Qualifications Update:
Religious, Moral and
Philosophical Studies
Developing qualifications
• Progression
• More open and flexible requirements
• Assessment which supports learning
• Refreshed and relevant contexts for learning
• Personalisation and choice
• Robust and credible
Relationship between CfE and SCQF Levels
Continues to 12
CfE
Levels
2
1
early
years
4
3
≈
4
3
SCQF
Levels
2
1
National 5 Specimen Question Paper Key points
• Added Value is captured in an assignment at National 4 in the Added
Value Unit and by a question paper and a Coursework assignment at
National 5
• These provides opportunities for personalisation and choice as well as
challenge and application
• Investigating skills from Standard Grade translated into the assignment
National 5 Specimen Question Paper Key points
•
•
•
•
•
Taking the best of Standard Grade and Intermediate 2…
There are three sections: World Religion, Morality & Belief and Religious &
Philosophical Questions
Some new contexts for study have been added, and others updated
A renewed focus, particularly within World Religion, on exploring the
connection between religious sources, beliefs and practices and the
significance of these in the contemporary world
The question paper will assess the skills of: analysing religious, moral and
philosophical questions, and applying detailed knowledge and understanding
to present detailed and reasoned views. These skills may be sampled in any
section of the question paper.
National 5 Specimen Question Paper Key points
• Questions will have a range of marks between 3 and 8
• More marks available for in-depth analysis, building a link to Higher
• More marks available in individual skills questions for the development of
individual points
• Flexible routes to full marks in skills questions (change from Standard
Grade)
• The skills of investigation and using sources will be assessed in the
assignment
Unit Structure
National 3
National 4
National 5
World Religion
World Religion
World Religion
Morality and Belief
Morality and Belief
Morality and Belief
Religious and
Philosophical Questions
Religious and
Philosophical Questions
Religious and
Philosophical Questions
Added Value Unit:
Assignment
New Quality Assurance arrangements
•
Will cover new National 1 to National 5 from 2013/14
•
New arrangements will promote shared understanding of
national standards through a collaborative and partnership
approach
•
New ‘Nominee’ role - provides a pool of nationally trained
experts
•
Increased verification in the first 3 years, then an approach
based on information gathered
•
Verification in Nov/Dec, Feb and Apr/May - allows for early
identification of issues and support/guidance to be given
Unit Assessment Support Packs - key messages
• Are available on the SQA Secure Website, are
confidential documents and should be treated as such
and held securely
• Use one of three approaches to generating evidence:
• Unit by Unit approach
• Combined approach
• Portfolio approach
• Assessors may use the assessments provided in UASPs
• as they are
• to adapt
• to develop their own assessments
They will be made available in Word format for this purpose
Unit Assessment Support Packs - key messages
• Valid from August 2013
• encourage professional judgment
• allow assessors to chose appropriate contexts and forms of
evidence
• support, motivate and challenge learners
• Each pack provides details of
• a broad based task
• type of evidence to be gathered
• how this is to be judged against assessment standards
an example of a Candidate Assessment and how it should be
assessed
• Most important aspect for SQA is that standards are
met and that all evidence is authentically the
candidate’s own work
Unit Assessment Support Packs - key messages
• Assessment approaches should support and be consistent with
learning and teaching approaches and the needs of individual
candidates
• Assessment judgments are made on a pass fail basis
• Contexts may be changed to suit or be made more relevant to
candidates, but must of the same level of demand and difficulty
• Where assessment is by observation or oral questioning, evidence
should include assessor comments that show clearly the basis on
which assessment judgments have been made
• UAS packs also include examples of recording documentation:
assessors may adapt these to suit local needs and approaches
Assessment Support Schedule 2012/13
Oct 12 to Mar 13
N3 to N5 Unit Assessment Support (Package 1)
Feb 13
N3 to N5 Unit Assessment Support (Package 2)
Feb 13
N5 Specimen Question Paper
Apr 13
N3 to N5 Unit Assessment Support (Package 3)
Apr 13
N5 Specimen Coursework
Apr 13
N4 Added Value Assessment Support
Religious, Moral and
Philosophical Studies
Unit Assessment
National 3 to National 5
Unit assessment
• Flexible and open Assessment Standards and Evidence
Requirements in Units
