The assignment has a total mark allocation of 30 marks. This is 27% of the overall marks for the course assessment. 

The assignment allows candidates to demonstrate the following skills, knowledge and understanding: 

• identifying a political issue that invites discussion and debate 
• researching a political issue using a range of sources of information 
• showing detailed factual and theoretical knowledge and understanding of a political issue 
• communicating information from, and referring to, political sources 
• analysing and synthesising information in a structured manner 
• drawing a detailed and reasoned conclusion, showing an awareness of different points of view.

The assignment has two stages, research and the production of evidence (the  write-up). Candidates undertake the research stage at any appropriate point in the course, normally when they have developed the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding. In the research stage, candidates choose a topic which allows them to analyse and evaluate a political issue which invites discussion and debate. 

They research the issue, and organise their findings to address it, using the Politics resource sheet to collate their evidence and references.  

Assessment conditions 

The research stage is designed to be completed over a notional period of 8 hours. Candidates have 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete the production of evidence for assessment. 

This must be done in one sitting. Candidates complete the production of evidence stage in time to meet the submission date set by SQA.   

Advice from the 2019 SQA Course Report

Where candidates cover topics linked directly to course content, performance tends to be poorer than for those who appeared to have a personal interest in the topics they choose. 

The assignment remains an opportunity for personalisation and choice for candidates.  

Many candidates produced high-quality, detailed and well-structured assignments that indicated familiarity with marking guidance and focused on topics which invited discussion and debate. 

High-scoring candidates tended to frame their assignment topics in an essay format (for example, ‘To what extent…’ or a statement followed by ‘Discuss’). The framing of the title in this way supported candidates to produce assignments that were able to access a range of analytical marks and then produce detailed and relevant conclusions on their issue. This supported candidates to address the central issue and evaluate different viewpoints in their conclusions. 

Candidates that achieved high marks produced well-structured responses and made explicit reference to the resource sheet and the sources they had used. Effective use of the resource sheet enables candidates to develop their knowledge and understanding and therefore provide the basis for then developing analytical comments based on this knowledge and understanding. 

The highest scoring candidates provided developed analytical points that gave additional justification or evidence. Many candidates produced responses which were highly analytical. Candidates who achieved high marks appeared to be aware of the success criteria for the assignment, and this was clearly reflected in the structure and content of their responses.

Teachers are permitted to give 'reasonable assistance' to candidates which may be supporting candidates in their search for relevant sources of information, clarifying instructions and progress checks. 

Teachers are not permitted to give candidates 'ready-made' questions. Teachers are able to offer guidance on the choice of topic or question. Within such guidelines, we could consider the following as ideas for a choice of topic or question: 

• The legacy of Margaret Thatcher/Tony Blair/Benjamin Disraeli/Blair etc
• The purpose of the House of Lords. 
• The use of social media in political campaigning in the US/UK. 
• Brexit – the causes of the result/the impact on British politics. 
• Reform of the electoral system to a more proportional system. 
• Making voting compulsory in the UK 
• Should Britain adopt a written constitution? 
• Scottish Independence. 
• The impact of age/social class/media/geographical location on voting behaviour. 
• Threats to national security. 
• US/UK foreign policy. 
• The political impact of Covid-19 on the UK/China/USA/Italy.... 
• The importance of civil liberties and national security.
• The political causes of international terrorism. 
• The role of politicians in tackling climate change. 
• The role of the Supreme Court in the UK/USA in protecting human rights/civil liberties. 
• The causes/impact of the Arab Spring. 
• The rise of the Alt-right. 
• Public health v freedom of speech
• The impact of pressure groups in terms of enhancing democracy. 

Ideally you should choose an issue that has a variety of different viewpoints or ideas. It is advisable to consider three paragraph themes for the Assignment.

In order to generate ideas for an Assignment topic, access the videos in the Power section of the course, read newspapers and periodicals such as The New Statesman, Prospect, The New Internationalist and The Economist. 

You are very welcome to participate or just read the discussions in the Politics and International Relations Society section of this course. This may help you to generate ideas.

In addition, the following software tool may also be helpful. 

B-Link will enable you to create novel and interesting connections from a single keyword. You can then use the software to generate evocative images from these new connections, which further enhances your creativity and allows you to generate new ideas that you may not have explored otherwise.

