Nat 5 going to highers

If you have time over summer, maybe start looking at course spec/stuff like that for the subjects you find hardest so that you know what you're getting into and have some knowledge prior to being taught.

That’s a really good advice thank you, I’ll be sure to do that!!

but don't put too much pressure on yourself!! relax this summer, next year will be stressful unfortunately!

The good news is you get to drop 2-3 subjects depending on how many NAT5s you sat. The bad news is there is more work in more depth at Higher. My biggest tip is study, little and often from day 1 and it will take the stress off during the actual run up to the unit tests, prelims and final exams. Make sure to organise your time so you use it not only to study but sleep well, eat well, exercise and socialise.

Have a good break over summer! If you want to do anything, if you didn't during NAT5 and your school was like ours and taught us nothing about studying, look at some youtube videos on study techniques - Thomas Frank is quite good.

English - Over the summer get into the habit of reading good quality newspapers opinion pieces a few times a week and/or a decent novel. It really does help with English to be familiar with that type of text if you are not already a big reader. The how to pass/bright red revision guides are quite good for English revision if you want something to work with alongside classes in S5.

Maths - Right from the beginning of the course do mixed revision/spaced repetition practice questions as you learn topics to keep them in your memory. There are lots of online resources for Maths higher topics.

Chemistry/Biology - As you cover topics and do unit tests prepare the flash cards, notes and mind maps (whatever method you prefer) you will need later to revise for the final exam. Keep you notes organised.

I took Higher: English, Maths, Admin, Art and Psychology and got B,B,B,A,A.

In all honestly, Higher is a huge step up from NAT5, once you've finished it you'll look back and laugh at your past self for struggling. I know I have.
I don't know much about sciences but I can definitely give you tips for English and Maths if you're planning on taking them.

English is pretty much all to do with remembering. The first paper will be on close reading of an unseen text so you'll need to grasp the difference between Outline, Analyse, and Explain and what's included in the Language and Structure categorises.
This website is super helpful for that: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zq6vg82/revision/1

The second half of the English paper is more tricky. It's divided into two parts both equal to 45 minutes (if you have extra time it's longer) one part being analysing a Scottish text you have seen before and the second being a critical essay prompt.

Here is where your memorisation skills come into play. In class, you will be shown a variety of texts by one author. At my school, we focused on a poet named Carol Ann Duffy. In the first half of the exam, you will be given four to five questions. The first three-four are the standard 2-4 mark questions based on a text provided and the final question is a total of 10 marks.
The difference between the 10 marker and the others is you will be given a prompt along the lines of "By referring to this poem and at least one other poem, discuss how Duffy uses contrast to explore central concerns." Here you can automatically gain 2 marks by comparing two poems and how they explore central concerns without quoting. After this, you then need to start quoting (quoting and explaining counts for one mark now). I recommend you remember 2-3 quotes of significance for each poem you research. For your six marker to aim for 6 quotes overall.

The essay prompt is much simpler as you are writing an essay. You'll remember things from NAT5 like PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link) and you'll also be introduced to TASER when you're writing your introduction (Title, Author, Summary, Essay Question, Response). Here you'll need to take your most significant quotes from your text and try to find an essay question that fits. I recommend trying to get some setting questions in there as they often come up.

Always use Past Papers are they're essential and if you can get your friends to read flashcards to you that's also a bonus.
sparknotes.com is excellent when it comes to critical essays.


Now if you're looking at taking maths I recommend you try Khan Academy, whenever you're doing a topic at school spend 30 minutes of your free time doing their exercises at home. This includes watching some videos and answering about 10 questions. It honestly helps so much and they break the course down into tiny bite-sized chunks so you can understand it better.
- Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/

I also highly recommend you use past papers but do not use the actual SQA site. Dunblane high school and highermaths.co.uk have so many past papers starting from the 2000's and onwards. Some even have the written working so you're able to follow along whilst you work!
- DHS: https://www.dunblanehighschool.org.uk/maths/course/higher-past-papers/higher/
- HigherMath: https://www.highermathematics.co.uk/


Hope this helps!

It’s great that you want to expand your vocabulary and books are definitely the way to go. In all honestly, though you don’t need any fancy books to help you do so, just find the books you like and read them. That way you’ll naturally expand your vocabulary without forcing yourself to read more complex books that you don’t have much interest in. It also helps to learn how a long series of text is structured as it will benefit you when you start your folio.

