Scotland will switch on its new qualifications regime on 1 December 2025. For employers and colleges across Carlisle, Berwick and the wider North, the headline is continuity: SQA awards still count while the new body, Qualifications Scotland, gets up and running.

Ministers have signed the first Commencement and Transitory Regulations to activate parts of the Education (Scotland) Act 2025. For a defined handover period, the Act’s definition of “relevant qualification” is widened so that SQA‑devised or SQA‑accredited awards sit alongside the new Qualifications Scotland awards for the purposes of board membership and “relevant teaching or training” until 30 November 2029. That’s a practical fix to keep the system steady during transition.

The legal footing is clear. The Act creates Qualifications Scotland and sets out its governance. Royal Assent was on 6 August 2025 and the Act’s procedural sections (63 to 67) took effect the following day, allowing ministers to bring the rest in by regulation.

Qualifications Scotland becomes a legal entity on 1 December, with award and accreditation functions expected to move across in early 2026 through a phased transition. In practice, that means certificates and data feeds may still reference SQA into the new year before the new branding fully appears.

For the North East, Cumbria and the Borders, this is about day‑to‑day hiring and admissions. Engineering firms around Sunderland and Middlesbrough, care providers in Carlisle, and universities in Newcastle and Lancaster regularly handle Scottish Highers and vocational awards. The currency of those results is unchanged; the name on the certificate will change before the content does.

If you run recruitment or admissions, keep your equivalency tables as they are for now and brief teams that “SQA” and “Qualifications Scotland” may appear side by side for a period. Expect updated branding, statements of comparability and data updates once the new board is in place and the organisation is fully operational.

The membership rules inside Schedule 1 matter for how the new body will work. Qualifications Scotland’s board must include practising school teachers and college lecturers delivering “relevant teaching or training”, plus voices for learners and business. The temporary reading of “relevant qualification” to include SQA awards ensures those seats can be filled fairly during the handover.

Today’s statutory instrument was signed on 13 November and published on 17 November ahead of the 1 December start date, with Natalie Don‑Innes authorised to sign for the Scottish Ministers. It’s the first formal step in switching on the new system, and more commencement orders are expected as functions transfer.

This sits alongside a broader reshuffle of Scotland’s skills system. Responsibility for national training programmes, including apprenticeships, is due to move from Skills Development Scotland to the Scottish Funding Council in 2026, so employers operating across the border should watch how these timetables align.

Bottom line for Northern readers: plan for a tidy rebrand, not a shock to standards. Highers, Advanced Highers and SQA‑accredited technical awards on CVs remain sound evidence while Qualifications Scotland takes shape. We’ll track any cross‑border wrinkles as further regulations and guidance land.