Professional Focus Paper
Course: Business
1.
Level: National 4
Who is this paper for and what is its purpose?
This paper is for teachers and other staff who provide learning, teaching and support as learners work towards
Business National 4.
Curriculum for Excellence is a unique opportunity to raise achievement and to ensure that all learners are better
prepared than they have been in the past for learning, life and work. This is because the new curriculum gives real
scope to build learning 3–18 in a joined-up, seamless way. As a result, progression in learning can be much
stronger with a clear focus on attributes and capabilities, skills (including higher-order thinking skills), and
knowledge and understanding. These are delivered through the experiences and outcomes of the 3–15 Broad
General Education (BGE) and, at the senior phase, through programmes that build directly on the BGE leading to
qualifications. Because of a strengthened focus on the nature and quality of learning experiences, self-motivation is
likely to be increased and learners consequently more engaged and enthused. To ensure continuity and
progression, qualifications at the senior phase have been designed to embrace this unambiguous focus on highquality learning.
Curriculum for Excellence has the flexibility to meet the needs of all learners in their local circumstances, enabling
each to achieve their very best. For example, some centres may take the opportunity to offer qualifications over two
years which might involve learners bypassing qualifications at a given level, whereas others may enable learners to
work towards qualifications within one year. In both cases, the advice in this paper is relevant to the learning and
teaching approaches that learners will encounter. This paper, then, is intended to stimulate professional reflection
and dialogue about learning. It highlights important features of learning which are enhanced or different from
previous arrangements at this SCQF level.
How will you plan for progression in learning and teaching, building on the Broad General Education?
2.
What’s new and what are the implications for learning and teaching?
Business National 4 consists of three Units.
 Business in Action
 Influences on Business
 Added Value Unit
To achieve Business National 4, learners must pass all of the Units, including the Added Value Unit.
BUSINESS
What are the key aspects of Business National 4?
The course develops skills which will enable learners to think logically and be more flexible and resourceful in their
attitudes. A main feature is the development of enterprise and employability skills; these skills will support learners
in becoming more confident in their future education and in their future career. The course is flexible, giving more
time to meet learners’ needs, has an increased focus on skills and applying learning with greater opportunities for
personalisation and choice.
Hierarchy of Units
Programmes of learning should be planned to encourage learners to aim for the highest level of achievement. There
is a hierarchical structure which provides progression from Business National 3 to National 4 and provides
progression to Business Management National 5, as well as Accounting and Economics National 5. There is no
direct hierarchy between this course and Business Management National 5 (Course and Unit titles), however there is
a fall back arrangement between Business Management National 5 and Business National 4. If learners achieve all
of the Units of the Business Management National 5 but do not achieve the course assessment, they can still be
awarded a Business National 4 as long as there is evidence of success in the Business National 4 Added Value Unit.
There is no fall back arrangement from Accounting and Economics National 5. Learners will be expected to
demonstrate a greater degree of autonomy with less support from the teacher the higher they progress through the
hierarchy.
Added Value Unit
The business assignment will allow the learners to demonstrate challenge and application, thereby giving the
learners the opportunity to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and the range of skills they have developed
throughout the course.
What are the key features of learning in Business National 4?
Active learning
Learners are expected to continue to experience active learning in the senior phase. It is essential that learners
have regular opportunities to engage and challenge their own thinking and to develop the higher-order thinking
skills required to do so. Learners should take an active role in the learning process. Learning and teaching
approaches should encourage active, participative and experiential opportunities to allow learners to develop skills
such as problem solving, by testing out their ideas, and logical and creating thinking skills through doing, exploring
and taking initiatives. For example, by running their own small business, learners can be given the opportunity to
apply their knowledge to a range of real life business contexts.
How will you ensure active learning encourages self-motivation and resilience in your group of learners?
Learning independently
The greater focus on skills and applying learning gives much greater scope for learners to exercise personalisation
and choice. Learners, therefore, have the opportunity to experience a wider range of learning and teaching
approaches in different contexts that can better meet their needs and build on their experience and achievements
in the BGE. For example, learners will be able to apply their business knowledge through making appropriate
decisions regarding the running of their small business. To enable independent thinking skills and learning,
teachers will want to reduce the focus on teacher-led activities and place a greater emphasis on learners’
experiences within which choices are made, by the learner, based on their expertise and skill level.
BUSINESS
To further promote personalisation and choice, teachers will want to explore learning and teaching approaches
which encourage learners to investigate and research a range of business aspects relating to real life contexts,
thus giving learners the opportunity to apply their learning to familiar and unfamiliar situations. For example,
learners may choose to investigate the marketing techniques used by a small local business and consider how
effective they may be.
How will you promote independent learning to ensure full impact?
Responsibility for learning
Learners should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and to develop an awareness of
themselves as learners. Learning activities should be planned in consultation with learners. Practical activities
should encourage learners to take personal control of their own learning, and opportunities for learners to reflect on
and discuss their own progress are likely to be built routinely into all planned learning experiences. Learners should
be encouraged to monitor their own progress, set targets and make effective use of feedback to improve.
To ensure that learners are able to take full responsibility for their own learning, learning intentions and success
criteria will need to be explicit. Learning and teaching approaches will also be developed which will promote the
development of learners’ skills in self- and peer-assessment. For example, learners may be asked to comment
upon the work of others in their class against set criteria such as presentation, skills, accuracy of information,
clarity, and if working in a group, how well they performed in their specific role within that group.
How will you ensure that all learners are making informed decisions based on where they are in their learning and
what they need to do to progress?
Collaborative learning
Learning and teaching approaches should encourage collaborative working, which develops essential social and
interpersonal skills. Group activities, such as supporting or organising a meeting/event or working together to
create a presentation, may offer suitable opportunities for learners to work in partnership, take on responsibility and
to learn from each other. In order to be successful, a group of learners would want to demonstrate how each
member’s particular area of skills and expertise could be best utilised to meet the needs of the group and the task.
A collaborative learning approach will enrich the learning experience for the learners and make the learning more
meaningful. For example, this can be achieved by working together to run a small business enterprise.
How can you ensure that all learners take on roles and responsibilities in group tasks, appropriate to their level of
skill and ability?
Applying learning and skills development
Learning experiences should ensure plentiful opportunities to for all learners to develop higher-order thinking skills
including, for example, through applying their knowledge in unfamiliar situations. A main feature of learning will be
the development of enterprise and employability skills, through which learners will gain an understanding of the
value of these skills to their future careers through relating the knowledge, understanding and skills to real life
business related contexts. Learners should have the opportunities to tap into their natural inventiveness and their
desire to create and work in practical ways. For example, this can be achieved by creating an advertisement for a
new product.
How are you developing skills for learning, life and work?
BUSINESS
3.
Qualification information
The SQA website provides you with the following documents:






Assessment Overview
Course Specification
Unit Specification
Support Notes
Course Assessment Specification
Unit Assessment Support Packages
Full information on arrangements for this qualification is available at the SQA website:
Business National 4: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47432.html
4.
What other materials are available on the Education Scotland website which staff
could use?
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/nationalqualifications/subjects/businessmanagement.asp
Support materials have been produced over the last year to support Curriculum for Excellence and further support
materials and events are planned for this year. This downloadable list is updated quarterly with the most up-to-date
details available from the page below.
Published and planned support for Curriculum for Excellence:
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/publishedandplannedsupport
T +44 (0)141 282 5000 E enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk W www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Education Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
© Crown copyright, 2012
You may re-use this information (excluding images and logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing that it is reproduced
accurately and not in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the document title specified.
To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence or e-mail: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.