Curriculum for Excellence Implementation
Questions and Answers
October 2011
Introduction
This Q and A document is an outcome of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE)
Practitioner Group, a group of head teachers and college principals established as
by the Cabinet Secretary to offer him advice and provide direct feedback on
implementation of the curriculum. The Q&A offers responses to some key issues
around the implementation of CfE, focusing predominantly on the secondary sector
but also includes issues of relevance to the primary sector and colleges. The
information is intended to support leaders, managers, practitioners and others within
the system in their own understanding of many of the key issues surrounding
successful implementation of the wider CfE programme, and also to assist them in
their ongoing communications on CfE with parents/carers and other key members of
their education communities.
The Q&A meets the commitment contained in the CfE Action Plan (September 2011)
to develop new materials for staff to help them understand better, and explain to
others with more confidence, the benefits of Curriculum for Excellence and key areas
that are different or changing as a result of the new curriculum such as assessment
and qualifications. The action plan provides further details of the support from
national bodies that schools etc will receive to support continuing implementation in
2011/12, building on the June 2011 letter and annex from the chair of the CfE
Management Board on implementation milestones for 2011/12 and actions required
at all levels to develop the CfE programme.
The document is set out under the following sections:
•
•
•
•
•
Engagement with stakeholders, including parents and employers
Support for implementation of Curriculum for Excellence
Certification
Making subject choices
Assessment.
The Q and A builds on an earlier Q and A document that was published by the
Scottish Government (SG) in November 2010 with input from the CfE Practitioner
Group, available at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/curriculum/ACE/cfeinaction/im
plementationQ and A .
ENGAGEMENT WITH STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING PARENTS AND
EMPLOYERS
Q.1. Stakeholders have had to digest a lot of information about changes to the
curriculum. How can the bodies responsible for relaying such information
communicate more clearly with all stakeholders?
It is important to stress that all leaders of educational establishments have a
responsibility to communicate with all stakeholders about Curriculum for Excellence.
The online CfE Communications Toolkit (www.LTScotland.org.uk/commstoolkit) is
specifically designed for this purpose. The Toolkit builds on the earlier Parental
Toolkit and was launched at the Scottish Learning Festival in September 2010. It
contains a number of ready-made and design your own template style materials and
resources e.g. factfiles, films of CfE in action, Q and A material, illustrated senior
phase models and learner journeys etc to help local authorities, schools,
teachers/practitioners and others explain the changes taking place under the new
curriculum to key stakeholders such as parents/carers, learners, employers, local
community partners etc.
The various materials have been developed following insight research and ongoing
intelligence gathering with key stakeholders such as parents, employers and
learners themselves and this work will continue. The toolkit is regularly updated with
new materials, such as four new factfiles in May covering literacy across learning,
numeracy across learning, 3-18 transitions and outdoor learning, plus an overview of
key terms and features publication added in June.
The Scottish Government has also funded the Scottish Youth Parliament and
Children in Scotland to work with young people and pupil councils to create new
tailored resources for primary and secondary learners to increase their awareness of
and participation in implementation of CfE. These will be available by early 2012.
Information about Scotland’s new national qualifications is available on the SQA
website at www.sqa.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence.
Q.2. How can we ensure parents and other stakeholders really understand the
educational culture shift represented by Curriculum for Excellence, in terms of
developing young people, not just passing examinations?
Parents are a crucial link to the success of Curriculum for Excellence. We will
continue to promote and share information with parents on the wider aims and
benefits of Curriculum for Excellence, including examples of where it is making a
difference to the lives and outcomes for young people. We will also continue to
encourage local authorities, schools and other partners to involve parents more
meaningfully in the changes and decisions that are taking place so that they can fully
understand the reasons and implications for their children, and other young people in
their school community.
Ongoing, strong parental involvement is most likely to encourage greater
understanding of the educational cultural shift represented by CfE, but also will help
ensure that parents work in partnership with us in achieving better outcomes for all
children. Parent Councils, the representative body for parents in schools, has a key
role to play and through the National Parent Forum of Scotland, we will continue to
ensure that they have access to the information they need to support their schools
and represent the views of parents. The June 2011 letter and annex from
Management
Board
is
a
useful
point
of
reference
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/publications/c/publication_tcm4664895.asp?strReferring
Channel=resources&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-674059-64 .
