To aid in understanding the responses received from SQA.net when a claim is sent for payment and is then returned by SQA.net with an error message, below is a list of scenarios when this occurs.

SQA Responses

When a claim is ‘sent to data centre’, and a trainee on that claim is registered with SQA, the claim first has to pass validation by SQA, before being received by the Data Centre. Claim status during this time will be ‘Awaiting SQA Validation’. Below are details of the responses to be expected from SQA and the impact these will have on the claim.

 

1. Trainee(s) validated successfully – claim status becomes ‘Sent to Data Centre’ and TMU staff process claim as normal

 

2. Trainee(s) validation not successful – 1 or more trainee’s on the claim cannot be validated by SQA. – In this eventuality, the claim will be returned to the originator, generating a CID_admin@hient.co.uk email advising that the claim has been returned. 
    
   1. Please check either the training system, or your emails regularly to ensure returned claims are identified & dealt with.
   2. Where a claim has been returned, please read the Claim notes – these will detail which trainee(s) did not validate. Any trainee not mentioned was either not subject to validation (i.e. not yet claiming 3^rd payment), or validated successfully.

 

3. Where a trainee record has not been validated, there are several messages which may appear in the assignment notes. First, please check that your trainee has their Scottish Candidate Number (SCN) on the assignment, and that the Training Centre field has an entry also. Messages in the notes may read:
   
   
   1. Action: SQA Validation failed, probably because the scottish candidate number, vocational qualification reference or training centre number is missing or invalid. – In this instance, please double check that the correct SCN and Training Centre are entered correctly. Please then check that the trainee has been registered on the training system with the same VQ reference as that held by the SQA.
   2. Action: SQA Validation failed because the vocational qualification reference and training centre number were not found. – For this variation, the SCN is obviously recognised by SQA which suggests that there is something incorrect in the VQ details/Training Centre – please check the registration with SQA to ensure the correct details are entered, and also to ensure that the trainee is still active on the VQ – Please note that VQs expire and in the event of no extension request/transfer to replacement VQ, the SQA will withdraw the trainee & validation will fail. In this instance, please remove the trainee from the claim and re-claim when the issue is resolved with SQA.
   3. Action: SQA Validation failed because the vocational qualification reference was not found. – In this instance, both the Training Centre and the SCN have been recognised by the validation. This suggests that the VQ reference entered on the training system does not correspond to that held by SQA. Please check the trainee’s registration confirmation from SQA (held by the training centre which registered the trainee), to verify. Please either amend the training system if this is incorrect, or remove the trainee from the claim and re-claim when the issue is resolved with SQA.
   4. Action: Date of birth from the SQA, 1988-09-17, does not match the trainee's, 17/08/88 – Where validation on the SCN/Training Centre/ VQ Reference is successful, Validation will then take place on the trainee name & date of birth. Where these do not correspond to those held by SQA, Validation will again fail.
   5. Action: SQA does not confirm Award Gained – This error message is simply a statement that SQA has not yet certificated that trainee and is therefore treating them as though they have not yet gained the award. Once certification takes place, this record/claim will validate successfully. If you are concerned regarding the certification, please contact either the SQA or the training centre to verify that certification is under way.

The above list is not exhaustive, but demonstrates the type of messages you will receive and how to interpret them. Other examples would include 'Training Centre not found' - most likely arising where providers use multiple centres and have inadvertently entered the wrong one on the trainee assignment. Should you receive a message and require assistance in interpreting it, please contact the TMU Helpdesk.