1. THE WAID ACADEMY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT HIGHER STILL ~~~~~ NEXT STEPS

2. HIGHER COURSE Higher English is a course designed for students who gained an overall grade 1 or 2 at Standard Grade and who may be thinking of attempting Advanced Higher English in S6. Also eligible, are those students who gained a good pass at Int 2 in S5. This course is extremely challenging and a pass, at this level, is a common pre- requisite of university entrance.

3. INTERNAL ASSESSMENTS-1 During the course, you will be expected to undertake a variety of reading and writing activities. There will be Internal Assessments which you must pass if you are to progress to the External Examination. If you fail an assessment you will be given one opportunity to resit.

4. INTERNAL ASSESSMENTS-2 As part of the course you will be expected to pass several assessments in order to be allowed to sit the final Higher exam. UNIT 1 – LANGUAGE a) Close Reading - Read a passage and answer questions on it Exam conditions. Time – 1 hour b) Writing - Pass at least one assessment using the following genres; discursive, personal/reflective, imaginative etc. This is done in supervised conditions during class time UNIT 2 - Textual Analysis – Read a poem or extract from prose or drama and answer questions on the text. Exam conditions - Time - 45 minutes UNIT 3 – Personal Study - Read a text of your own choice and write an essay on an aspect of the text decided by you Exam conditions Time - 45 minutes

5. ASSESSMENTS ARE VITAL!! Assessments will be retained as evidence of your performance for SQA Appeals purposes or for SQA Moderation Absence from a scheduled Internal Assessment will be viewed very seriously and an explanation of this situation may be required by the PT English and/or Board of Studies. Students will be advised of the dates of Internal Assessments at least two weeks in advance of that assessment.

6. IF THINGS GO WRONG? Internal Assessments will be regarded as having much the same importance as External Examinations. If you fail an Internal Assessment, you will be reassessed at a later date. If you continue to fail, you will be advised to continue at a lower level eg. Int 2 or Int 1. You will be able to move to the higher level in the next session if you succeed in passing the lower level.

7. WHAT’S IN THE EXAM??? If you pass all the Internal Assessments, you will sit an exam in May. This will comprise: Close Reading (Two passages, prose, usually taken from a newspaper, magazine etc) Time - 1 hour 30 minutes 50 marks Critical Essay (Two questions, must be on two different texts of two different genres) Time - 1 hour 30 minutes 50 marks TOTAL – 100 - Pass mark is 50 overall

8. AND AFTER??????????? THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!!! ADVANCED HIGHER IN S6? UNIVERSITY? COLLEGE? EMPLOYMENT? APPRENTICESHIP? GAP YEAR? GOOD LUCK!!