national 5 critical essay marking instructions

Past papers
National Qualifications > Subjects > English > National 5 > National 5 English

National 5 English

Updates and announcements, consultation on the scottish set text list (07/06/24).

We recently ran a consultation to gather feedback from teachers, lecturers and learners on the current Scottish set text list for National 5 and Higher English courses.

We plan to update the list for use in session 2025-26 onwards, so that it more fully reflects life in Scotland.

This is the first time we’ve asked learners for their views on the content of the Scottish set text list. We sought views from learners across a range of age groups – including learners in S1 to S3, those in the senior phase (S4 to S6), recent school leavers attending college and university, and those in the workplace. We're also holding focus groups to explore the survey feedback in more detail.

We’ll publish the revised Scottish set text list in November 2024, for implementing in session 2025-26. The 2026 exams will be the first to feature content from the revised list.

View our news release on the Scottish set text consultation

Change to conditions of assessment in English portfolios from session 2024-25 (28/05/24)

We’re tightening the conditions of assessment in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher English writing portfolios from session 2024-25.

What’s changing:

There will be a new mandatory requirement for learners to complete their first draft during class time, under the supervision of the teacher or lecturer.

This will enable teachers and lecturers to review learners’ first drafts before learners continue to work on them independently. Learners will then complete their final piece under some supervision and control, as is currently the case.

We aren’t making any other changes to the writing portfolios. The assessment standards remain the same.

Why we’re making this change:

We’ve been receiving ongoing feedback from the English teaching profession that, under the current assessment conditions, it can be difficult to verify that learners’ work is their own, as it’s possible they may have had input from others when working on their draft outside of school or college hours.

This change will further support teachers and lecturers with authenticating learners’ work in the writing portfolio. It will allow them to observe how learners’ work is developing without any outside influences. This will help them to identify if there are any unusual changes in the quality and content of a learner’s writing portfolio at the final submission stage, or if the final piece is unrecognisable from the first draft, which may indicate that it’s not the learner’s own work.

Updated documents

We’ve updated the course specifications and the portfolio-writing coursework assessment tasks at each level. These provide a clear process that learners need to follow when producing their portfolios. The updated documents are dated May 2024 and are valid from session 2024-25 onwards.

Alternative certification model

Essential information, course specification ( 27/05/24 ).

Explains the structure of the course, including its purpose and aims and information on the skills, knowledge and understanding that will be developed.

N5 English Course Specification May 2024

Past Papers and Marking Instructions

Access all past papers by subject/level

Additional question papers resources

Illustrates the standard, structure and requirements of the question papers candidates will sit (includes marking instructions).

English: Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation Specimen Question Paper National 5 June 2018
English: Critical Reading Specimen Question Paper National 5 October 2018

There were no exams in 2021. The 2020-21 question paper resources are, for most subjects, modified papers which reflect the modifications put in place for session 2020-21

National 5 English Critical Reading question paper
National 5 English Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation question paper
National 5 English Critical Reading marking instructions
National 5 English Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation marking instructions

Coursework ( 27/05/24 )

This section provides information on marking instructions and/or the coursework assessment task(s). It includes information that centres need to administer coursework and must be read in conjunction with the course specification.

Instructions

Instructions for the submission of National 5 and Higher English coursework January 2024
English Coursework Template - Microsoft Word
English Coursework Template - Google Docs
Coursework assessment task for National 5 English
Guidance on conditions of assessment

Information on the production and submission of SQA-assessed coursework for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.

Coursework for External Assessment (261 KB)

Understanding Standards ( 27/11/2023 )

Examples of candidate evidence with commentaries

Audio Presentation

Overview of Course Assessment (2 minutes)
Overview of Question Paper (4 minutes)

Changes to Understanding Standards materials

Changes to published Understanding Standards materials for all subjects

Please note: Understanding Standards materials are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain up to date.

Additional Resources session 2020-22

Further information can be found on the Understanding Standards Website.

Course reports ( 23/9/24 )

Provides information on the performance of candidates - which is useful to teachers, lecturers and assessors in their preparation of candidates for future assessment.