Assessment of Progress in the BGE

How your child’s progress in their learning will be assessed
Pupils will be continually assessed through peer and self-evaluation, teacher observation and strategies through co-operative learning. These assessment strategies will provide an in-depth plan for improvement in their learning across the skills which include self-awareness, speech situation’s, special awareness, presentation skills and voice skills. There will be literacy experiences and outcomes that will enable pupils to analyse and comment on their work and that of others. Health and Well-being outcomes will be addressed throughout the years as pupils progress and adapt to different situations and settings.

Assessment in National 3 & 4 Drama is through a series of topic assessments throughout the course of the y ear. There is no final exam/assessment at National 3 or 4 but pupils are required to achieve positively in all outcomes assessed.

Assessment National 5 Drama

The course is assessed both internally by the teacher through Unit Assessments (subject to SQA verification) and externally by SQA through a Performance (60% of the course award) and a written examination (40% of the course award). Videos and Folios will be used as evidence for internal assessment.

Assessment in Higher Drama

The Drama Skills unit has two outcomes which are assessed. This unit involves writing a script and producing the script for performance.

1 The candidate will apply complex drama skills by:
1.1 Responding to stimuli, including text, to develop ideas for drama.
1.2 Exploring form, genre, structure and style
1.3 Developing and communicating ideas
2 The candidate will contribute creatively to the drama process by:
2.1 Planning, devising and directing a drama.
2.2 Using complex acting skills in order to portray character
2.3 Evaluating their own work and that of others

The Production Skills Unit has two outcomes which are assessed. This unit involves using text based work to develop skills in a specialised design area and producing a performance to demonstrate these skills.

1 Explore complex production skills in drama by:
1.1 Responding to stimuli, including text, to communicate ideas for a production
1.2 Selecting ideas for their chosen production roles
2 Apply complex production skills in drama by:
2.1 Developing appropriate ideas and production skills within their chosen production roles
2.2 Demonstrating complex production skills within selected production roles
2.3 Evaluating their own work and that of others

The course concludes with a practical and written exam. The practical element is worth 60% of the final grade and pupils will choose two contrasting text extracts to perform for an external examiner. The written exam is worth 40% and comprises of two essays, one performance analysis and one based on a text studied in class.

Assessment in Advanced Higher Drama

Unit one: Drama Skills has 2 outcomes and these are assessed throughout the first unit. Following the final practical performance for this unit, there will be a written evaluation assessment under exam conditions. We will then collect all generated written and video evidence and assess these to give the student a pass or fail.

Unit One outcomes:

1.1 Exploring ideas for a drama in response to a variety of methodologies, theatre practices and texts of one or more key practitioners.
1.2 Developing ideas based on research informed by one or more practitioners.
2.1 Planning, researching and devising drama informed by practices and methodologies of one or more theatre practitioners.
2.2 Applying complex drama skills within a presentation.
2.3 Evaluating their drama.

Unit two: Production Skills has 2 outcomes and these are assessed throughout the second unit. Following the final practical performance for this unit, there will be a written evaluation assessment under exam conditions. We will then collect all generated written and video evidence and assess these to give the student a pass or fail.

Unit Two outcomes:

1.1 Researching the theories and practice of one or more key practitioners.
1.2 Developing complex production skills, informed by research of one or more practitioners.
1.3 Applying complex production skills informed by research of one or more practitioners.
2.1 Analysing the use of complex production skills in a current performance.
2.2 Analysing aspects of a performance that reflect or contrast with the theories, methodologies and practices of one or more key practitioners.

Final Assessment

There are two elements to the final assessment for the course: Performance and Dissertation. These are both marked externally by the SQA (with a visiting examiner for Performance).

Performance: this element carries 60 marks in total, of which 50 are allocated to the practical assessment of either Acting, Directing or Design and 10 to the written Preparation for Performance.

Acting: The student must perform in two contrasting roles – one of which must be a monologue (20 marks) and another interacting with other performers (30 marks). The marks are awarded in five different areas for both pieces.

Directing: The student must prepare a weighty section (eg. an Act) of their selected play text for production, and be able to direct a 40 minute rehearsal of around 3 pages from this section of the play. The marks are awarded in five different areas for this rehearsal and the body of preparation work the student has collated.

Designing: The student must design and build a scale model of the set for a chosen text as well as taking on two further production roles in approaching this text. The marks are awarded in two different areas for the scale model and the body of preparation work the student has collated.

Dissertation: This element carries 40 marks and these are divided into three areas: A Analysing theory and performance examples that explore a chosen issue. B Synthesising by comparing and contrasting different ways the issue has been explored. C Expressing an argument developed as a through-line of opinion leading up to an evaluate conclusion.