How to get 5 A's at Higher?

I'm going into 5th year after the summer and I AM doing 5 highers which are biology, chemistry,English, maths and modern studies. I am interested in studying medicine when I leave school and I AM aware that I need 5 straight A's. I was wondering if any of you can lend me some advice on how to get 5 A's and if it's possible can you please go through each subject please. Thank youu

I sat almost the same subjects /swap out Chemistry for History/ and achieved 5 As last year in them.

In order to get an A in English I'd drop the possessive apostrophe when you're pluralising things. (jks - pet peeve of mine)

Seriously, though - as banal as it sounds - just, like, study?...
I think one of the issues most people face at school is being too willing to try hard enough to get by, if you strive to just get by then that's all that'll happen lol

I'll state what I did for each of my subjects, but each person learns and revises differently - hopefully I'll be of some help haha

For Mods I rewrote the 20 essays out over and over until I knew them off by heart (gradually condensing the info after each round - until I was able to formulate entire paragraphs just by remembering a few instigator words) - I'm aware it has changed and now source questions are in the exam, however I'd prescribe to a similar method of rewriting rewriting and rewriting ~ I know I revise well this way, if you hate this style of revision then obvs don't do it hah (I did the same to get my A in History, but with more brightly coloured spider diagrams as History was at the start of exam season; before I lost my faith in highlighters and the superficial - my notes may be ugly but guess who got five As super judgemental anally retentive stationery-philic friend? - hint, c'est moi - also insert some moral about looks not mattering etc etc)

For English I just wrote a banging folio (28/30) and then exam-wise I had enough peripheral knowledge of my SST and a practice essay I had done just a week before the exam came up so it was a bit of luck I suppose but also hard work and revision etc etc haha ~ close reading was just a monotonous drag imo, it's really formulaic so just follow your teacher's instructions and you should ace that part no problem

Maths was a cluster f*ck of awful - my revision consisted of me trying past papers, getting to a question I couldn't do, getting annoyed, tossing the past paper book across the room and reading Mrs Dalloway or smthn instead haha - I really hated maths, and I couldn't have told you whether I was gonna get a D or an A ~ luckily it happened to be the latter

I had the privilege of being taught by a Biology teacher who literally writes how to pass books etc and also is on the SQA exam board for Higher Biology so yeah - thanks to him, and many many many past papers I got my A (I eventually just started copying out the answers from the answer schemes tbh - since I found problem solving mostly just common sense, and it was the KU I felt I needed to really get a hang on)

I didn't sit Chem but had friends crying over it lol so yeah good luck with that! (two got As and one got a B in the end so I wouldn't worry haha)

My friend got three offers from medicine this year with AAAAB at Higher - and was accepted into her course despite missing her uni grades at AH (needed BBB, got BCC) ~ so yeah, it's scary but medical school isn't solely for the infallible straight A students so don't freak out if you ever get a B haha

Hi there. I got 7A's at nat 5 and 5A's at higher and I am also interested in doing medicine at uni. The general tips I'm about to give you are copied from another thread about national 5 I posted in but they apply to higher just the same - higher just requires more work as it is more demanding.

- keep a diary or use your mobile to schedule school work- ALWAYS do your homework as soon as possible and never leave it until the last minute (I used to be very guilty of this )- Make sure your class notes and class work is very neat and you pay attention in class, even to all the boring bits- if you don't understand something, even if it's small, always ask the teacher and don't hope that it won't come up in your exam-study for both prelims and final exams well in advance. No matter how confident you are that you can wing it, start at least a month in advance. Study little and often, never cram as it's harder to retain what you've just learned. Make a timetable so you donate a fair amount of time to each subject and feel more organised- as for revision, making notes is always useful however find your most effective way of doing so. Some people like proper notes, while I like to make colourful and neat mind maps of all of my notes as I find it easier to take it in and read. Some people are audio learners so like to listen to information over and over again while some like to watch videos and learn practically. Find the most suitable way for you!

For your specific subjects I did chemistry, human biology, English, maths and geography so I can't advise on every single one

Chemistry - first of all make sure you understand the content before attempting the papers. I reccomend using the brightRed study guide for higher chemistry as the notes are amazing, easy to understand and cover everything in the course. Construct your own notes in your own words. Hodder Gibson practise papers as well as past papers are great as they are of a similar standard to the real exams. Marking schemes for these are so useful for showing how to write a full mark answer. For chemistry, smashing the exam is more important than nat 5 as the assignment counts for less than it did. As for open ended questions I never had an issue with because I did the same thing each time - write anything that comes into your head as you don't get marked down in this section for wrong answers - all of them will just require your knowledge of the higher chemistry course and it's always good to add in examples, equations and diagrams.

