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Why study Administration and IT?
Administration is a growing sector which cuts across the entire economy and offers wide-ranging employment opportunities. Moreover, administrative and IT skills have extensive application not only in employment but also in other walks of life.
This course is designed to help you to understand and take part in the business and information environment. You will gain skills in managing information, organising, planning, problem solving and decision making.
The skills that you develop in Administration and IT are useful in many career areas such as office work, economics, human resource management, management services and public services administration.
What do I need to get in?
Entry is at the discretion of the school or college but you would normally be expected to have:
What will I study?
This course aims to develop your advanced administrative and IT skills and, ultimately, to enable them to contribute to the effective functioning of organisations in supervisory administrative positions.
The course consists of three compulsory units and the course assessment unit.
Administrative Theory and Practice (6 SCQF credit points)
In this unit you will:
- develop an indepth knowledge and understanding of administration in, and the impact of IT on, the workplace
- acquire an indepth knowledge and understanding of the factors contributing to the effectiveness of the administrative function, such as the strategies for effective time and task management, and for complying with workplace legislation, and of what makes effective teams
- learn about customer care.
IT Solutions for Administrators (6 SCQF credit points)
In this unit you will:
- develop your IT skills, some of them advanced, and in organisation and managing information in administration-related contexts
- develop the ability to utilise a range of functions, some of them advanced, of IT applications covering word processing, spreadsheets, databases, or emerging equivalent technologies
- use above applications to analyse, process and manage information in order to create and edit relatively complex business documents.
Communication in Administration (6 SCQF credit points)
In this unit you will:
- develop a range of IT skills, some of them advanced, for research and communicating complex information to others
- develop an understanding of barriers to communication and ways of overcoming them to ensure communication is understood
- develop your knowledge and understanding of how to maintain the security and confidentiality of information
- communicate information in ways taking account of the needs of the audience.
How will I be assessed?
Course Assessment (6 SCQF credit points)
The course assessment has two components:
- an administration and IT-based assignment (70 marks)
- a question paper (30 marks).
The assignment will require you to demonstrate your skills in using complex IT functions, such as word processing, producing spreadsheets and desktop publishing, and apply them in the context of managing the organisation of an event.
The question paper will require the retention and/or integration of learning from across the units as well as a demonstration of a depth of knowledge and understanding developed across the course.
The assignment and question paper will be both set and externally assessed by SQA.
Your work will be assessed by your teacher on an ongoing basis throughout the course. You must pass all three units and the course assessment to gain the course qualification.
The course assessment is graded A-D. Your grade will depend on the total mark for all the units in your course
What can I go on to next?
If you complete this course successfully, it may lead to:
- other qualifications in Administration and IT or related areas.
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):
Highers in a Nutshell - Administration and IT (CfE Higher)