Scottish baccalaureate of languages

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had done this before. I'm doing 6 Highers in S5 (one more than everyone else) and was wondering if doing Advanced Higher Spanish, Gaelic and Maths, Higher French and the project would be far too much of a workload.

Reply 1

KnittingBookworm

5

Hi, I've done the Scottish Baccalaureate in Languages this year and in fact have just done my final presentation today! You can choose anything you like for the interdisciplinary project which makes it really fun and this type of independent research is good preparation for university. I'd really recommend it! I have done Advanced Higher English, French and Spanish this year as well as the Baccalaureate and would say this has been a lot of work (especially with university applications) but manageable. I also have six Highers, although I did one a year early. I would advise that this would be a lot of work but it also depends on your plans afterwards. Are you planning on applying for university and if so, which course and where? I am looking to study French and Spanish this year so this was definitely the right decision for me, and I wouldn't want to be taking another subject as this could put my grades at risk when I have a very high conditional offer to achieve. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any more questions!

Reply 2

hannah8patricia

OP

4

Original post by KnittingBookworm

Hi, I've done the Scottish Baccalaureate in Languages this year and in fact have just done my final presentation today! You can choose anything you like for the interdisciplinary project which makes it really fun and this type of independent research is good preparation for university. I'd really recommend it! I have done Advanced Higher English, French and Spanish this year as well as the Baccalaureate and would say this has been a lot of work (especially with university applications) but manageable. I also have six Highers, although I did one a year early. I would advise that this would be a lot of work but it also depends on your plans afterwards. Are you planning on applying for university and if so, which course and where? I am looking to study French and Spanish this year so this was definitely the right decision for me, and I wouldn't want to be taking another subject as this could put my grades at risk when I have a very high conditional offer to achieve. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any more questions!

Thank you, that really helps. Did you do ant of the Advanced Highers online? Does that make them more difficult? Also, how much work was the interdisciplinary project? Thank you!

Reply 3

KnittingBookworm

5

Glad I can help as there's not many people who do it (according to the SQA only 175 last year!). I have done all three Advanced Highers at school, with French and Spanish both reduced to 4 periods instead of 6 due to less people taking them. Obviously it's ideal to do them in school, but even living in a city where there is the option for some of going to another school I have heard of people doing Advanced Highers online. I think it will very much depend on the subject and council. Someone joined my Spanish class from another school after online didn't work for them, but I imagine all experiences are different, just like with different teachers. If this will be necessary for you, perhaps try speaking to someone from your school who has done the online course before.
In terms of workload for the interdisciplinary project, according to this document (https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/attainment-statistics-(august)-2023-provisional-summary.pdf) from the SQA the time you will spend will be about equivalent to the amount of time you will spend self-studying for an Advanced Higher. I'd say it's less given you should finish the project to hand in in March, but there's still a significant amount of work involved. You can think of it in two different parts: firstly, the project itself--so researching/interviewing/field work/observations/surveys etc and then a final presentation, which could take a variety of formats such as a talk, report, podcast or website (although your mentor will explain all this to you). This is the really fun part. Then there is the slightly more tedious part which is filling out several documents for the SQA, as they won't actually see the presentation. You have to submit 5 pieces: a proposal, a plan, a presentation of findings (a report of what you did), an evaluation of the project and a self-evaluation. All need to be detailed but you will do the first two at the start of the year and then the last three in February/March. You'll have times of the year which are more busy than others and of course you also need to have time for your UCAS application if you are applying to university or college next year. Referring back to your original question, I think doing 3 Advanced Highers, a Higher and a Baccalaureate would be a big workload. I am the only person I know in my year doing 3 Advanced Highers and the Baccalaureate, and I would say this is a lot but manageable for me. Of course it will depend on your extracurricular activities or if you have a part time job too though. Sorry this was so long but hope this gives you a bit more of an insight! Again, feel free to ask any more questions. I would absolutely recommend the Baccalaureate, I've really enjoyed it!

Scottish baccalaureate of languages

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