C03 — Skills in Documenting a Software Requirements Specification

Hamilton College · Year 12 · 2026

The third SAT criterion covers the full Software Requirements Specification (SRS) — the formal document you produce after your data collection. You will write functional and non-functional requirements, define scope using MoSCoW, document constraints across five categories, describe your users, and specify the technical environment. You will also practise critical thinking by writing, evaluating, and following up on questions that test your own SRS.

Key concepts

Short explainers for the concepts most commonly confused or under-done at each rubric band:

Functional vs Non-Functional Requirements — the exact difference, with a side-by-side table for the same project; the most common mislabelling errors that cost marks at 5–6
Scope vs Constraints — why budget is a constraint, not a scope decision; how MoSCoW and the constraints table work together; what the 9–10 band cross-reference looks like
Analytical Tools Template Guide — how to use the pre-labelled Excalidraw file (UCD / Context Diagram / DFD skeletons) when updating your analytical tools in Step 1 (DRAFT)
Technical Environment — Five Categories — the 9–10 differentiator for C3-1; how to describe all five categories (hardware, software, network, data, security) with the justification the rubric requires (DRAFT)
Evaluating Your Own Questions — how to rate each C3-2 analysis question High / Medium / Low honestly; what the viva examiner probes at 7–8 band (DRAFT)

Resources

C03 Resources — per-topic reading and videos, including external resources for requirements types, constraints categories, user characteristics, and critical analysis question-writing

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