Professional Focus Paper
Course: English
1.
Level: National 3
Who is this paper for and what is its purpose?
This paper is for practitioners and other staff who provide learning, teaching and support as learners work towards
English National 3.
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 from 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?
English National 3 consists of three Units, providing learners with the opportunity to develop their listening, talking,
reading and writing skills in order to understand and use language. As at Access 3, the course is allocated 18
SCQF points at level 3.
 English: Understanding Language (National 3)
 Producing Language (National 3)
 Literacy (National 3)
To achieve English National 3, learners must pass all of the required Units. Units at National 3 (in common with the
Units at National 4, National 5 and Higher) are less prescriptive and more flexible than those at Access 3 and
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Standard Grade. This is to encourage a more flexible approach to assessment. Unit assessments do not depend
on a bank of NAB materials and are less prescriptive than before, allowing practitioners to decide which
assessment methods fit best with the learning that has taken place. This also allows learning and assessment to
link more closely to local needs and contexts. Assessment at N3 is designed to support learning, increase
personalisation and choice, encourage breadth and depth of understanding and motivate and challenge learners.
The course builds on the four capacities and enables learners to communicate, be critical thinkers, develop cultural
awareness and be creative.
N3 skills that will be familiar to practitioners who have devised and delivered courses at Standard Grade
and Access 3 are those developed by:
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reading a wide range of texts; engaging in critical evaluation of fiction and close reading of non-fiction;
writing in a range of genres;
engaging in group discussion;
individual talk; and
responding to language, literature and media assessment tasks.
Significant differences between N3 and its predecessors are:
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the development and explicit assessment of literacy;
the development and assessment of listening as a discrete skill; and
the opportunity/requirement for learners to develop an appreciation of Scotland’s literary and linguistic heritage.
National 3 courses are not graded.
What are the key aspects of English National 3?
Integrated approach to skills development
In the course and its component units, there is an emphasis on skills development and application. Assessment will
be proportionate and fit for purpose, promoting best practice to enable learners to achieve the highest standards
they can.
The Understanding Language Unit provides learners with the opportunity to develop reading and listening skills
in the contexts of literature, language and media.
Learners develop the skills needed to understand, analyse and evaluate at least one simple spoken and one
simple written text.
The Unit, while a mandatory part of the N3 course, can be achieved as a freestanding unit.
The Producing Language Unit provides learners with the opportunity to develop talking and writing skills in
familiar contexts. Learners develop the skills needed to produce at least one written text and one spoken
interaction using simple language.
The Unit, while a mandatory part of the N3 course, can be achieved as a freestanding unit.
All four skills are of equal importance and should be developed in an integrated way. Evidence of achievement may
be via discrete Unit tasks or, where possible, in combination with other Outcomes, either from this Unit or in
combination with the Outcomes from the English: Understanding Language (National 3) and Literacy (National 3).
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The Literacy Unit develops learners’ reading, listening, writing and talking skills in a variety of forms relevant for
learning, life and work. National 3 Literacy – which emphasises the need to use formal, continuous prose in writing
tasks, the acquisition of skills in communicating ideas and information orally and in writing as well as a greater
focus on technical accuracy than previous Core Skills/Communications qualifications – is embedded within the
National 3 English course.
Examples of contexts for the development of literacy skills might include subject activities, work experience, crosscurricular activities, work/leisure activities, daily routine, interests/hobbies, local issues, study/learning activities and
work-based learning. Practitioners should provide opportunities for personalisation and choice to ensure that
learning is relevant and motivating.
Wider range of evidence of learning
At National 3 reading, listening, writing and talking remain foci for learning. Approaches to assessment at Access 3
were directed by the need to achieve end of unit NAB and by Folio, Writing and Close Reading assessments at
Standard Grade. At N3 there is an emphasis on naturally-occurring evidence and combined assessments. At N3,
practitioners can make use of a wider range of evidence including, for example, digital or spoken presentations,
discussions, extended writing, notes, multi-modal texts or podcasts.
There is no course assessment at National 3. To achieve the N3 course, learners must pass all 3 required units.
Like Access 3, National 3 has no question paper. The N3 course includes the N3 Literacy Unit. N3 courses are not
graded. Unlike N4, there is no Added Value Unit.
Hierarchy of Units
Programmes of learning should be planned to encourage learners to aim for the highest level of achievement. The
hierarchy of Units allows for a flexible approach, enabling learners to tackle Units and course assessments at the
most appropriate level. Careful planning is required for movement between Nationals 3 and 4.
What are the key features of learning in English National 3?
Active learning
Learners will be encouraged to take an increasingly active role in the learning process, working with support both
individually and collectively in groups to construct meaning, to develop skills and to reflect. Learners should
undertake simple tasks in which they understand, solve problems, communicate for different purposes, create and
apply learning.