SQA has a parents section on its website - http://www.sqa.org.uk/cfeforparents which has all of the information parents need about the new qualifications.
Q.3. How can we ensure that parents and employers understand the new
qualifications?
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and national partners are working with all
audience groups to ensure they have all the information they need about the new
qualifications.
SQA has a responsibility to maintain standard across qualifications. Access, Higher
and Advanced Higher will be points of reference and continuity as will the Scottish
Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) which provides a framework for
comparison of qualifications within Scotland and beyond. All new qualifications will
be at the same SCQF level as the qualifications they replace.
SQA have published a leaflet for parents on the new qualifications – 'Qualifications
are changing – A guide for parent and carers' which has been distributed via schools
and can be downloaded at www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/46161.html . An updated version is
already being prepared.
The Employers and Young People website (www.employersandyoungpeople.org)
was created in September 2010 as a one stop shop for employers and the business
community to engage with young people's learning and keep up to date with the
latest on CfE and related policy areas such as More Choices, More Chances and
16+ Learning Choices. There is tailored information for employers on the website
about the new qualifications and educational leaders are encouraged to be proactive
in bringing this to the attention of employers with whom they engage.
SUPPORT FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE
Q.4. Can national bodies improve the practical issues related to accessing
relevant assessment information via Glow and the National Assessment
Resource (NAR)?
There is ongoing work with local authorities to address technical problems in
accessing Glow and the National Assessment Resource. The Scottish Government
Technologies for Learning Strategy Group is currently looking at this issue. The
national Glow team is working in partnership with local authorities to resolve any
particular technical difficulties they may have in accessing Glow. As all 32 local
authorities have signed up to use Glow, there are no known issues of access. The
national team are committed to providing support to local authorities in addressing
any issues they may face. Where issues have arisen, the national team have
responded with offers of technical support and assistance. In each instance, this has
resolved in a swift resolution of the issue.
Generation of accounts and passwords is the responsibility of the local authority. The
Glow team has recently completed technical development of a new login screen to
provide better advice to users on setting a memorable password, and in setting up a
challenge question should they not remember their password. This login screen is
used to access not just Glow, but any linked resource such as the National
Assessment Resource. The new login screen went live in July.
Q.5. Will there be more examples of other subject areas besides literacy,
numeracy and health and wellbeing, in the National Assessment Resource
(NAR)?
There are already exemplars from all curriculum areas across most levels on NAR.
While the first stage of NAR aimed to exemplify those areas which are the
responsibility of all teachers, the second stage concentrated on uploading exemplars
from each curriculum area, mainly benchmarked at the second and third level.
There are some further exemplars which schools are currently working on to be
uploaded shortly and exemplars for specific priority areas have been commissioned.
NAR will continue to develop and be populated with examples from staff across
Scotland as they become more confident in sharing their understanding of
standards. Education Scotland will continue to work with partners to support local
development and, in particular, expanding the provision of quality resources for NAR
through development of local moderation practice and local quality assurance.
Q.6. Currently, NABS are available to all schools. Schools that wish to prepare
their own NABs can do so and request moderation of this work. This saves
teachers time and unnecessary workload, while still allowing for flexibility.
Why does the SQA not intend to provide unit tests for download by teachers in
the same way?
See response to question 26.
Q.7. Will teachers be provided with comprehensive teaching, learning and
assessment materials for all levels, across all of the Experiences and
Outcomes, as opposed to exemplars covering some of the Experiences and
Outcomes at some of the levels?
In the context of Curriculum for Excellence, staff are being given much more
flexibility in how they plan programmes of learning to meet the specific needs of their
own learners. There will be entirely legitimate differences in programmes across
schools. Teachers are being encouraged to plan learning relevant to their learners’
needs and to consider a wide range of approaches to assessing young people’s
progress and achievement. The expectation is that young people will have greater
personalisation and choice in their learning and consequently in assessment.
