Updated National 4 assessment standards from session 2024-25 (01/05/24)
01-MAY-2024
Based on feedback from the teaching profession, and as part of our ongoing review and maintenance of National Courses, we’re updating the assessment standards for National 4 Practical Electronics to better streamline the assessments and remove any unintended duplication.
We’re making the following changes:
Circuit Design unit
Merging assessment standards 1.2 and 1.3.
Adding ‘block diagram’ to assessment standard 1.2 and ‘circuit diagram’ to assessment standard 2.3 to clarify requirements.
Removing reference to ‘simple’ and ‘straightforward’ as complexity of typical circuits are defined in the unit specifications as involving ‘a power supply, up to two input devices, simple processing, and an output device’.
Circuit Simulation unit
Removing assessment standard 2.2 (converting simple circuit diagrams to PCB layouts. This was deemed to be inappropriate at National 4 level and made more difficult with the latest version of Yenka no longer supporting this conversion.
Removing reference to ‘simple’ and ‘basic’ as the complexity of typical circuits is defined in the unit specifications as involving ‘a power supply, up to two input devices, simple processing, and an output device’.
Circuit Construction unit
Removing assessment standard 1.2 (choosing, with guidance, a construction method). Assessment standard 1.3 reclassified as 1.2 as a result.
Assessment standards 3.2 and 3.3 amended to clarify requirements for using multimeters and continuity testers.
Removing reference to ‘basic’ and ‘simple’, with text added to define typical circuits as involving ‘a power supply, marking out of stripboard, placement and soldering of components, cutting track and wiring techniques between boards, where required’.
Added value unit
Changing reference from ‘stripboard and PCB’ to ‘stripboard or PCB’ to provide clarity that centres have flexibility in relation to permanent construction methods that learners can use.
We’re also updating the assessment thresholds to reflect the changes to assessment standards.
Updated documents
We’re updating the unit specifications for each unit and updating the references to outcomes and assessment standards in the course specification and unit assessment support packs.
All updated documents will be available by the end of August 2024. These documents will be valid for session 2024-25 onwards.