Transcript National Qualifications in English for Third Year pupils

National Qualifications
in English for Third Year
pupils
What to expect over the next two years
in Montrose Academy English
Department
What are NQs ?
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NQs (National Qualifications ) are part of a
range of qualifications offered by the SQA ( The
Scottish Qualifications Authority)
Access 1 /2 /3
Intermediate 1
Intermediate 2
Higher
Advanced Higher
What do they mean to me?
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They are the most common qualifications used
by employers and centres of further education
to judge whether or not you are suitable for the
job or the course you are applying for.
How do they compare with Standard
Grade?
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The courses are slightly different with more
emphasis on the end of year exam.
An intermediate 2 pass would be the equivalent
of a credit pass at Standard Grade.
An Intermediate 1 pass would be the equivalent
of a general pass at Standard Grade.
A pass at Access level would be the equivalent
of a Foundation pass at Standard Grade.
Which level will I be studying?
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All classes in S3 will follow a common course which is
levelled at Intermediate 1.
When you move into S4 you will be allocated a
presentation level depending on your class work and
writing folio and your performance in the exam in April
2011.
At the end of S4 you will sit formal SQA exams at
Intermediate 1 or 2
Some pupils will be presented for Access 3 which has
no exam but is assessed through course work instead.
Does the class I am in now effect the
level I will be presented at in S4?
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You are studying a common course at the
moment.
The level you will be presented at will all depend
on your hard work this year.
Each of these levels of course
consists of three elements
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internal units
external exam, taken in May of S4
External writing folio submitted in March of
S4
Internal Units
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Unit 1: Language
To achieve a unit pass you must complete
satisfactorily 2 Learning Outcomes (LO’s).
Writing: one piece at pass level from
personal, creative, argumentative or report
writing.
Close Reading
Unit 2: Literature
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You must complete satisfactorily a textual
analysis exercise.
This is new but builds on the close reading and literature
study you have done in S1-2.
Unit Assessment
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Units are assessed throughout the two years by the English department. They
are assessed on a pass or fail basis. The Learning Outcomes for each unit are
assessed in class under examination conditions at intervals throughout S3-4.
To achieve a course award you must achieve a pass in both units.
To achieve a pass in a unit, you must satisfy the Performance Criteria for each
Learning Outcome in the unit.
If you fail the Learning Outcome in any Unit, there will be an opportunity for
reassessment, i.e. to sit it again. Normally you will be given one reassessment
in any Learning Outcome.
Each unit that you successfully pass will appear on your certificate and you
need never pass that unit again at that level. Even if you fail the final exam,
you will still carry forward each unit you have passed.
You must pass both units and the external exam to gain a course award.
There is no external exam for Access 3.
External Exam
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All classes will sit an internally assessed formal
Intermediate 1 exam at the end of S3.
If taking Intermediate 1 or 2, you will sit this
formal SQA examination at the end of S4. The
exam consists of two papers:
Close Reading
Critical Essay (one question to be chosen for
Intermediate 1, two for Intermediate 2)
Writing Folio
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The writing folio accounts for 20% of your
overall mark for the course.
It must be all your own work
It must contain two different kinds of writing.
You will be required to produce a folio in S3 and
S4.
What you will study
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Much of what you will do builds on the skills of
reading, writing, talking and listening from S1-2.
You will read and analyse literature texts,
improve your close reading and writing skills and
discuss your ideas.
You will be asked to do some research, read at
home and do practice as part of homework. You
will also have to learn and remember your
literature notes and quotations.
Independent Study
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National Courses demand a great measure of
independent study on your part
you will be asked to take greater responsibility
for your own learning. It is up to you to organise
yourself, to make decisions and to learn .
Deadlines
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Because of the concentrated nature of the
course at all levels, with the pressure of end of
Unit assessment and reassessments as well as
day-to-day teaching and learning of courses, it is
important that deadlines, once decided, are
strictly adhered to.
Unit Assessment dates are non-negotiable.
Homework
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Homework is not an optional extra but an
integral part of the course, whether it be
preparation for class work or writing or
redrafting for the Writing Folio.
Assistance and Guidance
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It is important to be clear about the difference between
these two words. Your teacher will be there to teach the
course and mark and comment on your work and ideas.
In this way, he/she will guide your learning to help you
improve.
However, the performance criteria by which your work
is judged contain the word ‘unassisted’. In the end of
unit assessments and in the preparation of your Writing
Folio, you and no one else have the responsibility for
knowing what you want to write and how you want to
write it.
It is all up to you now