Teachers therefore will be planning programmes based on the Experiences and
Outcomes, including interdisciplinary learning, in a way that is relevant to the needs
of their learners. It would be inappropriate to provide comprehensive teaching,
learning and assessment materials for all levels which seem to prescribe approaches
to planning learning.
However within NAR and on the Curriculum for Excellence website, staff will have
access to an increasing number of quality assured examples of good practice. These
materials are being developed by teachers with support from Education Scotland.
Q.8. Will schools be awarded additional funding to cover resources such as
science equipment for new courses?
It is for local authorities and their schools to decide how they allocate resources at
the local level.
Through ‘Science and Engineering 21 – An Action Plan’ for education we are
committed to providing support to teachers and learners to improve the provision of
science and engineering education within CfE. This includes encouraging schools to
work in partnership with Further and Higher Education establishments, industry, and
bodies who offer science education programmes, such as the Science Centres.
These partnerships can enable young people to gain more experience of practical
and real-life science.
We also support the Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC), who
offer CPD for teachers on practical-based learning and teaching methods.
Q.9. Why is ICT support being reduced in many areas at a time when the
government has a technology for learning strategy?
An essential characteristic of current and future learning is a systematic and
innovative application of technologies. As digital becomes increasing embedded into
our society the challenge ahead of all of us is to listen to learners’ needs, gain a
greater understanding of the problems and work together to find common solutions.
We need to think smarter about ICT in schools, consolidating our investment, our
good practice and our thinking in order to really maximise learner outcomes and
experiences. Our technologies for learning strategy will seek to do just that.
At national level, the Scottish Government has already renewed its commitment to
Glow and technologies for learning. Now we need strong leadership at all levels to
ensure the cultural change needed to get the most from our national investment.
Q.10. How can schools make greater use of external partners to deliver the
curriculum? To what extent will schools be allowed flexibility in what they
deliver, as well as how they deliver it?
The development of innovative and creative ways to deliver the curriculum is a
fundamental aim of Curriculum for Excellence. Many schools are already working
with a wide range of external partners, including colleges, local businesses,
Community Learning and Development (CLD) services and voluntary organisations
to enhance curriculum opportunities for learners. Curriculum for Excellence
encourages schools to work collaboratively with their partners to plan and deliver a
diverse curriculum that will meet the needs of their learners and local circumstances.
Whilst schools are not solely responsible for delivering all of the provision offered,
they retain overall responsibility for the range and quality of provision, and for the
welfare of their learners.
Different approaches to partnership working are illustrated in the senior phase
curriculum models published on the Education Scotland. These models demonstrate
how schools are working with partners to deliver a wide range of opportunities for
learners in the senior phase appropriate to their local contexts. The models are
supported by learner journeys which provide examples of possible pathways for
young people and show how they can follow a planned curriculum in a number of
other learning settings, as well as schools.
Q.11. How will HM Inspectors evaluate provision in the Broad General
Education (BGE)? Will they provide exemplars of high quality provision?
HM Inspectors, as part of Education Scotland, will continue to evaluate the quality of
the curriculum during inspections based on the principles of How Good is our
School. All the experiences and outcomes up to the third level and a selection of
those at fourth level provide the overall set of expectations about what is appropriate
and necessary for young people to experience and achieve in Scottish schools. It
would be misleading and counter-productive to assume that there will be a
predetermined view about how any one particular school will plan to provide a “broad
general education”, building on learning from pre-school to S3.
The principles of Curriculum for Excellence are based on a degree of personalisation
and choice for individuals while taking account of national expectations – a balance
between flexibility and entitlement to a range of experiences of high quality. Equally
there will be a degree to which the curriculum in any one school will be customised
to meet the needs and aspirations of learners; and to take full advantage of the
opportunities that exist both within the Experiences and Outcomes and within the
school community.
Courses from S1 to S3 in schools will clearly require to be of high quality, based
upon the Experiences and Outcomes as their reference point, to ensure that young
people have the motivating and challenging educational experiences to which they
are entitled. They will require to take full account of young people’s prior learning.
These courses also need to provide a sound basis for successful progression into a
range of qualifications at the senior phase. Education Scotland has as a key part of
its remit, the identification and promotion of good practice and the encouragement of
self-evaluation as a key driver for curriculum development and innovation.
