sqa your coursework booklet

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Information to help you prepare for your upcoming exams

This blog outlines the exam services that will be available for learners and the approach to grading in 2023-24.

8 March 2024 - jenniferfairlie - Categories: Awarding 2024 Programme

National Qualifications exams start on Monday 22 April and we know that you will be busy preparing and studying. To help support you with your studies, we will be sending copies of ‘Your Exams’ to schools, colleges and training providers to hand out. We can also confirm the exam services that will be available for learners and the approach to grading.

Your Exams will be sent to schools, colleges and training providers later this month and your teacher or lecturer will give you a copy. The booklet tells you what you need to know about exams and gives helpful information and advice so that you can do your very best on the day.

It also contains rules, which are there to make sure that exams are fair for everyone. It is important that you read and understand these before your exams start. If you are not sure about the rules, speak to your teacher or lecturer. They will be able to help you and tell you what could happen if you break the rules. You might want to share and discuss this information with your parent or carer.

A digital version of the booklet will be available next week at www.sqa.org.uk/yourexams

Exceptional Circumstances

The Examination Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service (EECCS) is available if:

• you have been unable to attend the exam, or were prevented from completing the exam, due to a personal circumstance beyond your control (such as a medical issue);
• you have been affected during the exam by a disruption, or other exam circumstance, reported by the chief invigilator; or
• your performance in the exam was affected by a personal circumstance, or an unplanned incident on the day, which was beyond your control.

Exam nerves, distraction or loss of concentration during an exam are not valid reasons to use this service. If you want to use this service, you must speak to your school as soon as possible after the exam, giving them all the information about what happened to you.

To use the service, you must have completed all the compulsory parts of the course that are in addition to the exam, such as coursework, performances and portfolios. You must also have an estimated grade provided by your school.

If you are eligible for the EECCS, SQA examiners will review evidence submitted by your school, college or training provider along with any exam or coursework that you completed to determine your grade.

If you use the EECCS, the grade you are awarded may be different from the estimated grade provided by your school, college or training provider and you will not be able to appeal against your grade through the appeals service.

We appreciate that you might be completing coursework for the first time in 2024. To ensure fairness for all learners, we will look at coursework marks from across Scotland, as well as exam papers, when determining the grade boundaries this year.

More information on grading will be shared on Results Day.

Once you receive your certificate on Results Day, if any of the grades don’t look right, you might consider using the Appeals Service.

You will be able to appeal any of your final grades by requesting a marking review of your SQA-marked assessment components (such as exams or coursework). Alternative assessment evidence will not be required.

In keeping with last year, the service continues to be free and you will be able to access this directly via the SQA website or through your school, college or training provider when it opens. There will also be a priority service if you have a conditional offer for further education, training or employment.

We are working with UCAS to ensure the outcome of priority appeals will be released ahead of their deadline.

More information on appeals, including roles and responsibilities for you, your school/college/training provider will be published soon.

If you have questions about any of this guidance, please speak to your teacher or lecturer. You can also contact us be completing the Candidate Enquiry Form .

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Get your coursework back from SQA

Some SQA qualifications need you to send coursework for examination.

For example, if you're taking Art and Design at school, you need to send a folio of your art to be assessed.

Sometimes the work you send – like recordings, artwork and written pieces – can be of special value to you. So you can ask the SQA to send it back once it's been assessed.

Only coursework you sent for assessment can be returned to you. If you worked on anything as part of an exam, you cannot get that back.

Visit the SQA website for information on how to have coursework sent back to you, including how much it costs.

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Grantown Grammar School

SQA – Your Coursework

All Senior Pupils will be issued with a copy of SQA’s Your Coursework booklet during Tutor Time today.  It is very important that they read this.

This is a guide to the rules for producing coursework for SQA awards and it is the responsibility of pupils to know these rules and to make sure you do not break them.  Breaking them could lead to failing a course!

This guide has also been placed in the “Information” – “Exam/Revision/SQA Information” section of our website.  Gaelic, Polish, Punjabi and Chinese translations can be found here

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MySQA is your direct link with SQA. It lets you view your qualification information, check the personal details we hold for you and if you're sitting exams you can get your results sent by email and text message.

