Overview (SQA National 5 English): Revision Note
Exam code: X824 75
The SQA National 5 English qualification consists of two compulsory exam papers and a writing portfolio. There is also a spoken-language component which is assessed internally and reported separately from your final grade.
National 5 English course overview
Component | Title | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
1 | Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation (RUAE) | 30% |
2 | Critical Reading: Scottish Texts | 20% |
2 | Critical Reading: Critical Essay | 20% |
Portfolio | Creative/Discursive Writing | 30% |
Performance | Spoken Language | N/A |
Reading for understanding, analysis and evaluation (RUAE) exam
The National 5 English RUAE paper tests your ability to read, understand, analyse and evaluate a piece of non-fiction writing. This paper focuses on developing your close reading skills, helping you to critically think about how writers use language to communicate ideas and opinions.
This paper is designed to assess how well you can:
Understand the main ideas and support details in a passage
Analyse how language, structure and tone are used to create meaning or effect
Evaluate how effectively the writer communicates their message
To do well in the RUAE exam, you need to show that you can identify what the writer is trying to do and who the passage is aimed at (the intended audience). You must be able to pick out and summarise the main ideas, as well as infer meaning from what the text is suggesting rather than directly stating.
How is the RUAE exam assessed?
In this paper, you will be given one unseen non-fiction passage. The passage is usually between 800 and 1000 words. You will be given 8-9 questions to answer.
Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation (RUAE) | |
|---|---|
Text type | One unseen non-fiction passage |
Number of questions | 8-9 questions |
Skills assessed |
|
Mark available | 30 marks total |
Timing | 1 hour |
Timings
You should aim to spend:
10 minutes reading the passage
40 minutes answering the questions
10 minutes checking your answers
What are the main command words for the RUAE exam?
Knowing the main command words that will be used in an exam paper, and what each one means, can be helpful in understanding what is expected of you in the exam. This table covers the main command words that you will see in the RUAE exam.
Command words | Meaning |
|---|---|
Explain (why) |
|
Explain (how) |
|
Identify/summarise |
|
Learn more
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