Qualifications Update:
Economics
Dunblane Hydro
6 December 2013
Qualifications Update:
Economics
Alistair McKenzie
Qualifications Development Manager
Developing qualifications - drivers
• Progression
• More open and flexible requirements
• Assessment which supports learning
• Refreshed and relevant contexts for learning
• Personalisation and choice
• Robust and credible
Key points
Higher Economics
• Provides learners with a deep understanding of the skills,
knowledge and understanding needed to assess the impact of
economic issues.
• The development of skills explicit to the Course will enable
learners to appreciate how markets and governments work.
• Enables learners to become better informed and more
responsible citizens, consumers and producers.
• Develops skills of thinking, numeracy and literacy and supports
employability and citizenship.
• Allows for further progression and depth of study at a later date
• Added Value is assessed by an assignment with the
focus on: Breadth, Challenge and Application.
Offers opportunities for personalisation and choice
Purpose and aims of the Course
Purpose
To highlight how important economic concepts, government policies and
global trade are to our everyday lives.
Aims
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expand and deepen understanding relating to how markets work and how they affect
our daily lives
develop an in-depth understanding of economic problems and the ability to explain
those problems and consider possible solutions to them
develop confidence and decision making by providing opportunities for them to use
initiative in solving economic issues
extend numeracy skills by enabling them to analyse and interpret relatively complex
economic data from a range of sources, such as tables, charts and graphs
extend skills of reasoning and critical thinking by requiring them to provide economic
solutions to a range of economic problems
analyse relatively complex economic information and communicate it in a clear and
concise way
Unit Structure
National 5
Higher
Economics of the
Market
Economics of the
Market
UK Economic
Activity
UK Economic
Activity
Global Economic
Activity
Global Economic
Activity
Conditions of the Award
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Unit Assessment
Assessed on a pass/fail basis within Centres
Verified by SQA to ensure that assessment judgements are consistent and
meet national standards
Course Assessment
Assignment - 30 marks
Question Paper - 70 marks
Assessment Support Schedule 2013/14
Sept 13
CfE Update Letter
Oct 13
Unit Assessment Support (Package 1)
Feb 14
Unit Assessment Support (Package 2)
Mar 14
Coursework General Assessment Information
Apr 14
Unit Assessment Support (Package 3)
May 14
Update Mandatory Documents
Jun 14
Update Unit Assessment Support
Linda Allison
Economics—Higher Unit
Assessment
Unit assessment
• Flexible and open Assessment Standards and Evidence
Requirements in Units
• Greater range of techniques and methodologies for
assessment – encouraged
• Assessments can be designed to provide evidence across
more than one outcome or Unit – combined assessments
• More opportunities to gather naturally occurring evidence –
assessment as part of learning and teaching
Unit Assessment Support
Assessment Support will be provided which you can use to:
• Assess your candidates
• Adapt for your own assessment programmes
• Help you develop your own assessments
Unit Assessment Support at Higher
– key features
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Valid from August 2014
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Complements and supports learning and teaching
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Assess competence against Unit Outcomes and Assessment Standards
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Designed to encourage professional judgement
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Provide broad-based tasks – allow assessors to choose appropriate context and
forms of evidence
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Show range of approaches to generating assessment evidence
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Give information on the type of evidence which could be gathered
Unit assessment support
packages at Higher - approaches
Package 1
• Unit by Unit approach – discrete assessment tasks
for each Unit — published October 2013
Package 2
• Portfolio approach – gathering naturally occurring
evidence —will be published February 2014
Package 3
• Combined approach – groups Outcomes and
Assessment Standards from different Units — will be
published April 2014
Assessment Support Packages
• Assessment overview — describes the purpose of the
assessment
• Assessment conditions — sets out how the assessment
should be conducted
• Evidence to be gathered — gives information on suitable
forms of evidence and gives sample recording
documentation
• Judging Evidence Table — describes the criteria for a base
line competency pass for each Assessment Standard and
appropriate standards of evidence to make the judgement
• Appendix 1 — describes the task (s) for candidates. Can be
adapted as long as standard is maintained
Unit Assessment Support
Unit Assessment Support
Linda Allison
Economics
Higher Course Assessment
Course Assessment at Higher
• Course Assessment at National 5, Higher and
Advanced Higher assesses Added Value
• Courses at Higher are normally assessed by one or
two Components
• Courses at Higher are graded A – D, as at present
• Controlled Assessment of setting, conducting and
marking
• For Economics there are two Components – a
Question paper and an Assignment
New Higher Question Paper
 Progression from N5 Economics
 Benchmarked against the current Higher
 Set and marked by SQA —a set of generic Marking Principles issued
 Completed in two hours— two sections — 70 marks
 Section One — context based — 25 marks — data handling and
application of knowledge and understanding
 Section Two — Three Unit based questions, 15 marks each — 45
marks — knowledge and understanding
Higher Assignment
 New method of assessment for this subject
 Open and flexible to allow personalisation and choice
 30 marks – two stages —should take about 8 hours in total to
complete
 Stage one — researching, gathering and selecting evidence
 Stage two — report production based on evidence gathered