Biology/Human biology - I did human instead of general but I can deliver similar advice. Just like chemistry, make your own notes ( I used school revision notes and the James Torrance text book) then practise practise practise using hodder Gibson and past papers.

Maths - for maths, past papers are all you need. Attempt new higher and old higher (old higher is still practically the same!!) and also Gibson papers though don't bother doing 2015 higher maths because it is unrealistic to what you will ever get. You get better at maths the more you do it and if you ever get stuck on a maths question then go to DLB maths on YouTube - he has done solutions and explanations to just about every old higher and new higher past paper. Also make sure you are extremely confident with your scientific calculator as a lot of modes and buttons are used at higher - using the wrong mode by accident can loose you marks.

English - English is a bit harder to study for. Practise a lot of close reading passages. My advice for close reading which was my strongest section is always writing more than you need. If a question is for 4 marks write at least 5 answers. As for set text, make posters notes Mind maps or flash cards for quotes along with their analysis (my set text was poetry) and make plans of the 10 mark final question for set text. Hodder Gibson again and past papers are good for looking at what you need to get for maximum marks and also give ideas of analysis certain quotes you can add to your notes. For critical essays, don't do timed ones right away. Make up lots of essay plans for past paper questions (old and new higher) (I did this with mind maps) with bullet pointed quotes and explanation to cover for each big point of your essay. This will help you to plan essays in your mind quickly when doing timed ones and will help to stop your essay from being all over the place. Finally make sure your folio is of a great quality and get it checked over - it counts for a lot in English!

Good luck! Highers are very demanding so you get what you give.

Thank you so much for a very detailed answer! Oft 7 A's in 4th year and 5 A's in 5th year! You must be smart and hardworking. Your advice really helped and now I can't wait to start 5th year Ahahahaah. I got 6 A's and a B in my Nat 5's, was a bit gutted The subject I did were English,bio,chem,comp,art,maths and modies and got a B in modies. I was crying my eyes out :'( because I did so well in my prelim and lost only 4 marks and was shocked when I got a B :0 but I think I got a B for a reason, so I work even more harder and get all A's. I just hope that that B doesn't affect my chances of getting into medicine.

Honestly thank you so much for your advice and will keep it In mind. Good luck and hope you get into medicine

Thank you the B will not really affect your chances as your highers are what counts - plenty of people can get an A at something at higher they got a B in at nat 5 as many of my friends have done this by putting in a lot of hard work!

Also what university did your friend get an offer from? If you don't want to share that, I completely understand.

I just sat 5 highers this year and got 5As. I wouldn't stress too much, as long as you're paying attention in class, understanding what the teachers say and getting the homework done, you're in a good position. Different methods work for different people but for me, I think doing past papers helped the most. In the few weeks before exams I just went through around 12-18 for each subject, and you find the same questions constantly repeat themselves just with different numbers, scenarios etc.

For English, just try to memorise all your poems or quotes and writing key quotes/pieces of analysis on cue cards can help. In the exam, analysis is key and it's quality over quantity. So don't just state a load of facts and quotes, analyse each one and you will get more marks. You may find that English requires the least revision if you do lots of practice essays in class. If you work really hard on your folio, you'll be more secure and it takes a little pressure off the exam. Try to get around 26-28/30 in that if you can and you'll be in a great position. I ended up not doing many past papers for English as we had done loads in class.

For Maths, I rewrote the entire course a few weeks before the exam. Rewriting the examples I found helped as I made sure I understood the process of all the examples as I wrote them. Following the overview, I did some practice questions for each topic, then I went and did a bunch of past papers.

For Chemistry, I also rewrote the course a few weeks prior to the exam. I guess some people can just read notes and take it in that way but personally, I found that rewriting worked better. Everyone is different though, but either way, I think it's important to have a good look at the entire course before going into past papers. Following the overview, I did some practice questions for each topic, then past papers.

As for Biology and Modern, I'm not too sure as I took Physics and French. I approached Physics the same way as I did Chemistry and reckon I would have done it that way for Biology too. But overall, just understand what you're doing in class, have a good look over the course before doing past papers, questions on specific topics can help (especially for ones you don't understand so well), do lots of past papers and lastly, if you get questions wrong in past papers, make sure you look over them and understand where you went wrong.

