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SQA Highers

What are the best resources to prepare for highers apart from past papers because I haven't learnt all topics yet. I need 5 As in Maths, English, Biology, Chemistry and Business. I'm worrying the most about English.
Reply 1
Original post by sregginontop
What are the best resources to prepare for highers apart from past papers because I haven't learnt all topics yet. I need 5 As in Maths, English, Biology, Chemistry and Business. I'm worrying the most about English.

I really recommend books, this isn’t smth I used to revise in Nat 5 but in highers I was finding it really difficult to keep up with the content and I found myself stuck with a ton of info that I needed to know before the exams.

For chem and bio I used how to pass and the leckie leckie revise + practice books. They really helped cause they had all the sqa key areas u needed to know summarised and with diagrams so u could read, highlight whatever u struggle remembering and then practice questions for each topic and u could also easily just review anything u highlighted cause it’s all in one place.

For English there isn’t much to do besides doing a lot of past papers and really understanding whatever text ur gonna do for ur critical reading in the exam. If u can’t access enough past papers get a book with older papers. I really recommend understanding how to answer each type of ruae question with enough detail to get u marks because teachers often tell u to write heaps of detail which isn’t really practical in the exam. Know what the marker is looking for and write it in ur answer and ur fine. If there’s a book that has the analysis for wtvr text ur doing in the exam i would suggest not wasting time and getting it cause it saves u from spending too much time researching analysis.

For maths u can’t really do anything but past papers and make sure to keep up with the content. If there’s anything u don’t understand, watch videos on it early on and do practice questions from the higher maths website until ur 100% confident with it. Mr Thomas on YouTube explains the topics in a really easy way if u ever need it.

I hope that helps, I didn’t take business so I don’t really have advise for it. Good luck!
(edited 4 months ago)
Reply 2
I sat all of these Highers (asides from Business) last year, so I hope that this helps:

Biology: I would highly recommend the grade booster book for revision- it contains a large amount of both 'C-grade' and 'A-grade' type questions with concise, helpful marking instructions for each individual topic- very important if you are looking for an A. I found it also a handy resource to make flashcards from, which I would strongly suggest for Biology in particular. Asides from this, the student book is a great resource, with questions for each topic as well as useful summaries. The SQA course specification document itself was really helpful to revise from- p35 onwards gives you absolutely everything you need to know- I liked to write down everything I knew from a topic and compare it with the specs to see if I had missed anything.
Chemistry: the wesbite JabChem is a great resource, with summary notes on each unit containing everything you need to know. The Hodder Gibson textbook was by far my best resource, with each topic explained in great detail and put into context, which was very helpful. Another useful textbook was the higher chemistry calculations one, which had loads of practice questions for each type of calculation- worth spending a lot of time on if you are looking for an A. Course specifications are also helpful for the more 'knowledge based' topics (most of unit 1 + 2) in which you just need to memorise things.
Maths: the website dynamic maths was excellent for finding questions on specific topics (use the question bank)- I also found the higher revision page on Madras Mathematics particularly helpful for practicing one topic at a time- they have revision sheets by topic as well as prelims practice papers etc. Likewise, textbook questions are great for topics you are struggling on- I would particularly recommend the Heinemann one.
English: I suppose its dependant on which texts you are studying, but I found BBC bitesize helpful on occasion for some analysis, both for SST and the critical essay. Mr Hoyes IB Website may include a text you are studying (eg Gatsby) and contains brilliant analysis of quotes, character profiles etc. For RUAE and some folio advice, the grade A booster was pretty useful- this article (https://www.saturdayschoolglasgow.com/post/sqa-higher-english-an-expert-guide-to-ruae) was also helpful for RUAE. For an A, I would recommend reading your texts ASAP and try to start writing essays as early as you can- the time pressure is difficult in English so knowing your texts inside out really helps with that.

