S1 - S3 Broad General Education
Pupils follow courses which cover the Literacy and English Experiences and Outcomes outlined by Education Scotland.
Skills in reading, writing, talking and listening are developed through links with other curricular areas and through a wide range of activities and texts.
Courses are designed to develop skills which will equip pupils to become successful learners in the senior school and which will help prepare them for the world of work.
S4
Pupils in S4 will study English at National 4 or National 5 level.
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National 4
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Analysis and Evaluation
Learners will develop the skills needed to understand, analyse and evaluate literature, language and media texts.
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Creation and Production
Learners will develop the skills needed to create and produce straightforward texts in both written and oral forms.
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Literacy
The purpose of this Unit is to develop the learners’ reading, writing, listening and talking skills in a variety of forms relevant for learning, life and work. Learners also develop the ability to communicate ideas orally and in writing with technical accuracy.
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Added Value Unit
The purpose of this Added Value Unit is to provide learners with the opportunity to apply their language skills: learners research a topic of their choice and present their findings in either a written or oral presentation.
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There is no exam at National 4. All units are internally assessed. Learners must pass all units, including the Added Value Unit, in order to achieve a pass.
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National 5
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Analysis and Evaluation
Through the study of the detailed texts in the contexts of literature, language or media, learners will use their listening and reading skills to provide evidence of understanding, analysis and evaluation.
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Creation and Production
Learners will be required to provide evidence of their talking and writing skills to create and produce detailed texts. Learners will also be required to demonstrate technical accuracy in written texts.
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Portfolio (30 marks)
- 1 broadly creative essay (15 marks)
- 1 broadly discursive essay (15 marks)
The purpose of this portfolio is to provide evidence of the learner’s writing for two different purposes ad audiences.
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National 5 Exam (70 Marks)
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1 x Close Reading (30 Marks)
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1 x Scottish text (20 Marks)
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1 x Critical Essay (20 Marks)
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The purpose of this question paper is to assess learners’ application of their reading skills in a familiar but challenging context, and to provide the challenge of questions and other tasks to be accomplished in a limited amount of time.
For more detail, visit the National Parent Forum of Scotland.
Higher
The Course is designed to enrich the experience of candidates through the study of language and literature and to develop the skills of understanding and communicating. The Higher Course articulates with and provides progression from both the Standard Grade English Course and the Intermediate 2 English Course. It also provides those who wish to proceed beyond Higher English with a suitable basis for further study. The content to be covered by the Higher English Course is specified by two component Units, one of which contains options. The component Units are as follows.
F796 12 English: Language Study (H) 1.5 Credit (60 hours)
F797 12 English: Literary Study (H) 1.5 Credit (60 hours)
Course Assessment
In order to gain an award in the Course, the candidate must pass the internal assessments associated with the component Units. In addition, the candidate must meet the standards targeted by the external assessment instrument.
The external assessment will consist of two externally set question papers and a writing folio (20% weighting). The writing folio will consist of two pieces of writing as specified in the Arrangements Documents.
- Close Reading (1 Hour 45 Minutes) – 40% weighting
In response to a series of questions, candidates will be required to demonstrate their ability to understand, analyse and evaluate two thematically linked passages of unseen prose. Questions will require either a short answer (a few words) or a restricted response (a few sentences or a paragraph).
- Critical Essay (1 Hour 30 Minutes) – 40% weighting
In response to two questions from a range of questions, candidates will be required to produce two Critical Essays demonstrating their ability to understand, analyse and evaluate previously studied texts or topics.
Advanced Higher
The Advanced Higher English Course offers progression from the Higher English Course. The Course acknowledges the increasing maturity of candidates and enables to a high degree of specialisation. The Course consists of two mandatory Units and one other Unit from a choice of four optional Units.
The Units are as follows:
Mandatory Units
D9GT 13 English: Specialist Study (AH) 1 Credit (40 hours)
D8VJ 13 English: Literary Study (AH) 1 Credit (40 hours)
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Optional Unit (one to be selected from the following list)
D8VH 13 English: Language Study (AH) 1 Credit (40 hours)
D9GV 13 English: Textual Analysis (AH) 1 Credit (40 hours)
D9GX 13 English: Reading the Media (AH) 1 Credit (40 hours)
Course Assessment
In order to gain an award in the Course, the candidate must pass the internal assessments associated with the component Units. In addition, the candidate must meet the standards targeted by the external assessment instrument.
For external assessment of the mandatory Specialist Study, each candidate will be required to submit a dissertation of 3,500 – 4,500 words.
For external assessment of the mandatory Literary Study and three of the options (Language Study, Textual Analysis and Reading the Media), a question paper will be set (1 Hour 30 Minutes for each section). Candidates will be required to answer one question in relation to each of the Units concerned. Candidates will not be allowed to bring texts or any other material into the examination.
For external assessment of the optional Creative Writing, candidates will be required to submit a folio comprising two pieces of creative writing in different genres.
Specialist Study – 40% weighting
Each of the other two components – 30% weighting
ESOL
English for Speakers of Other Languages is offered at Intermediate 2 and Higher where it is judged to be appropriate for individual learners.
The ESOL Course develops the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, in order to understand and use English for learners whose first language is not English. As learners develop their language skills, they will be able to process information more easily, apply knowledge of language in practical and relevant contexts, and gain confidence to undertake new and more challenging tasks in a variety of situations.