Learning independently
Learners undertaking English National 3 will continue to develop as independent learners and will be encouraged
and supported to make decisions, solve problems and initiate their own learning. Learning activities can cover a
wide range of texts across language, literature and media, including those relating to Scotland’s literary and
linguistic heritage. Learners could be given the practitioner-supported opportunity to select texts for study and
perhaps choose the most appropriate way to respond to a text. Understanding of a text might, for example, be
demonstrated in a traditional critical essay, or could be evidenced by creating a multi-modal text or a presentation.
Learners could be supported to make choices in initiating and structuring simple discussion tasks and talk
activities. In all tasks, learners should be made aware of the skills they are developing and of the transferability of
those skills.
Writing and creating tasks will allow learners to develop creative thinking skills and make decisions as to topic,
structure, language and tone. Writing tasks, for example, learners could be supported as they develop independent
research skills, including the ability to frame relevant questions, identify appropriate sources and select and use
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simple information in familiar contexts. Engaging critically with a broad range of simple texts can help learners
develop as independent thinkers, who recognise when they are being influenced and who can justify their own
point of view.
How will you ensure that learners have opportunities to engage with a broad range of texts in different media,
including those relating to Scotland’s literary and linguistic heritage?
Responsibility for learning
Learners should be expected, with support, to take increasing responsibility for their own learning and to develop
an awareness of themselves as learners. Learning activities could be planned in consultation with learners, taking
account of interests and aspirations. An individual or group might, for example, take responsibility for investigating
an aspect of a simple text or researching a particular topic. Findings could be shared face to face and online.
Learners should be supported as they monitor their own progress and set targets, aiming to make effective use of
feedback to improve. By planning regular opportunities to discuss and review learning, including self- and peerassessment activities, staff will help learners engage with this process and set meaningful targets for improvement.
Practitioners could discuss and model strategies for learning to support and encourage a reflective approach. This
might include teaching and modelling writing or talk responses explicitly; using active reading strategies; breaking
down the research process or working alongside learners to support effective note-making.
How might you develop a more flexible approach that embeds personalisation and choice and encourages learners
to take responsibility for their own learning?
Collaborative learning
English National 3 builds on collaborative approaches to learning from the broad general education and /or from N2
courses. Talking and listening skills are fundamental to the course and learners need to verbalise and explain their
thinking in order to explore, develop and reinforce concepts. Collaborative working helps to develop essential social
and interpersonal skills. Effective collaboration makes the learning process visible and encourages deeper and
more reflective learning.
Learners could work together with support to examine and create simple written and oral texts by formulating
questions, building on contributions and justifying ideas. Learners might, for example, contribute to a grouplearning wall which focuses on a particular text or topic. This display could also be used to record reflections on
learning and to facilitate peer assessment. As learners become more confident, they could be supported to make
effective use of technology via wikis or blogs to collaborate, not just with their own classmates, but also with
learners from other establishments, from the wider community and from around the world.
How might you develop collaborative approaches to learning which, when appropriate, make effective use of
technology?
Applying learning
Learners need a range of opportunities to develop and apply the language skills they have developed through
supported classroom activities. These may include investigating a chosen topic and presenting evidence in an oral
presentation or in a simple piece of writing. These might be linked to personal reading, an aspect of language or a
particular topic.
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The more general literacy skills already developed by the broad general education or by National 2 English and
Communication will be applied in learning across curriculum areas and in future study and employment. Learners
should also have a range of opportunities to develop their reading, listening, writing and talking skills in a variety of
forms relevant for learning, life and work.
How are you developing skills for learning, life and work, as outlined in the course specification?
Links with a range of curriculum areas such as sciences, mathematics and social studies subjects, to work
placements and learning beyond the school are essential to help learners apply and make connections in their
learning. Such links will help to ensure their skills are reinforced and transferrable.
How can you ensure that learners can access opportunities to apply their learning in different curriculum areas?
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3.
Qualification information
The SQA website provides practitioners with the following documentation:
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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:
English National 3: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/48588.html
4.
What other materials are available on the Education Scotland website which staff
could use?
The principles and practice: literacy and English document and the literacy home page on the Education Scotland
website are important resources for practitioners:
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/literacy_english_principles_practice_tcm4-540164.doc
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/languages/litandenglish/ind
ex.asp
Persuasive Writing N3/4/5
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/nq/e/englishpersuasivewriting/introduction.asp?strReferringChanne
l=learningteachingandassessment&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-727886-64&class=l4+d157203
Further support materials and events are planned. This downloadable list is updated quarterly with the most up-todate details available from the page below.
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
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