Q.12. Is the Scottish Government prepared to address issues of teacher
workload and morale at a time of great change, and to take these issues into
consideration when reviewing teachers’ pay and conditions?
We recognise and value the contribution that teachers are making to the
implementation of Curriculum for Excellence, especially within the current financial
climate. Teachers have always had to prepare new courses as part of their job, and
assess pupils and make sure they assess in line with the correct standard. They
have always had to engage in formative assessment and track progress.
Some very difficult decisions have had to be taken regarding teachers’ pay and
conditions and the recent agreement reached by the Scottish Negotiating Committee
for Teachers (SNCT) will protect education and teaching jobs for the future. The
SNCT also monitors teacher workload issues through its network of Local
Negotiating Committees for Teachers (LNCTs). We also established the McCormac
review of teacher employment to ensure progress on the educational outcomes that
we want for our children and young people. The Review's report was published on
13 September 2011.
Implementation of CfE has been backed by tailored support and guidance, five
additional in service days and the programme has been endorsed by the Curriculum
for Excellence Management Board, which includes representation from the teacher
organisations. Evidence from the HM Inspectors suggests that schools and their
partners can implement the necessary changes with support and challenge from
local authorities and national bodies. There is a wide range of resources available on
the Education Scotland website to support practitioners' planning of the curriculum.
We can also give assurance that there will be continued national support for
practitioners through the new agency, Education Scotland, as well as support at local
and establishment level.
The flexibility of Curriculum for Excellence empowers practitioners to make learning
and teaching more relevant, creative and challenging and puts trust and confidence
in professionals. We recognise the importance of stability and have made a firm
commitment to building and completing the roll out of CfE, most recently in the 14
June 2011 letter from the Chair of Management Board outlining priorities for
implementation in 2011-12 and national support which will be available for the
programme, and providing the support teachers and schools need, including
continuous professional development.
Q.13. Will there be a revised, realistic set of priorities for change?
The national priorities for change have been set out most recently in the letter of 14
June 2011 from the chair of the CfE Management Board, which sets out key
programme milestones, plus the action required at local level to achieve these and
the support that will be available at national level The letter identifies milestones in
respect of Assessment; Broad General Education; Senior Phase; Developing literacy
and Numeracy skills; Professional Development; and Leadership which it is expected
any school’s implementation programme will be working towards. Within this range
of expectations, any one education authority or school will be giving particular
attention to priorities derived from self-evaluation - of past, existing and planned
developments.
The key areas where the Scottish Government and partners will focus their support
for the delivery of these priorities are described in the Curriculum for Excellence
Action Plan 2011-12 published on 21 September 2011.
Q.14. Will Education Scotland produce exemplars to show good practice in
assessing progress, S1-S3?
Education Scotland will build on the existing work of former LTS to provide education
authorities, schools and teachers with examples of good practice; and will continue
to stimulate innovation and development. HM Inspectors will also, as part of the
revised inspection framework, carry out visits to look at innovative practice and share
these more widely on the Education Scotland website. The National Assessment
Resource will be, as described above, the mechanism by which examples of good
practice in assessment will be identified and shared with teachers and schools.
Q.15. Will Education Scotland release details of how they will judge progress,
S1-S3, during inspections?
HM Inspectors will continue to share with schools and education authorities how they
judge progress. As per Question 21, HM Inspectors will apply the principles inherent
in Quality Indicator 1.1, namely Improvements in the Quality of Performance, in the
context of the school concerned. The range and nature of young people’s personal
achievement will continue to be an important factor in any evaluations reached in the
course of inspections. Progress in relation to Experiences and Outcomes at the third
and fourth levels will be a reference point for schools and for HM Inspectors in
determining the overall quality of learners’’ progress. Full account will be taken of
appropriate national statistical benchmarks, a review of which is underway by the
Scottish Government. In addition, learners’ progress from earlier levels of attainment
will continue to be a key determinant of performance The progress of young people
with additional support needs will continue to be a key factor in inspections, as will
progress in relation to priorities identified within school improvement plans.
CERTIFICATION
Q.16. Courses at Access 3 and National 4 are to be assessed as pass/fail.
Does this mean there are likely to be more young people leaving school with
no qualification in future?