• Greater range of techniques and methodologies for assessment –
encouraged through Unit assessment support packages
• Assessments can be designed to provide evidence across more
than one outcome or Unit – combined assessments
• More opportunities to gather naturally occurring evidence –
assessment as part of learning and teaching
Unit Assessment Support
packages – purpose
Assessment support packages will be provided which you can
use to:
• Assess your candidates
• Adapt for your own assessment programmes
• Help you develop your own assessments
Unit Assessment Support
packages – key features
• Valid from August 2013
• Designed to encourage professional judgement
• Provide broad-based tasks – allow assessors to choose
appropriate context and forms of evidence
• Show range of approaches to generating assessment evidence
• Give information on the type of evidence which could be
gathered and how this is to be judged against Assessment
Standards
Unit assessment support
packages - approaches
Package 1
• Unit by Unit approach – discrete assessment
tasks for each Unit
Package 2
• Combined approach – groups Outcomes and
Assessment Standards from different Units
Package 3
• Portfolio approach – evidence generated
assessment standard by assessment standard
Assessment Package 1
World Religion
Morality and Belief
Religious and Philosophical
Questions
You can use the illustrative examples provided and adapt these to suit the contexts that your
learners have studied or the kind of approach that would suit them best
N3
Oral presentation
Skill: commenting on the
significance of a religious
belief, practice or source
Context: Islam
Visual product
Skill: expressing a
viewpoint on a moral
question and responses
Context: Death Penalty
Responses to questions
Skill: outlining religious and
philosophical questions and
responses
Context: Life after Death
N4
Responses to questions
Skill: commenting on the
significance of a religious
belief, practice or source
Context: Judaism
Oral presentation
Skill: expressing a
reasoned view on a moral
question and responses
Context: Gender
Visual product
Skill: presenting a conclusion on
a religious and philosophical
question and responses
Context: Existence of God
Visual product
Skill: commenting on the
significance of a religious
belief, practice or source
Context: Buddhism
Oral presentation
Skill: expressing a
reasoned view on a moral
question and responses
Context: Marriage/Divorce
Responses to questions
Skill: presenting a reasoned
conclusion on a religious and
philosophical question and
responses
Context: Problem of Evil
N5
Assessment Package 1
• Although a range of approaches to gathering
evidence for Unit assessment have been
illustrated:
– the standard applied is the same irrespective of the
approach taken
– it is the skills, knowledge and understanding as
specified in the Assessment Standards which are being
assessed – do not inflate the demands of the Unit
– there should be consistency in conditions across
different techniques
– all approaches should be manageable for candidates
and centres
Key points from Unit Assessment
Support packs
• Assessment Overview
– This document contains generic prompts which can be adapted to different
contexts
– Also a worked-through example – this is illustrative only
– Evidence in one form may be supplemented with evidence in other forms
• Assessment conditions
– Candidates should have sufficient time to complete the task
– Level of teacher/lecturer support should be appropriate for level but evidence
must be the candidate's own work
– When group work is used – evidence of individual achievement is required
• Evidence to be retained
– Sufficient for QA purposes
– Practical approaches to retaining evidence e.g. candidate responses/product,
assessor checklists, supplementary material
• Reassessment
– SQA policy continues to apply
– Only need to reassess specific Outcomes or assessment standards not yet met
Key points from Unit Assessment
Support packs
• Teacher prompts and questioning may be used to:
– Confirm evidence is candidate’s own work
– For clarification/confirmation of standard being met
– To supplement oral/visual/written presentation if necessary
• Judging evidence
– Standards need to be consistently applied, irrespective of the
approach taken to generating evidence
– General principles and specific exemplification given
– Column 4 is adaptable to different contexts
– Candidates may provide evidence of meeting the standard outwith
the specific prompt – this should be credited
• Candidate task
– Illustrative only
– Centres encouraged to adapt to their own contexts
Workshop 1
Task 1
• Use the materials provided:
• In small groups of 2-3, discuss
– The assessment tasks illustrated
– Approaches to generating evidence
– Making judgements
• How could you use the Unit Assessment
materials to support you in your own
centres?
