National Qualifications

National Qualifications (NQs) are qualifications studied in secondary schools and colleges of further education in Scotland. There are three types of National Qualification - Standard Grades, National Courses and National Units.

Standard Grades

Standard Grades are mainly studied over two years during the third and fourth years of secondary schooling. There are three level in Standard Grade - Credit, General and Foundation - with Credit passes normally being required before pupils can expect to have a reasonable prospect at success if they decide to study at Higher level in that subject the following year.

National Courses and Units

National Courses were originally introduced as the step following on from Standard Grade and were offered at Higher level, but also at lower levels than Higher to allow further opportunities for pupils to progress. Immediately below Higher level is Intermediate 2 which is broadly the level of Credit at Standard Grade; below that Intermediate 1 which is broadly the level of General at Standard Grade; below that Access 3 which is broadly the level of Foundation at Standard Grade, and below that Access 2 and Access 1 for those pupils who found Foundation level too much of a challenge.

NQS

NQS - Non-Quasi Static model - is a transistor model used in analogue/mixed signal IC design. It becomes necessary to use an NQS model when the operational frequency of the device is in the range of its transit time. Normally, in a quasi-static (QS) model, voltage changes in the MOS transistor channel are assumed to be instantaneous. However, in an NQS model voltage changes relating to charge carriers are delayed.

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