Higher English
What will I learn?
The course provides learners with the opportunity to develop the skills of listening, talking, reading and writing in order to understand and use language. Building on literacy skills, learners develop understanding of the complexities of language, including through the study of a wide range of texts, and develop high levels of analytical thinking and understanding of the impact of language.
How will I learn?
Learning will take place through a study of literature in different genres including drama, prose fiction, prose non-fiction, poetry and film and television drama. This literature will include Scottish texts. Learners will develop close reading skills through the study of non- fiction texts; develop the skills to create a range of non-fiction and fiction texts; and take part in regular group discussion to develop listening and talking skills.
How will I be assessed?
Portfolio – 30 % of overall grade:
Two writing pieces, one broadly discursive and one broadly creative (15% each). Learners will prepare their folio over a period of time before it is sent away for external marking by the SQA in March/ April.
Exam – 70% of overall grade:
Paper 1 – Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation (30%). Learners will answer questions on one unseen non-fiction text.
Paper 2 – Critical Reading (40%). This section has two parts. In section 1 learners will answer questions on a previously studied Scottish text. In section 2 learners will write one critical essay on their chosen text from one of the following genres: drama, fiction prose, non-fiction prose, poetry, film and TV drama or language.
Career opportunities
English is a valuable entry subject for university study. Language and literacy are of major importance and allow pupils access to an incredible array of future careers because the ability to express ourselves clearly and communicate effectively are key in every area of employment. Traditional careers linked to English include advertising, business and enterprise, customer service, computing, journalism, law, libraries, medicine, media and broadcasting, marketing, museums and heritage, politics, psychology, social media, sales, teaching, travel and tourism, writing, web design and many more.
SQA Links
Please use the link below to visit the SQA English National Qualifications page, there you will find the full course specification, past papers and marking schemes and a variety of useful documents:
Higher English: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47904.html
