NATIONAL 5
The National 5 English Course enables learners to develop their literacy skills and to understand, analyse and evaluate a range of texts, including Scottish texts, in the contexts of literature, language and media. The Course also enables learners to create and produce texts and to apply their knowledge and understanding of language.
Most classes taking National 5 will study poems by Norman MacCaig for the Scottish text and ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare for the critical essay element of the exam. Students study RUAE technique throughout the year and will also produce several creative and persuasive writing pieces. They will eventually decide on one and after several redrafts this will be sent to the SQA for their folio. Dates for first and second drafts, as well as the final draft date in March will be issued to the student. Final drafts will need to be copied onto an ‘SQA Template’. This is available on the SQA website but can also be copied from ‘Student Out’.
Spoken language is to provide evidence of the candidates’ skills in talking and listening. This performance, which is part of course assessment, is assessed on an achieved/not achieved basis. It is a compulsory requirement for a course award in National 5 English. This is usually completed in the first month of the course and involves a group discussion based on a text or series of texts from the course.