National 5 Course
What you have to do
Course Components
• Writing folio.
• Assessments.
• Prelim.
• Final Exam.
Writing Folio
You have to complete a writing folio which
is then sent to the SQA in May to be
marked.
Your folio is worth 30% of your total mark.
You must send away:
• One Personal/Reflective essay or an Imaginative
essay.
AND
• One Persuasive essay or a Report.
Each essay must be at least 700 words
long, and must be no longer than
1000 words.
Each essay is marked out of 20.
Internal Assessments
You are required to pass four internal
assessments:
• Reading.
• Writing.
• Listening.
• Talking.
Prelim
In February you will sit a Prelim exam.
This will give you experience of sitting
the Final Exam in May.
Final Exam
In May you will sit your final exam.
The exam is worth 70% of your overall
mark for the course.
The exam is split into two different parts:
1. Reading for analysis and evaluation.
2. Critical Reading
1. Reading for understanding,
analysis and evaluation.
•
•
This involves answering close reading questions
on one passage.
Worth 30 marks.
2. Critical Reading
•
•
You are required to write one critical essay on a
text studied in class (20 marks)
You are also required to answer textual analysis
questions on an extract from the Scottish Text
studied in class (20 marks)
The skills you will be
developing this year
Close Reading and Textual Analysis
skills
You will be developing your ability to:
• Understand and explain the main ideas of
different types of texts.
• Analyse the various techniques used in
different types of texts and evaluate their
effectiveness.
• Select and use relevant information.
• Compare and contrast the content of texts.
Critical Essay skills
You will be developing your ability to write
critical essays, in timed conditions, on
texts you have studied in class.
Writing for different purposes
You will be developing your ability to:
• Select and use appropriate language.
• Use features of different writing genres.
• Organise and structure your writing
appropriately.
• Use appropriate spelling, punctuation and
grammar.
Listening skills
You will be developing your ability to:
• Select and use relevant information.
• Show your understanding of the main ideas
and information.
• Identify, analyse and evaluate audience and
purpose.
• Identify, analyse and evaluate literary and
language features.
Talking
You will be developing your ability to:
• Select appropriate ideas and content.
• Use an appropriate structure and format.
• Use appropriate language.
• Communicate meaning clearly.
• Use a range of non-verbal communication.