No.
Access 3 and National 4 are Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA)
qualifications, benchmarked at the same level on the Scottish Credit and
Qualifications Framework (SCQF) as the Standard Grade Foundation and General
levels that they replace. These qualifications will be internally assessed by the
school, and SQA will put in place robust quality assurance processes to ensure that
national standards are maintained and understood. Young people who take these
qualifications will have their achievements certificated by SQA in the same way as all
other National Courses.
Access 3 and National 4 are qualifications in their own right and have been designed
to suit the needs of young people at these levels and to support progression to
National 5 as appropriate.
Teachers and lecturers, in consultation with young people and parents, will now have
greater flexibility in decisions about certification. This flexibility applies to decisions
about the most appropriate level and about the most appropriate time to present
evidence of young people’s progress in their learning, leading to certification.
Teachers and lecturers will be assessing a young person’s progress in a range of
ways and gathering evidence to help inform judgements about the appropriate level
to present a young person for certification.
Young people can also work through units of courses at the pace best suited to
them. Therefore when teachers present young people for certification at Access 1,
Access 2, Access 3 or National 4 they should have the evidence to support their
judgements and be expecting them to pass. This evidence will be quality assured by
SQA. No young person should be leaving school without qualifications recognising
what they can do.
Q.17. Does the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) intend to introduce a
process whereby candidates who do not pass a level may be awarded a
compensatory grade at a lower level?
If a learner fails an end of year assessment/exam, they will receive credit for what
they have achieved at that level. This is similar to what currently happens with a
number of our other qualifications.
Certification will give appropriate recognition for learning. It will recognise
achievement based on evidence and will give learners credit for what they have
achieved within the Course. If a learner does not meet the requirements to be
certificated for the full Course, they will be certificated for the Units they have
achieved. There will be no automatic certification for the Course at the level below.
Q.18. National 4 is pass/fail only. The pass/fail system will not motivate
learners to aim high, as current graded Intermediate courses do. How will
teachers judge young people’s likelihood of success at National 5 and give
appropriate advice on progression?
National 4 and National 5 qualifications are being designed to help young people aim
for the highest level they possibly can. By closely aligning the structure, content and
skills in National 4 and National 5 in individual subjects i.e. by designing hierarchical
qualifications, young people can delay for as long as possible decisions about which
level they will be presented for certification. This was one of the most highly
regarded features of Standard Grade and is therefore being built into the new
qualifications.
Teachers and lecturers should be aspiring to motivate young people through offering
stimulating learning experiences and by ensuring they are actively involved in
assessing their own progress and performance. There should also be opportunities
for young people to have personalisation and choice in doing this. Through ongoing
dialogue about their work, about their strengths and areas for improvement learners
will be encouraged to improve and progress. They will also gain a sense of
achievement as they work through the course and pass units.
Teachers are experienced in assessing young people’s performance as they move
through courses and advising them if a change of level or timing of an assessment
should be made. Their professional judgement based on evidence of pupil
performance in the Added Value assessment at National 4 and performance in the
Course Units, particularly where these are hierarchical, should tell them if young
people are doing well enough to attempt the next level with confidence. If young
people pass at National 4 then the opportunity to progress to National 5 should be
appropriate, just as it should be with current Intermediate Courses. In some cases
progression to other qualifications at Level 4 of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications
Framework (SCQF) may be more appropriate e.g. other National 4 courses, National
Certificates or National Progressions Awards.
MAKING SUBJECT CHOICES
Q.19. Departments aim to provide detailed advice on courses before young
people have to make choices. Will schools receive additional advice on the
final content of new qualifications before the complete Course Specifications
are published in April 2012?
Schools already have the details of the Experiences and Outcomes in all of the
curriculum areas to help plan programmes of learning at the third level and a range
of those at fourth level up to the end of S3. Advice on possible qualification routes in
the Senior Phase can be given since courses will build on learning in the
Experiences and Outcomes, and staff can draw on draft Course Specifications and
Unit Specifications already issued by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
These provide information on the number of Units and indicate broad areas of skills,
knowledge and understanding that will be assessed.