A cheat that your teacher may or may have not told you is when you're trying to remember quotes that are long you can put an eclipse. Meaning that, if you need to remember a huge piece of text you could just remember the first half of the sentence and the ending of the paragraph. So “He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly…you hoped to convey”. As long as the part of the quote you’re analysing is present, you’re pretty much golden in that aspect.

There are also some great memorisation techniques out there that might work for you.
I like to use repetition of ten, so I read it out ten times, say it ten times and write it ten times. This may be corny as we learned it in primary, but look, cover, write, check is AMAZING. Before I dropped languages my French teacher told us the writing prompt one week before our tests so I would go home, formulate the perfect essay and memorise it in French. I then regurgitate it back onto the paper and was guaranteed an A.

In terms of the essay, you want to aim for 5-8 paragraphs excluding the introduction and conclusion. It often helps to memorise your introduction as only the essay question and response are different. This shouldn’t be too difficult as if you’ve used past papers it’ll become second nature to you.

Also, if you’re worried about Admin, don’t be. It’s pretty much an easy A. You’ll focus more on databases, queries, nest IFs, email structure, planning events, lookups etc. But it’s not too complex. Most people understand it straight away and it’s a nice contrast from all the stress you’re undergoing through higher.

There are two parts to admin, there’s the writing and the assignment. If I remember correctly the writing should be about 50 marks in total and split into two. The first half revolves around a scenario (10 marks) and the second is general questions about the topic (30 marks).

The assignment is more practical and consists of 70 marks which makes up a total of 58% of your final grade.

There really are no tips I can think of for admin as it’s just memorising and practising. (PAST PAPERS!!)

Try not to stress too much tho, the fact that you’re in here being proactive shows how motivated you are as a student and speaks volumes.

Wishing you luck for higher!

I took Higher: English, Maths, Admin, Art and Psychology and got B,B,B,A,A.

In all honestly, Higher is a huge step up from NAT5, once you've finished it you'll look back and laugh at your past self for struggling. I know I have.
I don't know much about sciences but I can definitely give you tips for English and Maths if you're planning on taking them.

English is pretty much all to do with remembering. The first paper will be on close reading of an unseen text so you'll need to grasp the difference between Outline, Analyse, and Explain and what's included in the Language and Structure categorises.
This website is super helpful for that: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zq6vg82/revision/1

The second half of the English paper is more tricky. It's divided into two parts both equal to 45 minutes (if you have extra time it's longer) one part being analysing a Scottish text you have seen before and the second being a critical essay prompt.

Here is where your memorisation skills come into play. In class, you will be shown a variety of texts by one author. At my school, we focused on a poet named Carol Ann Duffy. In the first half of the exam, you will be given four to five questions. The first three-four are the standard 2-4 mark questions based on a text provided and the final question is a total of 10 marks.
The difference between the 10 marker and the others is you will be given a prompt along the lines of "By referring to this poem and at least one other poem, discuss how Duffy uses contrast to explore central concerns." Here you can automatically gain 2 marks by comparing two poems and how they explore central concerns without quoting. After this, you then need to start quoting (quoting and explaining counts for one mark now). I recommend you remember 2-3 quotes of significance for each poem you research. For your six marker to aim for 6 quotes overall.

The essay prompt is much simpler as you are writing an essay. You'll remember things from NAT5 like PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link) and you'll also be introduced to TASER when you're writing your introduction (Title, Author, Summary, Essay Question, Response). Here you'll need to take your most significant quotes from your text and try to find an essay question that fits. I recommend trying to get some setting questions in there as they often come up.

Always use Past Papers are they're essential and if you can get your friends to read flashcards to you that's also a bonus.
sparknotes.com is excellent when it comes to critical essays.


Now if you're looking at taking maths I recommend you try Khan Academy, whenever you're doing a topic at school spend 30 minutes of your free time doing their exercises at home. This includes watching some videos and answering about 10 questions. It honestly helps so much and they break the course down into tiny bite-sized chunks so you can understand it better.
- Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/

I also highly recommend you use past papers but do not use the actual SQA site. Dunblane high school and highermaths.co.uk have so many past papers starting from the 2000's and onwards. Some even have the written working so you're able to follow along whilst you work!
- DHS: https://www.dunblanehighschool.org.uk/maths/course/higher-past-papers/higher/
- HigherMath: https://www.highermathematics.co.uk/


Hope this helps!