National 5 Psychology

Over the next year, SQA will develop Course and Unit assessment support for every Course from National 2 to National 5 to help teachers and lecturers in the delivery and assessment of the new qualifications.

This assessment overview outlines what support materials will be produced and when.

• N5 Psychology Assessment overview

What is the Specimen Question Paper?

The Specimen Question Paper has been designed to illustrate the standard, structure and requirements of the Question Paper that candidates will sit from Session 2013/14 as part of their National 5 Course. It includes Marking Instructions.

Examination Question Papers will be set and marked by SQA and conducted in centres under the strict conditions for external examinations specified by SQA.

Who are they for?

Specimen Question Papers have been developed to support teaching and learning and to help prepare candidates for the National 5 Course assessment. In addition, they may be of interest to parents, employers, colleges, universities and others interested in the new National Qualifications.

What do they contain?

Specimen Question Papers contain examples of the types and scope of questions that will be used in the Examination Question Paper. The Marking Instructions outline the marking principles for the Examination Question Paper and provide details of how the questions in the specimen paper should be marked.

The Specimen Question Papers should be read in conjunction with the National 5 Course Assessment Specification.

What's next?

Where appropriate, the National 5 Course Assessment Specification will be updated with further information and clarification of the requirements of the Course assessment. The updated version will be available by the end of June 2013.

• Psychology Specimen Question Paper National 5

The coursework assessment is published in two parts:

• general assessment information on the coursework
• the coursework assessment task

Access to coursework assessment tasks is available through your SQA Coordinator.

The general assessment information document describes the requirements of the assessment task that candidates will undertake as part of their National 5 Course from Session 2013/14.

Assessment information on coursework has been developed to support teaching and learning and to help prepare candidates for the National 5 Course assessment. In addition, it may be of interest to parents, employers, colleges, universities and others interested in the new National Qualifications.

The assessment task will be set and externally marked by SQA and conducted in centres under the conditions specified by SQA.

What does this information contain?

The general assessment information on coursework provides general information and instructions for the conduct of the coursework, including an overview of the assessment task, the evidence to be gathered, and the general marking instructions that will be applied to the assessment task.

The general assessment information document is provided below. It should be read in conjunction with the National 5 Course Assessment Specification.

We are also providing coursework assessment task documents which contain the actual assessment to be used for candidates and specific marking instructions. Where appropriate, they contain illustrative examples of recording documents that have been provided to assist centres in their record keeping.

This assessment task is now available and valid from August 2013, for use in Session 2013/14. You should speak to your SQA Coordinator to obtain a copy. This document should be read in conjunction with the National 5 general assessment information on coursework and the National 5 Course Assessment Specification.

What's next?

Following the development of these documents, and where appropriate, the National 5 Course Assessment Specification will be updated with further information and clarification of the requirements of the Course assessment. This updated version will be available by the end of June 2013.

• General assessment information for National 5 Psychology

• N5 Psychology Course Specification

• Individual Behaviour (National 5) Unit Specification
• Research (National 5) Unit Specification
• Social Behaviour (National 5) Unit Specification

• N5 Psychology Course Assessment Specification

• National 5 Psychology Course and Unit Support Notes

National 2 to National 5 Unit assessment

SQA has developed three packages of assessment support for Units in the new National Courses, from National 2 to National 5. Packages 1, 2 and 3 are now available. They are held securely and teachers/lecturers can arrange access to them through their SQA Co-ordinator.

All packs are valid from August 2013 and must therefore be treated as confidential and held securely.

What are they?

Assessment support is designed to encourage professional judgement and to support learning and assessment that will motivate and challenge learners. The packs will help practitioners to deliver and assess the new National Qualifications. Find out more on our assessment support policy.

Who are they for?

The packs are for assessors in schools and colleges. Assessors may use the assessments provided in Unit Assessment Support packs as they are, adapt/modify them, and/or use them to develop their own assessments.

What do the packs contain?

Each pack provides details of an assessment task or tasks, shows approaches to generating evidence, and shows how the evidence that is gathered can be judged against the Unit Outcomes and Assessment Standards.

There are three packages of Unit Assessment Support for each Course. According to the needs of the Course, these may include:

• Unit-by-Unit approach - the Unit Assessment Support is for each Unit in a Course. Normally it will cover all of the Outcomes and Assessment Standards.
• Combined approach – this supports the use of a combined approach to assessment which can be a very effective approach to gathering evidence for assessment across a number of Units of a Course.
• Portfolio approach – this supports a portfolio approach to assessment by providing information on judging evidence for assessment normally covering all Outcomes and Assessment Standards for all the Units in a Course.

The second and third packages of Unit Assessment Support include packs which demonstrate the use of combined and portfolio approaches in assessment.

The packs do not have marks or threshold/cut-off scores; they have an explanation of how assessment judgements are to be made against Assessment Standards.

Where assessment is conducted through observation or oral questioning, evidence should include assessors' comments and other relevant supportive evidence that shows clearly the basis on which assessment judgements have been made.

Most packs also include examples of recording documentation; however, assessors may adapt these to suit local needs and approaches.

Each pack also has information in an appendix which can be detached and given to candidates.

To access packages 1, 2 and 3 of Unit Assessment Support, please speak to your SQA Co-ordinator.