Qualifications Update: N3 and N4 Business N5 Business Management

1. Qualifications Update: N3 and N4 Business N5 Business Management

2. Alistair WylieQualifications ManagerNational QualificationsHumanities, Arts & Business

3. 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

4. Key points • Skills-based Units provide flexibility and choice • Provides opportunities to apply skills, knowledge and understanding to real business situations • Builds knowledge and understanding progressively up the levels • Some new topics such as Social Enterprise • Combines the best aspects of current Intermediate and Standard Grade Courses • Added Value is assessed at N4 by an assignment and at N5 by a question paper and an assignment

5. Unit Structure

6. New Quality Assurance arrangements • Covers National 1 to National 5 from 2013/14 • Promotes shared understanding of national standards through a collaborative and partnership approach • New ‘Nominee’ role - provides a pool of nationally trained experts • Intense verification in the first 3 years, thereafter an approach based on information gathered • Verification in Nov/Dec, Feb and Apr/May - allows for early identification of issues and support/guidance to be given

7. Assessment Support Schedule 2012/13

8. Business/Business ManagementUnit AssessmentNational 3 to National 5

9. Unit assessment • Flexible and open Assessment Standards and Evidence Requirements in Units • Greater range of techniques and methodologies for assessment – encouraged through Unit assessment support packages • 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

10. Unit Assessment Support packages – purpose Assessment support packages will be provided which you can use to: • Assess your candidates • Adapt for your own assessment programmes • Help you develop your own assessments

11. Unit Assessment Support packages – key features • Valid from August 2013 • Designed to encourage professional judgment • Provide broad-based tasks – allow assessors to choose appropriate context and forms of evidence • Show range of approaches to generating assessment evidence • Give information on the type of evidence which could be gathered and how this is to be judged against Assessment Standards

12. Assessment Package 1 Pack 1 – Unit by Unit approach • Each Unit has a pack which covers every assessment standard • Each pack is ready to use and all meet minimum competence • Each pack shows only 1 way of assessing that particular set of assessment standards

13. Business/Business ManagementAdded Value Assessments:- National 5 Course Assessment- National 4 Added Value Unit

14. Adding Value – National 4, National 5 • Each Course at National 4 and National 5 includes assessment of Added Value • For National 4, the added value is in an Added Value Unit - not graded • For National 5, the added value is in the Course Assessment - graded A - D (as at present)

15. National 5 – assignment • 30 marks (question paper 70 marks) • Prepare a short business report • 4 pages + appendix • Choose an organisation and an area of focus

16. National 5 – assignment EXAMPLES • Marketing function – pricing strategies • Finance – finance available for expansion • HR – recruitment and selection policies • Operations – production methods

17. National 4 Added Value Unit - Business • Choosing, with support, an aspect of a new small business to consider • Preparing a simple business proposal, based on research findings • Presenting the business proposal to others using a suitable method