The Unit Specification gives the outcomes and associated assessment standards
and evidence requirements for each Unit. This should be sufficient information to
allow young people to make informed choices during the broad general education
stage. For young people being presented for the new qualifications in May 2014,
schools will receive further information in draft form over the course of 2011 and
early 2012 on Courses and Units. See www.sqa.org.uk/draftdocuments.
In addition, SQA will run over 300 support events for subject practitioners from May
2012 onwards which will help practitioners to familiarise themselves with the new
Courses.
Q.20. Are courses likely to change following feedback on the draft
specifications? Teachers are preparing courses based on these drafts and
there will be little time to alter courses following the publication of the
complete course specifications. This is particularly the case if schools intend
to offer an element of course choice at the end of S2.
Over the course of the year the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has been
engaging with stakeholders and responding to feedback. Changes are being made
to some Courses in response to this engagement. SQA is publishing feedback it has
received,
and
feedback
received
so
far
can
be
viewed
at
www.sqa.org.uk/yourfeedback. We would encourage subject practitioners to take
time in their schools, local authorities and colleges to review the information on the
new qualifications and feed in their views over the next 6 months.
Young people who will be presented for the new qualifications at the end of S4 in
May/June 2014 went into S2 in August 2011. Teachers should be preparing
programmes of work based on the Experiences and Outcomes up to the end of S3,
with a recognition that the new Courses will be building on the learning and skills
which young people are developing at the broad general education. Course planning
for S3 should not therefore be reliant on the detail of Course Specifications. By
April 2012, teachers will have all the necessary information to confirm how children’s
learning in S3 will articulate with new Courses to be delivered from S4.
Q.21. Are there any plans to recognise personal achievement at the end of the
Broad General Education (BGE)? This would include achievement in the skill
of learning as well as progress in terms of the four capacities.
“All children and young people are entitled to have the full range of their
achievements recognised, and to be supported in reflecting and building on their
learning and achievements. Schools and other establishments will provide
opportunities for learners to achieve and encourage them to participate.”
Building the Curriculum 5: Recognising achievement, profiling and reporting (2010)
This document clearly outlines national policy and details expectations for schools
and local authorities in recognising young people’s achievements. A profile of
learners’ achievements should be produced at P7 by June 2012 and at the end of
the BGE in S3 by June 2013. The structure of the profile should be simple but
include information on progress and achievement across all curriculum areas,
including information on progress and achievement in literacy and numeracy, and in
health and wellbeing. It should include a learner’s statement outlining latest and best
achievements, in or out of school, and a record of any qualifications and awards.
Schools and local authorities will determine their own format and approaches to
profiling and meeting this entitlement. However, advice on profiling achievements in
P7 has been developed in selected schools with support from Education Scotland
and is available on the Education Scotland website.
Increasingly schools and other partners are looking at recognising aspects of young
people’s personal achievement through a range of accreditation schemes. Many of
these award programmes are delivered in effective partnership with CLD services
and voluntary organisations. The most common award schemes include John Muir
Awards, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Millennium Volunteer Awards, Dynamic Youth
Awards and others through ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation
Network.) The wide range of these schemes is detailed in the ‘Amazing Things 2 –
Guide to the Youth Awards in Scotland’ document. In addition, the Scottish
Qualifications Authority (SQA) has awards in Personal Development areas and
awards in Health and Wellbeing. Awards in Personal Achievement and other core
areas of the curriculum are being developed.
The focus for future developments within the National Assessment Resource (NAR)
from August 2011 to March 2012 will be on reporting, recognising achievement and
profiling in each of the pre-school, primary, secondary and Additional Support Needs
(ASN) sectors. It is planned that a school from each education authority will be
involved in preparing these short, tightly focused materials for the National
Assessment Resource. The developments will be undertaken in two phases from
August to December 2011 and October to March 2012 respectively.
Q.22. Will Education Scotland produce benchmarks for comparing levels of
personal achievement across schools?
It would be inappropriate to “benchmark” levels of personal achievement. Personal
achievement by its very nature is personal and reflects the interests and aspirations
of individuals. HM Inspectors will continue to report on the degree to which schools
encourage a broad range of personal achievement and will capture evidence of good
practice in schools.
