Moving to Scotland, and don't know what to do!!!

I'm in year 11 in England. Moving to Scotland after finish GCSE's what do I do there? It seems astray and I cant grasp the system there and how to transition. What would be the possible paths from then. THANKS :smile:

Reply 1

Horsesarethebest

In Scotland we have 3 levels of exams you can take in your last 3 years of high school Nat 5s, Highers, Advanced Highers. Given you’ve taken GCSE the next step would probably be highers as nat5 is roughly equivalent to GCSE but does cover different areas and we have flexibility in our choices of what exams we take so you can take a range of exams at different levels in the same year. Unlike A levels 5 subjects are usually taken in S5(y12) so you have the option of not having to specialise quite so early.

Reply 2

Apolloz

Original post by Horsesarethebest

would it be possible to go straight into advanced highers? how long would it be for? 3 Years? what are the general requirements for advanced highers as in like gcse grades

Reply 3

Horsesarethebest

Advanced highers build on what is covered in Highers. I don’t know if you can go directly to Advanced highers as they are generally taken in the last year of high school as each course only lasts a year but you can definitely take any higher without any prerequisites. To go onto the next level most schools say you need at least a C in that subject and some ask for Bs but this is subject to teacher judgment.

Reply 4

pompompom29

Rough equivalents
GCSE = National 5
Highers = AS level (first year of A-level)
Advanced Highers = A2 level (second year of A-level)

In Scotland, high-performing students will take five Highers in S5, occasionally six. Then three Advanced Highers taken in S6. Very high-performing students can take on more.

In reality, most students do not take three Advanced Highers as many state schools do not have the resources to offer this, or students don’t want to. For instance, in S6 some students may only do one Advanced Higher alongside two Highers. For the majority of courses, Scottish unis do not require any Advanced Highers. Scottish unis generally make offers on the basis of your Higher exam results. However, English unis, especially competitive ones, require Advanced Highers.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 5

Nessie162

I think it's worth noting that highers only take 1 year to do so there's no point skipping them (not like you could anyway). Advanced highers also only take one year to complete.

Reply 6

Josiesf

Original post by Apolloz

Your next move is definitely Highers. They only take a year, and you'll probably do 5 based on your best/favourite GCSE's. If you're not sure which GCSE matches which higher just ask. You'll need to do some work over the summer to make sure you've covered the same stuff as Nat 5 pupils but it shouldn't be very much (Nat 5 is usually considered easier than GCSE). If you don't do this small amount of summer work though you will find yourself lagging significantly on random bits of the curriculum that your Scottish counterparts know inside out (say this from watching friends do this exact thing). In S6 following the "model" path you would do 3 Advanced Highers but realistically you'll do a mix of Higher and Advanced Higher (e.g. 2 Advanced Highers and a Higher), this is especially true if you plan on applying to Scottish University. Also worth noting you don't attend a special "college" for S5 and S6 you just stay in your normal high school. Whilst you might get some S5/S6 privileges they will probably not be the same as what you'd expect in England and especially in S5 you're unlikely to get lots of free periods or other things you might get at a college.
Hope this helped, feel free to ask me more if you need :smile:

Reply 7

cchloepx

A lot of people are mentioning doing 3 advanced highers in these comments so I’d just mention that most students do not take 3 advanced highers. I think in my year group of 70 there is one, maybe two students who take 3 advanced highers. Most do one or two, even the high-performing students.
The girl I know taking 3 adv. highers is aspiring to be a vet.
I’m a ‘high-performing’ student (straight As at nat5 and higher) but I only take 2 advanced highers and 2 highers.

Your first step will be highers. You cannot take advanced highers in 5th year, and you will not be allowed to go straight to advanced highers anyway. GCSE does not prepare you for advanced highers, as they are a bigger step towards uni-level work (at adv higher you’ll write a dissertation, etc)

Most students take 4-5 highers in 5th year. I knew some who took 3 or less if they weren’t particularly smart or wanted to do something else like a college course. But most take 4 or 5 and a nat 5, but if your school lets you have free periods you might (at my school 5th years aren’t allowed free periods so I took 5 highers and a nat5)

Then in 6th year you’ll probably do 3-4 subjects.

Reply 8

cchloepx

Also, the only necessity for 3 advanced highers is if you plan to apply to English universities. Most English universities require at least two advanced highers from Scottish students, and many don’t even take into account our highers.
I wanted to apply to UCL back in October but they wanted 3 adv highers from me and wouldn’t even consider my highers.
But unis like Leeds and Kent which I’ve applied to will consider highers and adv highers.