1. Pick a keyword and type it into the box

2. Explore the connections suggested by the software and play with the number of minimum steps to find more distant connections.

3. Choose a connection that interests you and use the 'Search Path' tool to find other ways that the two words could be connected.

• Knowledge: 10 marks 
• Background knowledge (framing the issue in the introduction): 5 marks 
• Knowledge that supports analysis: 5 marks
• Analysis: 14 marks 

A maximum of 10 analysis marks can be awarded for analytical statements alone. The remaining analysis marks can be achieved through developed analysis. 

• Reference to political sources: 2 marks

Two different political sources must be referenced in the assignment 

• Conclusion(s): 4 marks

The conclusion must include detailed points of evaluation supported by evidence.

Click here for detailed SQA Marking Instructions for the Higher Politics Assignment

You should record your research on the Politics Resource Sheet. This should be no more than 250 words on one side of A4. 

Information included on the Resource sheet can include evidence/data from primary or secondary research; bullet points/headings; mind-maps; statistical, graphical or numerical data; survey results; interview questions and/or answers; questionnaire and/or results; list of internet search-engine results; newspaper article or extracts summary notes/quotes from sources; extracts from books; summary notes taken from a visit or talk; summary notes taken from a written or audio-visual source. 

No analysis or evaluation can be included on the Resource sheet.  

You must refer to two political sources in the main body of your assignment. These should be shown on the Resource Sheet. 

Any information which is only copied from the Politics Resource Sheet — but not used to demonstrate their skills, knowledge and understanding — will not be awarded marks, however it is fine to copy quotations in full. 

Ask yourself the following questions before you begin the Assignment task: 

1. What political issues am I interested in? 
2. What do I already know about this issue? 
3. Who are the key individuals/theorists/groups/leaders involved? 
4. Is there a debate or discussion surrounding this issue? 
5. What are the key aspects of this debate/discussion? 
6. Is the issue too large? Do you need to reduce the scope so that you can manage the coursework and your time more effectively? 
7. Can I create a basic question outline about this issue at this point? 
8. What sources of information could I access to find out more about this issue? 
9. What assistance am I going to need to access these sources of information?
10. How much time do I have?

Once you have chosen your topic and created a question you are ready to begin the first stage of research. 

Stage 1

There are 5 marks available for 'framing the issue'. This is where you explain the issue and provide detailed background information.  

This will be your first paragraph in the assignment. This is where your research will begin. 

If you are making notes on a computer, create a document and save it as 'Framing the Issue'. If you are handwriting your research, write a heading 'Framing the Issue' at the top of your page. 

You will collate all of your background information about your chosen issue here. You may not use all of this information in this section, but it will help you to develop a deeper understanding of your chosen issue.

Bullet point your information and ensure that you record where you found the information as you may choose to reference these sources of information at a later stage in the Assignment. 

Stage 2

The second stage of research should focus on identifying different viewpoints on your chosen issue. If you are making notes on a computer, create a document and save it as 'Viewpoints'. If you are handwriting your research, write a heading 'Viewpoints' at the top of your page. 

You should aim to find three different viewpoints. This could include different causes, effects or ideas about your issue. This is a significant chunk of the research phase. At this point you may wish to conduct detailed research into each viewpoint. 

Stage 3

The third stage of research should focus on identifying the significance of your chosen issue. If you are making notes on a computer, create a document and save it as 'Significance'. If you are handwriting your research, write a heading 'Significance' at the top of your page. 

You should aim to research why your chosen issue is important: does it have long term implications for a political party, the future of a nation or does it limit the rights of the people or enhance democracy? Is your issue economically significant? Does your issue have a significant social or international significance? 

Stage 4

The fourth stage of the research phase should focus on the relevance of your chosen issue to relevant political concepts.   If you are making notes on a computer, create a document and save it as 'Links to political concepts'. If you are handwriting your research, write a heading 'Links to political concepts' at the top of your page. 

The political concepts that your issue may be linked to may be democracy, power, authority, legitimacy, rights, the rule of law, political ideologies, national security or foreign policy, for example. Note down the explicit link between your issue and the political concept to which it is linked. 

Many Higher Politics candidates structure their Assignments by writing two introductory paragraphs, the first framing the issue and providing detailed background information, and the second explicitly identifying different viewpoints and the significance of the issue or relating the issue to relevant political concepts. 

The research structure above will assist you in this recommended approach.