Main navigation:
Breadcrumb navigation:

Choose a subject

Sub navigation:

In this section

Media

New National Qualifications

Media image of newspapersMedia sits within the languages curriculum area.

Finalised Course and Unit documents are now available for all the new qualifications, from National 2 to Advanced Higher. These documents contain both mandatory information (in the Specifications) and advice and guidance (in the Support Notes). You can download all of these documents for this subject from our download page, using the button below, or use our check-box facility to download a selection of documents.

Assessment support materials are also now available for all the new National 2, National 3, National 4 and National 5 qualifications. Information on Course assessment support material (such as Specimen Question Papers and coursework information) is available on the National 5 subject page and, for all National 2 to National 5 qualifications, information on how to access Unit assessment support materials can be found on each subject page.

Following the development of these support materials, some documents with mandatory information (in particular the Course Assessment Specifications) will be updated with further information and clarifications by mid-June. In line with our standard practice, these documents will contain version information and a note of changes, if necessary. This will ensure that you can recognise the most up-to-date documents.

See also:

View and Download all Media documents

Important changes to National 5 Media

The case study component of the current published National 5 Media Course has now been removed from Course assessment in National 5 Media.

During the development process, it became clear that the three proposed components of case study, question paper and assignment were leading to over-assessment of candidates. There was overlap between components and this would lead to a duplication of assessment. The Course assessment was therefore not comparable in demand with other subjects at the same level. In addition, the proposed new formats of the case study and the question paper permitted the use of any key aspects in either component; one result of this was a duplication of assessment across these two components.

Further targeted consultation on the nature and aims of Course assessment, and how best to ensure that candidates could accumulate credit for a wide range of knowledge and skills gained in a broad study of media content, led to the decision to remove the case study component.

Overview of proposed Course assessment components

  • The Course assessment for National 5 Media will now have two externally assessed components: a question paper and an assignment, each worth 50% of the available marks.
  • The question paper will have a number of mandatory questions covering contexts, roles and key aspects of media content. There will be a mixture of short-answer and extended response questions.
  • The assignment will have two parts: in part A, candidates will research and generate ideas in response to a brief set by centres; in part B, candidates will develop their ideas to a level of finish specified in the brief.

Unit assessment - proposed addition to Assessment Standards

The Assessment Standard 'Identifying and explaining the role of media' will be added to Outcome 1 of the Analysing Media Content Unit.

The Outcome and Assessment Standards will now be:

1 Carry out detailed analysis of media content by:

1.1 Identifying and explaining media content in detail
1.2 Identifying and explaining media contexts in detail
1.3 Explaining the relationship between media content and context
1.4 Identifying and explaining the role of media
1.5 Applying knowledge and understanding of the relevant key aspects of media literacy

The reason for this change is to ensure clear articulation between Unit and Course assessment.

Published specimen question papers, Coursework and Unit assessment support materials will reflect the changes to Course and Unit assessment.

Published documents will be amended between April and June 2013 to reflect these changes.

Development process

The final documents have been published following a lengthy engagement process. Find out how we got here. Considerable work has been carried out by the Curriculum Area Review Groups (CARGs), the Qualifications Design Teams (QDTs) and Subject Working Groups (SWGs) to develop the final documents.

At each stage of the qualification development process, we publish draft documents outlining our proposals and plans.

Visit our timeline to find out when the next documents for each qualification will be published.

Key Points

  • provides learners with opportunities to develop both theoretical knowledge of the media and the ability to create media content
  • enables learners to understand and develop their media literacy skills and appreciate the opportunities and challenges that occur within the media industry
  • develops knowledge and understanding of the key aspects of media literacy and the role of media within society
  • enables learners to plan and research when creating media content, as appropriate to purpose, audience and context
  • has a hierarchical Unit structure that provides progression from National 3 to Higher
  • has added value assessments that provide personalisation and choice in assignments at National 4 and National 5 and case study at Higher. Question papers also provide added value at National 5 and Higher