which text books to buy

Hi,

My daughter has just started 4th year to do NAT 5 in her chosen subjects next year: Maths, English, History, Physics, Chemistry and P.E (school only allows them to take 5)

I've ordered the new Maths Leckie student book which comes out this month and my daughter has the Hodder Gibson Maths book from a friend.
The school uses Teejay Nat 5 book so i bought this too (dont have enough to allow it home with them).
Not sure which is best for English though.
I bought the How to Pass Nat 5 history but would welcome feedback for any other history books available.
I've bought the Leckie N5 Physics student book. I am thinking about ordering the How to pass Nat 5 Chemistry: 2nd edition and How to pass Nat 5 Physics: 2nd edition but any advise welcome.
Not sure of what to buy for P.E though.
I don' mind buying lots of books as my son is going into 4th year the following year and will use some of them.
Any help welcome. :smile:

Reply 1

KateM04

Hi, I have just finished 5th year at school. During my national 5s, personally I found the how to pass books very helpful. I found they were concise and clear, and also had practice questions at the end of each topic which I found good. However obviously this was just me personally, so I would recommend going into a shop and looking through all the different types of books - how to pass, success guide, textbook, bright red etc. And seeing which types appeals to your learning style more. For English, it isn’t necessarily textbooks as such that you need, it’s more just learning poems and essays, and practicing close readings. I obviously sat the old N5s so am not really up to date about the new changes so can’t really say what the new books would be like, but my recommendation would be the how to pass for all subjects. Hope this helps and good luck.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 2

ravenshill

thank you for your help, will have a look 👍🏻

Reply 3

1582

Volunteer Team

The How to Pass books are great for maths and the sciences.

I did a HNC in applied sciences last year without any academic background in the subjects and their books at Nat 5 + Higher level are what I credit for getting me through it. :yes:

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 4

username3793604

Hey i'm in my 6th year and for my Nat 5's in 4th year I took Physics, Geography, History, English, Graphic communication, and maths and ended up with AAAAAB

I didn't actually own any books for both my Nat 5's and Higher's but the ones i borrowed that were extremely useful were
- Bright red N5 physics ( This book was a lifesaver and was the one of the main reasons why I got an A in my exam)
- N5 English success guide
Honestly you won't need to many books as most information is online or will be given in class, I know that they changed the N5's last year so my information might not be up to date but otherwise good luck to your daughter

Reply 5

ravenshill

Thank you for your advise, much appreciated.

Reply 6

cmary02

I found both the how to pass and leckie and leckie success guides helpful. I would also suggest ordering some practice paper (not past, practice) books when it comes nearer to exam time. I know I found that I had completed all of the online past papers in the run up to many of my exams, and needed more papers to do, so I found it really useful. They tend to come with really detailed marking instructions too, which is helpful.

For history, you can purchase topic specific textbooks online which give more detailed information than the how to pass books or success guides, however i would hold off from buying them all at once, and wait to see which topics your daughter is taught, as there is a wide range of topics for schools to pick. The Hodder and Gibson books are probably your best bet.

I'd also really encourage your daughter to take full advantage of the online resources available. Many schools and teachers upload revision notes on their websites, which are entirely free and very helpful. These are some websites which were most useful for me when I did my N5s:

www.maths180.com - practice papers, tutorial videos
https://mrmarrhistory.wordpress.com/national-45/ - revision notes and tutorial videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU32Og7N9VTUWL1qfJOPZxA - chemistry tutorial videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC11M6X7OFQo7D_qVWGayzxQ - maths tutorial videos
www.understandingstandards.org.uk - analysis of written answers and explanations of how to get marks
https://www.bbc.com/education/levels/z6gw2hv - bbc bitesize - notes and quizzes for nearly all subjects
https://www.sqa.org.uk/pastpapers/findpastpaper.htm?subject=&level=N5 - real sqa past papers and in depth marking instructions

Good luck to your daughter!!