In terms of resources, I would go right back to 2000-2003 papers, work your way up to 2016. The Hodder Gibson model papers are great too, and the SQA specimen and exemplar papers are worth doing. BrightRed and How To Pass books are good, wouldn't get both though. They're both similar, I prefer How To Pass as it's more confined but they're both great (especially if the notes your school gives you aren't the best).

Good luck!

Thank you the B will not really affect your chances as your highers are what counts - plenty of people can get an A at something at higher they got a B in at nat 5 as many of my friends have done this by putting in a lot of hard work!

Hey MF, I was just wondering if you could help me with Chemical bonding Unit 1 ( Higher). I am really finding Londen Dispersion forces really difficult and also non polor/polar.

Thanks

I'm going into 5th year after the summer and I AM doing 5 highers which are biology, chemistry,English, maths and modern studies. I am interested in studying medicine when I leave school and I AM aware that I need 5 straight A's. I was wondering if any of you can lend me some advice on how to get 5 A's and if it's possible can you please go through each subject please. Thank youu

Hi there. I got 7A's at nat 5 and 5A's at higher and I am also interested in doing medicine at uni. The general tips I'm about to give you are copied from another thread about national 5 I posted in but they apply to higher just the same - higher just requires more work as it is more demanding.

- keep a diary or use your mobile to schedule school work- ALWAYS do your homework as soon as possible and never leave it until the last minute (I used to be very guilty of this )- Make sure your class notes and class work is very neat and you pay attention in class, even to all the boring bits- if you don't understand something, even if it's small, always ask the teacher and don't hope that it won't come up in your exam-study for both prelims and final exams well in advance. No matter how confident you are that you can wing it, start at least a month in advance. Study little and often, never cram as it's harder to retain what you've just learned. Make a timetable so you donate a fair amount of time to each subject and feel more organised- as for revision, making notes is always useful however find your most effective way of doing so. Some people like proper notes, while I like to make colourful and neat mind maps of all of my notes as I find it easier to take it in and read. Some people are audio learners so like to listen to information over and over again while some like to watch videos and learn practically. Find the most suitable way for you!

For your specific subjects I did chemistry, human biology, English, maths and geography so I can't advise on every single one

Chemistry - first of all make sure you understand the content before attempting the papers. I reccomend using the brightRed study guide for higher chemistry as the notes are amazing, easy to understand and cover everything in the course. Construct your own notes in your own words. Hodder Gibson practise papers as well as past papers are great as they are of a similar standard to the real exams. Marking schemes for these are so useful for showing how to write a full mark answer. For chemistry, smashing the exam is more important than nat 5 as the assignment counts for less than it did. As for open ended questions I never had an issue with because I did the same thing each time - write anything that comes into your head as you don't get marked down in this section for wrong answers - all of them will just require your knowledge of the higher chemistry course and it's always good to add in examples, equations and diagrams.

Biology/Human biology - I did human instead of general but I can deliver similar advice. Just like chemistry, make your own notes ( I used school revision notes and the James Torrance text book) then practise practise practise using hodder Gibson and past papers.

Maths - for maths, past papers are all you need. Attempt new higher and old higher (old higher is still practically the same!!) and also Gibson papers though don't bother doing 2015 higher maths because it is unrealistic to what you will ever get. You get better at maths the more you do it and if you ever get stuck on a maths question then go to DLB maths on YouTube - he has done solutions and explanations to just about every old higher and new higher past paper. Also make sure you are extremely confident with your scientific calculator as a lot of modes and buttons are used at higher - using the wrong mode by accident can loose you marks.

English - English is a bit harder to study for. Practise a lot of close reading passages. My advice for close reading which was my strongest section is always writing more than you need. If a question is for 4 marks write at least 5 answers. As for set text, make posters notes Mind maps or flash cards for quotes along with their analysis (my set text was poetry) and make plans of the 10 mark final question for set text. Hodder Gibson again and past papers are good for looking at what you need to get for maximum marks and also give ideas of analysis certain quotes you can add to your notes. For critical essays, don't do timed ones right away. Make up lots of essay plans for past paper questions (old and new higher) (I did this with mind maps) with bullet pointed quotes and explanation to cover for each big point of your essay. This will help you to plan essays in your mind quickly when doing timed ones and will help to stop your essay from being all over the place. Finally make sure your folio is of a great quality and get it checked over - it counts for a lot in English!

Good luck! Highers are very demanding so you get what you give.