Standard Grade

Course Outline

Syllabus

The work undertaken throughout S3 and S4 will be dictated by abilities and needs of pupils within each class. The teacher will tailor programmes of study to the demands of the course, focussing on the folio at certain times in the course (particularly in the weeks before the folio deadline in early March of S4), and prioritising exam practice at others. A comprehensive and definitive timescale, therefore, is difficult to outline, but pupils are likely to be involved in the following three main components:

Class work undertaken in Reading

To prepare for the final Close Reading examination, pupils will be exposed to past question papers, learn strategies for analysing close reading passages, and study the types of question likely to appear. Pupils will also study literature in class and, with the support of their class teacher, produce Critical Evaluations or Imaginative Responses for their Standard Grade Folio.

Class work undertaken in Writing

Pupils will prepare for their Timed Writing exam by looking at previous question papers, focussing on appropriate task choice and the specific demands of different kinds of writing (e.g. personal, imaginative, etc.). They will also aim to refine their technical skills, identifying and correcting errors in their own work.. Throughout the year, pupils will also be required write in a number of different styles in order to produce pieces for the writing section of their folio.

Class work undertaken in Talk

Pupils will be asked to prepare and deliver Individual Talks, and contribute regularly and appropriately to Class and Group Discussion.

This two year course starts at the beginning of S3 and is completed by the end of S4. Pupils are assessed in 3 different skills:

Reading          Writing          Talk

Each area counts for a third of the final Standard Grade achieved.
Work assessed in Standard Grade will be placed in one of three bands: Credit, General or Foundation. Within each band, work will be assigned a grade depending on its quality. Grades 1 and 2 are Credit grades and are awarded to the most accomplished pieces of work. Grades 3 and 4 are awarded to work of a more moderate quality which falls into the General category. Work of a Foundation standard will be given a grade 5 or 6. Pieces which do not meet the appropriate standard will be failed with a grade 7.

Folio
Every pupil sitting the Standard Grade course will be required to produce a folio of work. This folio is externally assessed and the grades given constitute part of the final Standard Grade awarded. Pupils who do not complete a folio cannot be awarded a Standard Grade in English. It is, therefore, a very important area of the course.

The folio is split into two sections:

Reading

There are 3 essays in the reading section of the folio. These will usually be Critical Evaluations of pieces of literature. At least two different genres (e.g. prose, drama, poetry, media) must be represented. As an alternative to one of these Critical Evaluations, an Imaginative Response to a piece of literature studied can also be submitted. The piece of literature and its context will serve as a stimulus, and the Imaginative Response will therefore be assessed as a piece of reading.

Writing

There are 2 essays in this section of the folio. One must be of an expressive nature, usually a piece of imaginative or personal writing. The other piece will be transactional, such as a discursive or informative essay

Final Exam

At the end of S3, pupils will sit examinations in Close Reading and Writing.

Close reading exam

There are 3 Close Reading papers - Credit, General and Foundation - but an individual pupil will sit only two. Every pupil sits the General paper and then, dependent on their level of ability, will sit either the Credit or Foundation paper/

Writing

Every pupil sits the same Writing paper, where they are asked to select a task from an unseen list of around 20, and produce an appropriate piece of writing.

How each skill is assessed

Reading

This area is assessed in two different ways. Half of the final Reading grade is derived from the Reading section of the folio, which is produced in class and then externally assessed. The S.Q.A. Close Reading exam at the end of S3 accounts for the other half of the final reading grade.

Writing

Again, this area is assessed in two different ways, both contributing equally to the final Writing grade. The Writing section of the folio, which is assessed externally, and the S.Q.A. Timed Writing exam final grade result in the Writing grade awarded.

Talk

Pupils will perform Individual and Group Discussions throughout the year. These will be graded by the class teacher. The teacher will, near the end of the course, submit the final Talk grade to the S.Q.A.