I have been planning on writing a reveiw on the Scottish Qualifications Authorities Scotland course for a while now and is really something I believe that may be important for parents or the younger generations on this site because if you ever decided to pack away your things and have it away to Scotland with the family to stay and live there, then your child's education is the most important thing... Some of you may already know about the Standard Grade course, but for those of you who may not which will include DooYooer's from England, Ireland and Wales, then hopefully this reveiw will give you the confidence that you can send your child to a high school to be studying the Standard Grade course in years to come, but if they are 14 - 16 then the time for the course is then!!!...
------------------------------------------------------- What Is The Standard Grade Course? -------------------------------------------------------
The Standard Grade course or " Standard Grades " as they are called, is a two year course taken by pupil's of a Scottish school at the ages of 14 to 16. The Standard Grade course is obviously very long, and most of you will know that in England and Wales GCSE's are taken, well they certainly aren't much different from the Standard Grades which makes the Standard Grades and the GCSE's equivilants. The Standard Grade course actualy replaced the " O " level course some years ago around the 1980's or the 1990's...
I feel that the Standard Grade course is a very vital part in your education as it is much more interesting
for you in some parts other than your other schooling years you have had in the past. The Standard Grade course opens you up to having a career in mind as you are given the choice of several subjects when you have to make your choices for what you will take in thrid year, the first year of the Standard Grade course.
------------ Grading ------------
Wehn you sit your standard grades, unlike GCSE', your SG's are graded in one's and two's and not A's and B's. The system works like this -
1 and 2 are credit ( highest level ) grades at standard grade. Equivilant to A and B. 3 and 4 are general ( middle level ) grades at standard grade. Equivilant to C and D. 5 and 6 are foundation ( lowest level ) grades at standard grade. Equivilant to D in GCSE form. 7 means that you have failed the course. Equivilant to an F...
I Myself have recieved every one of these grades for different subjects. Like for French I've had 3's but for Computing I've had 1's, you just really have to concentrate and know what you want to acheive... ------------------ The Courses -------------------
In the Standard Grade course, you can take eight different subjects to study over the course of two years. Each subject comes under a different category, and the Scottish Qualifications Authority ( SQA ) decide for a Standard Grade pupil to take a course in -
English ( Compulsory ) Mathmatics ( Compulsory ) A Sceince A Social Sceince A Langauge
Now these five category's have many different courses inside them, of course English is placed on it's own, and so is Mathematics but they count as two compulsory subjects which mean you have to study them in the Standard Grade course. There are only five subject category's that the SQA want you to take, but the rest is up to you. Every subject on the entire Standard Grade course list for Scotland are -
Social Sceinces -
History Economics Geography Modern Studies Social Studies Social and Vocational Skills Religeous and Moral Education ( RME )
Langauges -
French German Spanish English ( Compulsory ) Russian Italian Urdu Gaelic
Sceintific and Envioromental Studies -
Biology Standard Grade Sceince Physics Chemistry Home Economics
Expressive Arts -
Physical Education ( P:E ) Craft and Design Art and Design Music Drama Graphic Communication
IT -
Technological Studies Information Systems Computing Studies
Mathematics -
Accounting and Finance Mathematics Administration Business Management
Classics -
Latin Classic Greek
So you see that there is so many courses you can take in the Standard Grade course. At some schools, some languages and the Social Sceinces are unavailable, but are at schools further up the m as Gaelic is more popular up the north of Scotland as it is more to do with that area.
Im not so sure about the rest of the subjects and how they are graded, but the subjects I took were -
English -
I had no choice. The subject is compulsory by law and is actualy fairly interesting in the reading part, and you really do use your imagination when writing several peices for your folio of work. Your final English grade is added up when you produce fivepeices of writing which enter your folio for the end of the two years, your close reading passage questions and answers, and your spoken grade which is when you produce a talk in front of the teacher or in the class...
