Are five highers really that challenging?

Okay, thank you. Yeah at first I was going to do 4 highers and one int2 but I didn't like the sound of any of the int2s so I thought I'd put it down and see what my teachers said.. They seemed to think I'd manage so I think I'll go ahead with it. I'm prepared to put the work in in 5th year as I know it is a very important year.

Yeah, a lot of people have said to me that English has been the biggest jump from standard grade to higher.. I'm pretty nervous about that as I already am not all that keen on the subject. Any advice on how to get a good grade in higher English?

Thanks again! Totally new to this, haha.

I suppose it depends on what you are good at. For example, I am rubbish at English so i find that the hardest.

As for what each course entails, to my knowledge, Maths, Bio, Chem, 3 units and 3 NABS fairly simple to Understand.As for English There are 3 parts that make up your final grade: Close Reading, Critical Essays and a folio.Internally: you need to do a Close Reading and textual ANaylsis NAB.Finally, for German( I did French and teh formats the same)/ Internally , you need to pass Speaking, Reading, Listening and ERV. Where as the final exam is made up of these parts. BEWARE, Listening is the hardest part of teh exam , it is the only part of the exam , that you would be proud of getting half of the marks.

Another word of warning, For your BIo and Chem courses, SQA are implementing new Higher science courses from 2012, so there will be no study books and Past papers that are the same as the ones you are going to sit. But they may publish something over teh summer.

A final thing , Maths, i am good at maths but when it cometo the exam it is murder. I passed the uNit 1 NAb(100%) coping easily with the coursework and finding the homework relatively easy for the full year. BOOM, come Febuary, the prelim, the whole year was nearly reduced to tears after coming out of teh prelim.Most difficult exam ever. The point is that for ALL your subjects, DONT BE LED INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY BECAUSE YOU ARE BREEZING THROUGH YOU'RE NABS AND COURSEWORK, the final exams are a different kettle of fish.

Anyway, Good Luck and best of all enjoy it ( though i can hardly say that, i am in 5th year and at times , i want to kill myself, 5 highers, not easy!)

I suppose it depends on what you are good at. For example, I am rubbish at English so i find that the hardest.

As for what each course entails, to my knowledge, Maths, Bio, Chem, 3 units and 3 NABS fairly simple to Understand.As for English There are 3 parts that make up your final grade: Close Reading, Critical Essays and a folio.Internally: you need to do a Close Reading and textual ANaylsis NAB.Finally, for German( I did French and teh formats the same)/ Internally , you need to pass Speaking, Reading, Listening and ERV. Where as the final exam is made up of these parts. BEWARE, Listening is the hardest part of teh exam , it is the only part of the exam , that you would be proud of getting half of the marks.

Another word of warning, For your BIo and Chem courses, SQA are implementing new Higher science courses from 2012, so there will be no study books and Past papers that are the same as the ones you are going to sit. But they may publish something over teh summer.

A final thing , Maths, i am good at maths but when it cometo the exam it is murder. I passed the uNit 1 NAb(100%) coping easily with the coursework and finding the homework relatively easy for the full year. BOOM, come Febuary, the prelim, the whole year was nearly reduced to tears after coming out of teh prelim.Most difficult exam ever. The point is that for ALL your subjects, DONT BE LED INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY BECAUSE YOU ARE BREEZING THROUGH YOU'RE NABS AND COURSEWORK, the final exams are a different kettle of fish.

Anyway, Good Luck and best of all enjoy it ( though i can hardly say that, i am in 5th year and at times , i want to kill myself, 5 highers, not easy!)

If you think you can do it then go for it! If you feel you aren't coping then you can always drop one of your subjects. In my school there was the option to do the higher over two years, they sat the nabs but not the final exam, and their sitting the exam this year so they'll get a better grade

5th year's definitely the most important year, if you can get the grades you need now, 6th year is a lot more relaxed as you have the chance of getting unconditional offers for uni.

Hurm, in terms of English, there was a bit of a big jump, but some people find it quite formulaic, some people can churn out high-marking essays without even fully reading the book and only looking at sheets. Personally, I struggled with English and I didn't really get on with my teacher (he was useless!) so I'm maybe not the best person to give you advice on how to get the best grade in it!

Ahh, okay, thank you. I really wish our school told us what the courses entail!
Oh so for chemistry and biology my final exam will be different to previous ones? So the past papers won't be all that useful?
Haha, thanks!

In my opinion it's not that challenging if you're prepared to put the work in. Many people in my year took 5 highers last year, and a fair few got 5 A's. It can be a bit of a jump from Standard Grade to Higher, but I know quite a few people who managed to pass their 5 highers in one sitting. However, there are people who don't manage to get the grades so it's something to think about, as you may be better off doing 4 highers and getting all A's, than doing 5 and getting poorer grades

Last year I took maths, english, french, biology and chemistry; and the one I did worst in was English, though I think I would say chemistry was most difficult as there's a bit more understanding required compared to standard grade. Hope i've helped!

Oh so for chemistry and biology my final exam will be different to previous ones?

It's up to your school when they switch to the new courses, so you should ask... In our school they've swapped Physics this year, Chemistry next and Biology not until the year after at least, it just completely depends on the teachers.

I did 5 highers (English, Maths, Chemistry, Physics and Economics) and got 5 A's. I had a bit of a melt down half way through the year because of the work load and the content of some subjects but I got through it =) It is definitely do-able.

How did you manage to pick yourself up? Congratulations on the 5 As and being able to get through it!