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Why study English?
Language and literacy are of personal, social and economic importance. Your ability to use language lies at the centre of the development and expression of your emotions, thinking, learning and sense of personal identity.
This course gives you the opportunity to develop skills in listening, talking, reading and writing, which are essential for learning, life and work. You will develop your ability to communicate your thoughts and feelings and respond to those of other people.
The skills that you develop in English are useful in a wide range of careers; these include teaching, editorial, journalism, administration, legal work or in the arts.
What do I need to get in?
Entry is at the discretion of the school or college but you would normally have achieved:
What will I study?
This course helps you understand the complexities of language through studying a wide range of texts, including studying the use vocabulary, word patterns, text structures and style. You will develop high levels of analytical thinking and understanding of the impact of language.
The course has two compulsory units. The units are similar to those for National 4 but you will be expected to produce a higher standard of work.
English: Analysis and Evaluation (9 SCQF credit points)
In this unit you will:
- develop listening and reading skills in the contexts of literature, language and media
- develop the skills needed to understand, analyse and evaluate detailed texts, including Scottish texts.
English: Creation and Production (9 SCQF credit points)
In this unit you will:
- develop talking and writing skills in a range of contexts
- develop the skills needed to create and produce detailed texts in both written and oral forms.
How will I be assessed?
Course Assessment (6 SCQF credit points)
The course assessment for this course consists of three components totalling 100 marks:
- Component 1 - question paper: Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation (30 marks)
- Component 2 - question paper: Critical Reading (40 marks)
- Component 3 - portfolio : Writing (30 marks).
For Component 3, you will be asked to produce two pieces of writing, one creative and one discursive. This assignment component will be set and externally marked by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
Component 2 will contain at least one question on a Scottish text.
Both question papers will be set and marked externally by the SQA.
Units will be assessed internally by your teacher or lecturer as 'pass' or 'fail'. Your work will be assessed on an ongoing basis throughout the course. Items of work might include:
- practical work – reading, speaking or listening exercises
- written work – assignments or reports
- question papers/tests.
Units do not contribute to your overall grade but to achieve the course qualification, you must pass all units plus a course assessment.
The course assessment is graded A-D.
What can I go on to next?
If you complete the course successfully, it may lead to:
Further study, training or employment in:
Which jobs are related to this subject?
Where can my parents find out more?
Your school will give your parents an Options or Choices information booklet, which has detailed information on the curriculum and the individual subjects or courses you can study. It will also invite them along to a Parents’ Information Evening.
They can also read the information leaflet(s):
Nationals in a Nutshell - English (National 5)