Maths -
I had no choice of this subject either. I really do enjoy maths so far as there are different parts which are quite interesting and you may use in the future, although there are parts which will be useless when you leave school, even the teacher has said so!. My favourite part of the course was Trigonometry which we as a class have completed. It is the study of angles and triangles which may sound boring but quite interesting. You will sit two papers, the general and foundation, or the general and the credit. Everyone will sit the general, and if you are a higher working candidate then you will be working towards credit level papers...
French -
French is the foreighn language I decided to take. I do enjoy French sometimes, however I think that school's expect too much from you in the modern languages, although a challenge is good sometimes but when you have seven other subjects to worry about, these sort of problems aren't good to have. Your French grade is counted up by your spoken grade, your reading grade, your writing folio grades and your listening grades. All in all there are many parts of the course and in the 4th year, you will try writing peices which can be a little tricky to remember when you have to write them in full seperatly. Your reading and listening are again divided into Foundation/General and Credit/General...
SG Sceince -
This is a Sceince for those who did not acheive a good grade in previous Sceince classes. I never liked the previous classes because of the teachers and I did not know what to revise so I didn't get a great grade, but in my last Sceince test after producing a series of easy practical tasks, I got the highest grade in the class after everyone failed the general and I got a 3 4. I got onto the Credit paper which was tricky and managed to receive a 2 which I am happ with. I have noticed that this Science is very easy yet useless...
Geography -
The name makes me cringe. I hate Geography for several reasons. The work they make you do is ridiculous, they never explain answers in a proper way in the exam and the class is annoying making me lose concentration at times. I work with my friend in Geography and usually manage to get the work done even though I hardly know much about it. You will sit two papers, Foundationg and General or Credit and General, they are all very very tricky...
Music -
I love Music and have liked it at school for a while ever since I played the Cello and Piano which I suck at and I don't like the instruments. In music now I am doing voice and percussion which I highly enjoy. You also have to present a composing peice of scottsih music which means you create a peices of music, not very entertaining. You also have to sit a listening paper as well as performing and composing which is mainly about types and styles of older music. I do like music and would like to take it in higher hopefully. I hope to acheive an A for this enjoyable yet patient subject...
Drama -
Drama was my most favourite subject until I lost faith in the subject and was forced in a group with some people who take over a little bit and waste time. I do like this subject although I don't think I can act but I am told I am great at the theory part which I can agree on. You will sit two papers in the final exam which are the credit and general and foundation and general papers. I myself am a general/credit pupil even though I am not great at drama. Your final grade is made up of your presenting, creating and writing peices which contain evaluation of self and others...
Computing Studies -
Computing Stuides is a subject my parents wanted me to take although it isn't my favourite but I am currently in the top class somehow. I have had results from 1 and 2 with one mark from a 1 because of unexplained sections of the theory part. You are set tasks on and off the computers, where you have the theory side of things, programming ( which I hate ) and other tasks like databases. All of the theory is very tricky and programming is very hard and takes a while to get your head around. A good subject, useful but tiring and boring...
Overall there are great amounts of subjects you can take which can be very hard and some are easier than others, but really the tasks you have been set need a lot of patience if you want to acheive better grades each time. The subjects I took are very boring and I don't learn anything from them but the others I do and enjoy them. I think that of course others are more intellegent than others but should still be treated the same way as they can learn at different paces in mixed classes like my music class. I really think that to achieve the best possibles grades that you need to study whenever you can as it is very important as is homework, and i you are struggling then you may find yourself buying books of the courses or asking teachers which are great helps...
Tips For Study
Pay Attention Take In Information As You Write Revise Revise Revise! Do Your Homework Properly Ask Teachers If You Feel Stuck Give Yourself A Chance To Shine!.
Thank you for reading...
(c) 2008 J24
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Excellent for future, Great information, Good step up Disadvantages: Compulsory for 14-16 year olds
scotlandizdabest 14.09.2008 (21.10.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of SQA Standard Grade Course
Advantages: Excellent for future, Great information, Good step up Disadvantages: Compulsory for 14-16 year olds
scotlandizdabest 14.09.2008 (21.10.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of SQA Standard Grade Course
Are you the manufacturer / provider of SQA Standard Grade Course? Click here
Oct 27th, 2008
exceptional by (19%):
very helpful by (81%):
