URGENT - what is layout of Eng Nat 5 Prelim papers please???

[54isanopendoor]

Dd has her English Pre-Lim tomorrow.

Horribly, she is confused about what to expect.
She knows she has a long paper & a shorter one (she gets extra 25% as ASD)
She's brought home a copy of the longer 'critical reading' paper.
It's split into 2 - section 1 is Scottish Text (clear instructions)
Section 2 is Critical Essay (where is the text for this? I'm not clear...)

She also has a shorter paper. She is expecting this to be on 2 of the 6 poems they've studied. Is this correct?

I know it's woeful we are unclear at this stage, but, for various reasons, we are.

Any advice would be gratefully received !

So, there are two papers:

Paper 1: RUAE (formerly known as close reading). It’s an unseen passage with questions.

Paper 2: Critical Reading (there are two parts to this paper)

• Scottish Set Text - sounds like she’s studied poetry. She’ll need to revise all 6 poems. 1 poem will be printed on the paper, but for the last question she will need to compare it to another poem.
• Critical Essay - choose 1 from only 1 section. She’ll have studied something in class. A play (drama section), or a short story or novel (prose section), possibly a film?

@Onehappymam THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

she had got really confused - she thought that paper 2 contents were split over paper one & had forgotten about the RUAE content completely. I had asked about this but she was clear that it wasn't 'happening tomorrow'. I thought it was. She's Autistic & Dyslexic & has fixed ideas about things.

Both papers are always on the same day, usually with a 14 minute break in the middle.

15! Not 14 - that would be a very specific break time.😂

If there’s anything else you’re unsure about, I‘m happy to help.

DD has 3 prelim papers. Pre Christmas she had RAUE, then a paper on set text (think it was the lighthouse by agnes owens). and she has a 3rd paper coming up on poetry (norman mccaig - they've only studied 2 poems so far). She says its been very hard but English was never her strong point.

At our school we replicate the final exam as far as possible, so have all papers on the same day. We study all 6 poems before the October break, then the essay text between Oct and Xmas.

I did wonder if other schools do it differently. It doesn’t seem fair to spread them out as on exam day itself they’ll have to do them all one after the other.

I think they all find it hard at this point, but there’s plenty of time to improve after the prelim.

Google SQA Nat 5 past papers - sorry I can’t get the link to post. All subjects on there, so you can look at the real thing.

Well, she's IN, which is a good thing (severe anxiety so on a 50% timetable)

She forgot her ear defenders (had headphones around neck, swore E/Ds were in her bag, wouldn't let me check) I drove home, ED's on the dining table, drove back to school so she will have them for paper 2 at least...)

She has all her papers this morning (25% extra times so she will be wiped out).
If she does well enough in this they won't knock her back to Nat 4 (well known for doing this) & also if it all goes wrong in actual exam (it did for her big brother & he was awarded his grades on Prelims). Fingers crossed for her & thanks for advice, esp @Onehappymam last night xxx

Bugger. Just had the call.
She wasn't able to write or speak.
They've asked me to collect her.

I'm sorry to head that. Has that happened before? She does get separate accommodation for the assessments?

So sorry to hear that @54isanopendoor. She will not be the only one who panicked and froze I’m sure. This is the first hurdle and inevitably some will fall. It will get easier over time.

if it all goes wrong in actual exam (it did for her big brother & he was awarded his grades on Prelims)

I’m no expert on the appeals process, but I don’t think it’s as straight forward as that now. You used to be able to appeal based on prelim grades (they briefly brought this back during covid), but now they remark the final exam instead. The remark grade is final. So the prelim is no longer a safety net as such - so she hasn’t missed out on that.

What does your daughter want to do? I’d advise finishing the course, giving the final exam a go and resitting next year if need be. Can’t see the benefit of N4. Schools often want to punt them down to make their stats look good though.

@Onehappymam
Last year her big brother sat his Prelims. Due to clinical anxiety (also dx ASD but no mutism in his case) AND a family bereavement right before the exams he was awarded his grades on the basis of his work during the year & coursework.
The school were very good actually.

Dd may never be able to sit an exam. It is a huge pity as she is actually very able. We have a local Tutor for her maths who specialises in ASD kids who says she is a 'grade A' kid but she may not be able to pick up a pencil & of course with the mutism a scribe is no good. This Tutor is known to the school & will help us fight for her to stay in Nat 5 & be awarded a grade but we don't have an English Tutor on side. I am surprised School were 'so surprised' yesterday as Dd is on a 50% timetable, has a solo room, ear defenders, sunglasses & a fidget toy all allowed so clearly is not standard android candidate.

Fingers crossed for today...

Just to add to this - SQA absolutely do look at additional evidence, not just a re-mark. Policy has changed and schools are expected to keep all supporting evidence to sent to SQA in the event of an appeal.

I appealed for two of my H kids and one of my N5s and they were all upheld, using prelim and additional evidence..

On the subject of N5 English prelim, DD hasn't gotten her result yet (she expects to fail) but has told me some friends who were consistently failing tests, have somehow, to their shock, gotten As in the prelims. I wonder if the paper was hard and they've adjusted the marks to accomodate? How likely is this? Do schools tend to do the same prelim paper and if so, how have other schools done? DD is feeling more hopeful that maybe she has passed after all.

I don't think it's likely that other schools use the same paper - unless they bought in a professional prelim paper I suppose. Mostly schools set their own

A lot of schools in our local authority use the same one - it's from a company a lot of LAs but a prelim from. It's a big problem that the papers end up online. We try to tweak some of the Qs if we use them.

Buy a prelim from*

Have never come across a prelim paper online where should we look

DD got an A for paper 1 in English so I'm delighted but also puzzled as she (and her friend) loathe English. Don't want to sound like I'm negative about DD's abilities but DD herself is wondering if the teachers tweaked the grades!