can be used to map progression pathways, and we have included a graphic of the SCQF diagram. This features on our Subject Options page, along with the resources our pupil ambassadors have helped to develop.
SCQF Ambassadors have manned parents’ evening stalls to raise awareness of the SCQF and showcase their pathways posters to pupils and parents.
Ambassadors have also attended year group assemblies to showcase their work and encourage school pupils to consider their pathway options.
Finally, our options booklets have been updated to contain more information about the SCQF.
Parents
Almost all of the above initiatives have been communicated to parents, including newsletters, pathways interviews, options forms and more. The stalls set up by pupils at parents’ evenings also raised awareness of the SCQF.
Feedback from parents has been very positive regarding the new pathways posters.
Our SCQF promotion toolkit
We have a range of ways to spread the SCQF message:
- Staff emails – keeping everyone in the know
- Pathways newsletters – regular updates with a personal touch
- Pathways interviews – real stories from real people
- Assembly visits – taking the message directly to pupils
- Parent emails – keeping families informed
- Pathways posters – visual guides that actually make sense
- Enhanced options booklets – all the info you need in one place
The feedback been brilliant, and we’re only just getting started!
Curriculum updates
We are introducing several new subjects this coming year, including:
- Music Technology at Level 5
- NPA Musical Theatre at Level 6
- NPA Acting and Performance at Level 6
- National 5 Gaelic (Learners)
- NPA Social Services (children and young people) at Level 6
- Barista Skills at Level 5
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Award at Level 6
- NPA Business and IT at Level 6
Next year, we will continue to try and increase this further, and we are also hoping to reach Gold SCQF Ambassador status.
Pupil quotes
I would really encourage considering a college course, especially if you’re not sure what you want to do or don’t want to take another subject you aren’t too keen on. I’m currently trying to get my brother to think about college because he doesn’t know what he wants to do. It will be great for him if he can get that different experience without being pressured to stay in at school. It’s just a great experience if you don’t know what to do, or you maybe think that uni isn’t for you. Especially the Foundation Apprenticeship side, because you get that job experience as well. I don’t really want to sit in uni for four years, so doing the Foundation Apprenticeship for me, just now, is really helping because it’s given me that insight into what an apprenticeship is so it can really make my decision a lot clearer for me. – Leona (S6)
I definitely think that my Foundation Apprenticeship placement has helped me learn about the industry in terms of me just being here and seeing every day on site, meeting hundreds of people from different parts of the industry. I think it’s really valuable for me to have this experience before I leave school. – Corie (former S6)
I used the SCQF in school to map out my pathway into teaching. I always knew teaching was my passion and I spent a lot of time helping out with junior classes to get experience. I knew that I needed qualifications at SCQF level 6 and wanted to do some level 7 qualifications in S6 to prepare myself for university. These helped me develop a strong foundation in my degree subject (Computing Science). Having knowledge of the SCQF levels allowed me to make informed decisions about courses that interested and challenged me, leading to me taking some Level 11 modules in my last year of university. I would encourage pupils to use the SCQF to help them plan out their path through education and work to take advantage of the variety of qualifications that are now on offer, such as NPAs – Former pupil
Useful links
For more information on Bishopbriggs Academy, visit their website.