Q.23. How will we recognise achievement and progress at the end of S3?
See response to question 21.
ASSESSMENT
Q.24. Can the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) assure stakeholders that
detailed assessment information will be delivered to centres by April 2012?
Full course arrangements for Access 3, National 4, National 5 and Higher will be
published in April 2012. This will include specifications for assessment and
guidance. Over the period April 2012 to April 2013, SQA will publish on Unit
assessments, specimen questions papers and coursework on the National
Assessment Resource (NAR). Support events for subject practitioners will take
place from May 2012 onwards.
.
Q.25. Assessment should not drive the curriculum but should be an integral
part of the curriculum and learning. Will there be a move away from one
examination judging years of work? Will the Scottish Qualification Authority
(SQA) produce assessment instruments which respond appropriately to new
ways of learning and which are radically different from current examinations?
The initial focus of qualifications development was to follow the key outcomes of
learning for each Course at each level, building on the Experiences and Outcomes.
Assessment for qualifications is focused on the key aspects of learning in Unit and
Course assessment.
The current qualifications encompass a wide range of assessment methods. In the
new qualifications, National 4 will be fully internally assessed while course
assessment of National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher Courses will be externally
set and marked by SQA. For all these qualifications, a range of methods including
assignments, case studies, practical activities, performance, portfolios and projects
may contribute to the Course assessment. In addition, written question papers and
tests will continue to have their place. In the context of BtC5, teachers have been
encouraged to plan assessment as an integral part of learning and to assess in ways
which match the learning experiences. It is expected that they will continue with
these approaches as they assess and gather evidence of young people’s
achievements for certification.
Q.26. Teachers do not have time to prepare assessments for internally
assessed qualifications. Will the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) still
be providing assessment materials downloadable from their site?
Once the final Course and Unit specifications have been published, SQA will provide
quality assured assessment materials and exemplars on the National Assessment
Resource (NAR) to support the new qualifications. Exemplification will include
specimen question papers for Course assessment.
Schools, colleges and local authorities will be encouraged to develop their own
assessments and to develop and share additional materials on the National
Assessment Resource to assist in understanding and implementing standards.
Q.27. Will there be NABs? Will these be ready for immediate use, with no
modification?
See response to question 26.
Q.28. How will the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) ensure consistency
and fairness in the assessment of national qualifications if schools are
modifying exemplars of assessments or making up their own? How will
national standards be applied and maintained?
Teachers are already teaching and assessing to very high standards and
continuation of this good practice will be an important part of the implementation of
the new National Qualifications.
Training and support will be provided to schools and colleges to ensure national
standards and understood and maintained. In addition, there will be guidance,
support and examples available through the National Assessment Resource (NAR).
SQA will ensure that rigorous quality assurance procedures are in place in order to
maintain high standards in assessment.
The proposed approach to quality assurance is currently being finalised taking
account of the feedback received from engagement activities. These processes will
ensure that:
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Robust and transparent quality assurance processes are in place which
maintain the credibility of Scotland’s National Qualification system.
The new quality assurance processes are manageable for all involved locally,
regionally and nationally.
Subject specialists will have opportunities to develop their understanding of
national standards and apply these with confidence when assessing their own
learners.
There is consistency and compatibility between quality assurance processes
in the broad general education stage (3-15) and in the senior phase.
In the meantime, there is ongoing engagement with national partners and
stakeholders with the aim of confirming that proposals can be implemented in a
robust, manageable and supportive way.
Q.29. How will HM Inspectors benchmark performance in the senior phase in
schools? Will there be a shift away from the current procedure of considering
the percentage of those who achieve 5+ awards at SCQF Level 4, for example?
How will an evaluation of performance take into account schools which
bypass National 4 for some young people? Will there be a more individualised
assessment of schools’ performance?
See answer to Q14. Furthermore, HM Inspectors take into account a wide range of
factors in evaluation attainment patterns within any one school. As above, a review
of benchmarking data has begun to take account of new qualifications derived from
Curriculum for Excellence. Such benchmarking data is only a starting point for HM
Inspectors’ discussions with schools about their performance. Evaluations of
improvements in overall performance will continue to take account of the context
within which particular schools.