RMPS
Added Value Assessments:
- National 5 Course Assessment
- National 4 Added Value Unit
Adding Value – National 4,
National 5
• Each Course at National 4 and National 5
includes assessment of Added Value
• For National 4, the added value is in an
Added Value Unit - not graded
• For National 5, the added value is in the
Course Assessment - graded A - D (as at
present)
Added Value
• Makes the Course more than the sum of its parts
• Builds on current Course assessment and Group Award
approaches
• Defined as breadth, challenge and/or application as
outlined in Building the Curriculum 5
• May involve accumulation, assimilation, integration
and/or application of skills, knowledge and
understanding
• Uses one or two of 7 defined assessment methods
Controlled Assessment
• Where the assessment method is not a question paper,
SQA has introduced the concept of controlled assessment
to ensure fairness and reliability
• 3 stages of assessment: Setting, Conducting, Marking the
assessment
• Each will have a defined level of control: SQA-led activity,
Shared responsibility between SQA and centres, Centre-led
• Subject-specific decisions, but mostly SQA-led activity in
initial years
National 5 – Course Assessment
• Two components
– Question Paper (75%)
– Assignment (25%)
• Broad parity between skills and knowledge and
understanding across the whole course assessment
• Externally assessed
National 5 – Question Paper
•
Draws on approaches and formats familiar from
Standard Grade Credit and Intermediate 2
•
Out of 60 marks
•
Three sections each worth 20 marks: World Religion,
Morality and Belief, and Religious and Philosophical
Questions
•
There will be a choice of contexts in each section
•
Will assess the skills of analysing religious, moral and
philosophical questions, and applying detailed
knowledge and understanding to present detailed
and reasoned views
•
Greater emphasis on knowledge and understanding
than skills (34 marks: 26 marks)
•
Range of marks – 3 - 8
National 5 – Question Paper
• “Describe” questions require
candidates to make relevant
factual points. These may be
either a number of separate
points or a single point which
is developed. These should be
key points but may not be
connected.
National 5 – Question Paper
• Each developed points in describe questions may be
awarded up to 4 marks
• More open questions where candidates may
demonstrate their knowledge of specific contexts
studied e.g. Possible religious views on a particular
issue
• Flexibility in the routes to achieve full marks
National 5 – Question Paper
Explain…/ what reasons might there be for..?
“Explain” questions require candidates to make at
least two relevant points that clarify the issue or
question involved. These should be key points and
will include reference to relevant abstract ideas,
although these need not be fully explained.
National 5 – Question Paper
• Do you agree? / Would people agree with…? / Should
people accept..? / Is it true that…? Give reasons for
your answer.
• These types of questions require candidates to give a
relevant point of view/justification/assessment of a
given statement. The candidate may fully agree, fully
disagree or make points on both sides. All are equally
acceptable as a route to full marks. Candidates may
answer from their own perspective or belief, describe a
perspective or belief held by others, or combine these.
All are acceptable as a route to full marks.
National 5 – Question Paper
• In the World Religion section, there will be a focus on the
link between religious sources, beliefs and practices, and
on the significance of these in the contemporary world.
• More marks are available for in-depth analysis, building a
link to Higher.
• More marks are available in skills questions for the
development of individual points.
• There are flexible routes to full marks in skills questions
National 5 – Assignment
• Opportunity for learner personalisation
and choice
• Out of 20 marks
• Externally assessed
• Evidence produced in controlled
assessment in up to 1 hour
• Assesses the skills of investigation and
using sources
National 5 – Assignment
• Greater emphasis on skills
than knowledge and
understanding (14 marks: 6
marks)
• Brief available on-line – does
not change from year to year
• Generic marking instructions
available on-line
National 4 Added Value Unit
Assignment
• Opportunity for learner
personalisation and choice
• Flexibility in how the learner
presents findings
• Internally assessed by centres
and externally quality assured
by SQA
• Conducted under some
supervision and control
National 4 Added Value Unit
Assignment
• Support materials produced
by SQA to provide advice and
guidance on:
– the degree of support which
may be provided
– assessment conditions
– nature and amount of
evidence to be retained for
quality assurance purposes
– Making assessment
judgements
Relationship between National 4 and
National 5 Assignment
• Designed to provide progression and
articulation – the process at National 4 is
designed to lead on to the product at
National 5
• Aims to support learners moving between
levels and provide flexibility for centres
Relationship between National 4 and
National 5 Assignment
• No automatic ‘fall-back’ to level
below
• Necessary to show attainment
of assessment standards of N4
Added Value Unit:
– retain evidence
– subject to quality assurance
– enter candidate for AVU at N4
Workshop 2
Task 2
• Use the materials provided:
– Further information on Course assessment at N5
– Assignment read across document
• In small groups of 2-3, discuss
– National 4 Added Value Unit
– National 5 Course Assessment
• Question Paper
• Assignment
– Relationship between the N4 AVU Assignment and the
N5 Course work component - Assignment