Edinburgh University: Bias towards Scottish students?

It says 'This is a high demand subject' for practically everything, even 'Sanskrit & Linguistics MA'...

Reply 21

MewMachine

They're regarded as the same. I think the entry requirements may also be lower for Highers because you have to achieve them in the first setting whereas you can re-take parts of A levels much easier.

They aren't really, I might find articles suggesting this if I can be bothered.

Reply 22

annab1684

15

Erm. I thought highers were meant to be easier and that's why scottish degrees take longer..
the degrees I looked at in scotland seemed to cover similar books/topics to A level? :dontknow:

Reply 23

MewMachine

Slumpy

They aren't really, I might find articles suggesting this if I can be bothered.

I'm having a quick search through Google meself.

I got told at an Oxford open day that they regard them as the same, but then that's one university.
Also could you enlighten me as to why most people do around 5 Highers and then only often do 2 Advanced Highers? Seems like a steep jump down...

Reply 24

L i b

19

MewMachine

I'm having a quick search through Google meself.

I got told at an Oxford open day that they regard them as the same, but then that's one university.
Also could you enlighten me as to why most people do around 5 Highers and then only often do 2 Advanced Highers? Seems like a steep jump down...

Because in our final year us Scots have been promised a good skive, just like several generations before us. Ancient liberties and all that.

Reply 25

sango

Does anybody know if St Andrews is biuased towards English students.

Reply 26

MewMachine

I'm having a quick search through Google meself.

I got told at an Oxford open day that they regard them as the same, but then that's one university.
Also could you enlighten me as to why most people do around 5 Highers and then only often do 2 Advanced Highers? Seems like a steep jump down...

Well, theres at least one newspaper article on the subject.
I don't believe Cambridge does, on the basis from my school the offers were AAB and ABB(with STEP).
Highers are ranked, certainly via ucas points, as harder than AS levels, and imo(having a reasonable knowledge of both) AHs> A levels, but certainly at my school, plenty did 3 AHs, and a few did 4.

Reply 27

doginthesky

OP

Awesome.

Thanks guys :smile:

You've been very helpful..
sent off my UCAS form and I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Reply 28

0404343m

17

You can leave Scottish schools after 5th year of school at 16/17, but the degrees take longer. Asking for AHs would disadvantage all the schools (and there are plenty) who don't teach a full complement of AHs, thus meaning their students couldn't get into university. Plenty of places do 1st year entry for Scots and 2nd year for those with suitable qualifications, i.e. AHs/A-Levels, so that they can do the course in the three years like they would south of the border. The Science faculty in Glasgow is something like ABB at A-Level for 1st year entry and AAA or similar to include further maths for second year entry. It's not bias, it's a recognition that the schooling systems are different.

Reply 29

bex285

20

MewMachine

I'm having a quick search through Google meself.

I got told at an Oxford open day that they regard them as the same, but then that's one university.
Also could you enlighten me as to why most people do around 5 Highers and then only often do 2 Advanced Highers? Seems like a steep jump down...

Advanced Highers are, in my school anyway, regarded as equivalent to 2 Highers.
Also, few schools do Advanced Highers due to few pupils choosing them.
Personally, my school only offers Advanced Higher Art and Maths.

Reply 30

vapory

annab1684

Erm. I thought highers were meant to be easier and that's why scottish degrees take longer..
the degrees I looked at in scotland seemed to cover similar books/topics to A level? :dontknow:

a higher is somewhere below an a-level but above an A2
an advanced higher is below the first year of a degree but above an a-level

Reply 31

vapory

a higher is somewhere below an a-level but above an A2
an advanced higher is below the first year of a degree but above an a-level

You mean above an AS, not above an A2.

Reply 32

oxymoronic

19

chloedabell

x

At the end of the day, its easier to get AAA at A level than it is to get AABB at Higher. This is because, as someone else said, A levels are made of 6 units so you don't have to do fantastically well in all of them to still come out with a top grade - you could fail a module as long as you did really well in the others and still get the top grade. Then, in a module, if you don't do as well as you hoped there are hypothetically 3 other chances to retake it (saying you took the exam in Jan of year 12) without it impacting at all on your final grade or how the universities would look at it, meaning within the 18 month period you will obviously have gained more knowledge and got better at doing exams, so you'll probably do better. With Highers on the other hand, there aren't modules and they're taken in one year meaning if you mess up, there isn't a second (or a third, or a fourth) chance to get it right as this grade will just go down as your final result unless something really serious had happened and they had to take your prelim (kind of like mocks) mark instead, not just that you had a bad day.

Therefore, even if you take away the argument of "which is harder than the other and where they stand in general academics to each other" and look at the pure way the two systems are examined, I'd say its harder to do well in the Scottish system because there are no second chances, meaning universities should and do ask for lower grades at Higher. This is a great system for people who don't need a second chance and get their grades the first time, as in the A level system there isn't any recognition for people (like me) who don't resit anything. But on the other hand, the A level system makes it easier for "lower achievers" to get the highest grades as they've got several attempts in which to try and do so. Someone on the A/B border in England is more likely to manage to get an A overall if they've got several tries at it, than someone on the A/B border in Scotland with only one shot at getting the grade.

Reply 33

oxymoronic

At the end of the day, its easier to get AAA at A level than it is to get AABB at Higher.

This is balls.
The rest of your post is quite well thought out, but this bit is simply wrong. I think it's generally considered that AAA at A level~AAB AH.

Reply 34

oxymoronic

19

Slumpy

This is balls.
The rest of your post is quite well thought out, but this bit is simply wrong. I think it's generally considered that AAA at A level~AAB AH.

Yeah, in terms of the actual academic level I'd say that was about right, but as I said, I wasn't talking about whether or not Higher/A level/AH were easier or harder than each other in terms of what you actually cover in order to get the grades and what is classed as equivilants, I was talking about the way they are examined and the way they are marked which is different.

A levels are considered to be "harder" than Higher and easier than AH in terms of the actual academic content of the course (at least, thats how I'd see it) but in pure terms of how easy it is to get an A due to the way the subject is examined, then I'd say its easier to get an A at A level than Higher or AH... which was my initial point.

Reply 35

oxymoronic

Yeah, in terms of the actual academic level I'd say that was about right, but as I said, I wasn't talking about whether or not Higher/A level/AH were easier or harder than each other in terms of what you actually cover in order to get the grades and what is classed as equivilants, I was talking about the way they are examined and the way they are marked which is different.

A levels are considered to be "harder" than Higher and easier than AH in terms of the actual academic content of the course (at least, thats how I'd see it) but in pure terms of how easy it is to get an A due to the way the subject is examined, then I'd say its easier to get an A at A level than Higher or AH... which was my initial point.

Well, fair enough, but I still doubt the differences are as extreme as AABB at higher=AAA at A level.

Tbh, I don't think there's much of a difference in content between AH and A level(maybe AH has slightly more, but the difference is pretty small if so), and whilst the single exam is generally considered harder, I can't really believe that an A at A level is easier than an A at higher(although, I've never taken A levels, I know very few people who've taken both).

Reply 36

LittleMissStone

errr look at it this way. We pay, they don't. As long as we can pay the fees and give them all our hard earned cash they will want us.

Reply 37

LittleMissStone

errr look at it this way. We pay, they don't. As long as we can pay the fees and give them all our hard earned cash they will want us.

Don't be ridiculous, if that was how it worked, you wouldn't have a chance in any British unis, whilst there were internationals willing to pay.

Reply 38

NicLeys