Step 1 - Sign Up

You will need your SCN (Scottish Candidate Number) to do this.

It's available from your centre if you don't already know it.

Step 2 - Activate

You will need: - The activation code we sent you - Your SCN

Step 3 - Login

Mycertificate.

We will send your certificate by post. Please check that we hold the correct details for you.

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• National Qualifications  >  Subjects  >  English  >  National 5  > National 5 English

National 5 English

Updates and announcements, change to conditions of assessment in english portfolios from session 2024-25 (01/05/24).

We’re tightening the conditions of assessment in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher English writing portfolios from session 2024-25.

What’s changing:

There will be a new mandatory requirement for learners to complete their first draft during class time, under the supervision of the teacher or lecturer.

This will enable teachers and lecturers to review learners’ first drafts before learners continue to work on them independently. Learners will then complete their final piece under some supervision and control, as is currently the case.

We aren’t making any other changes to the writing portfolios. The assessment standards remain the same.

Why we’re making this change:

We’ve been receiving ongoing feedback from the English teaching profession that, under the current assessment conditions, it can be difficult to verify that learners’ work is their own, as it’s possible they may have had input from others when working on their draft outside of school or college hours.

This change will further support teachers and lecturers with authenticating learners’ work in the writing portfolio. It will allow them to observe how learners’ work is developing without any outside influences. This will help them to identify if there are any unusual changes in the quality and content of a learner’s writing portfolio at the final submission stage, or if the final piece is unrecognisable from the first draft, which may indicate that it’s not the learner’s own work.

Updated documents

We’re updating the course specifications and the portfolio-writing coursework assessment tasks at each level. These will provide a clear process that learners need to follow when producing their portfolios. The updated documents will be available in early June.

Alternative certification model

Essential information, course specification ( 13/09/2023 ).

Explains the structure of the course, including its purpose and aims and information on the skills, knowledge and understanding that will be developed.

• N5 English Course Specification September 2023

Past Papers and Marking Instructions

Access all past papers by subject/level

Additional question papers resources

Illustrates the standard, structure and requirements of the question papers candidates will sit (includes marking instructions).

• English: Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation Specimen Question Paper National 5 June 2018
• English: Critical Reading Specimen Question Paper National 5 October 2018

There were no exams in 2021. The 2020-21 question paper resources are, for most subjects, modified papers which reflect the modifications put in place for session 2020-21

• National 5 English Critical Reading question paper
• National 5 English Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation question paper
• National 5 English Critical Reading marking instructions
• National 5 English Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation marking instructions

Coursework ( 18/1/24 )

This section provides information on marking instructions and/or the coursework assessment task(s). It includes information that centres need to administer coursework and must be read in conjunction with the course specification.

Instructions

• Instructions for the submission of National 5 and Higher English coursework   January 2024
• English Coursework Template - Microsoft Word
• English Coursework Template - Google Docs
• Coursework assessment task for National 5 English
• Guidance on conditions of assessment

Information on the production and submission of SQA-assessed coursework for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.

• Coursework for External Assessment (261 KB)

Understanding Standards ( 27/11/2023 )

• Examples of candidate evidence with commentaries

Webinar (recording)

Changes to course assessment from academic session 2017-18 onwards

• Download webinar

Audio Presentation

• Overview of Course Assessment (2 minutes)
• Overview of Question Paper (4 minutes)

Changes to Understanding Standards materials

• Changes to published Understanding Standards materials for all subjects

Please note: Understanding Standards materials are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain up to date.

Additional Resources session 2020-22

Further information can be found on the Understanding Standards Website.

Course reports ( 14/09/2023 )

Provides information on the performance of candidates - which is useful to teachers, lecturers and assessors in their preparation of candidates for future assessment.

Course Reports

• 2023 National 5 English Course Report September 2023
• 2022 National 5 English Course Report September 2022
• 2019 National 5 English Course Report September 2019
• 2018 National 5 English Course Report August 2018
• 2017 National 5 English Course report October 2017

Verification Reports

• English Verification Key Messages Round 1 March 2017
• English and Communication Qualification Verification Summary Report June 2019 June 2019

Scottish Texts in English Courses

Scottish text list for National 5 and Higher English courses (valid from session 2018-19):

• Scottish set text list 2018-19

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