Again, hope this helps- you've got this!!
Reply 3
Original post by WMArchibald
I sat all of these Highers (asides from Business) last year, so I hope that this helps:
Biology: I would highly recommend the grade booster book for revision- it contains a large amount of both 'C-grade' and 'A-grade' type questions with concise, helpful marking instructions for each individual topic- very important if you are looking for an A. I found it also a handy resource to make flashcards from, which I would strongly suggest for Biology in particular. Asides from this, the student book is a great resource, with questions for each topic as well as useful summaries. The SQA course specification document itself was really helpful to revise from- p35 onwards gives you absolutely everything you need to know- I liked to write down everything I knew from a topic and compare it with the specs to see if I had missed anything.
Chemistry: the wesbite JabChem is a great resource, with summary notes on each unit containing everything you need to know. The Hodder Gibson textbook was by far my best resource, with each topic explained in great detail and put into context, which was very helpful. Another useful textbook was the higher chemistry calculations one, which had loads of practice questions for each type of calculation- worth spending a lot of time on if you are looking for an A. Course specifications are also helpful for the more 'knowledge based' topics (most of unit 1 + 2) in which you just need to memorise things.
Maths: the website dynamic maths was excellent for finding questions on specific topics (use the question bank)- I also found the higher revision page on Madras Mathematics particularly helpful for practicing one topic at a time- they have revision sheets by topic as well as prelims practice papers etc. Likewise, textbook questions are great for topics you are struggling on- I would particularly recommend the Heinemann one.
English: I suppose its dependant on which texts you are studying, but I found BBC bitesize helpful on occasion for some analysis, both for SST and the critical essay. Mr Hoyes IB Website may include a text you are studying (eg Gatsby) and contains brilliant analysis of quotes, character profiles etc. For RUAE and some folio advice, the grade A booster was pretty useful- this article (https://www.saturdayschoolglasgow.com/post/sqa-higher-english-an-expert-guide-to-ruae) was also helpful for RUAE. For an A, I would recommend reading your texts ASAP and try to start writing essays as early as you can- the time pressure is difficult in English so knowing your texts inside out really helps with that.
Again, hope this helps- you've got this!!

Thanks
Reply 4
Original post by WMArchibald
I sat all of these Highers (asides from Business) last year, so I hope that this helps:
Biology: I would highly recommend the grade booster book for revision- it contains a large amount of both 'C-grade' and 'A-grade' type questions with concise, helpful marking instructions for each individual topic- very important if you are looking for an A. I found it also a handy resource to make flashcards from, which I would strongly suggest for Biology in particular. Asides from this, the student book is a great resource, with questions for each topic as well as useful summaries. The SQA course specification document itself was really helpful to revise from- p35 onwards gives you absolutely everything you need to know- I liked to write down everything I knew from a topic and compare it with the specs to see if I had missed anything.
Chemistry: the wesbite JabChem is a great resource, with summary notes on each unit containing everything you need to know. The Hodder Gibson textbook was by far my best resource, with each topic explained in great detail and put into context, which was very helpful. Another useful textbook was the higher chemistry calculations one, which had loads of practice questions for each type of calculation- worth spending a lot of time on if you are looking for an A. Course specifications are also helpful for the more 'knowledge based' topics (most of unit 1 + 2) in which you just need to memorise things.
Maths: the website dynamic maths was excellent for finding questions on specific topics (use the question bank)- I also found the higher revision page on Madras Mathematics particularly helpful for practicing one topic at a time- they have revision sheets by topic as well as prelims practice papers etc. Likewise, textbook questions are great for topics you are struggling on- I would particularly recommend the Heinemann one.
English: I suppose its dependant on which texts you are studying, but I found BBC bitesize helpful on occasion for some analysis, both for SST and the critical essay. Mr Hoyes IB Website may include a text you are studying (eg Gatsby) and contains brilliant analysis of quotes, character profiles etc. For RUAE and some folio advice, the grade A booster was pretty useful- this article (https://www.saturdayschoolglasgow.com/post/sqa-higher-english-an-expert-guide-to-ruae) was also helpful for RUAE. For an A, I would recommend reading your texts ASAP and try to start writing essays as early as you can- the time pressure is difficult in English so knowing your texts inside out really helps with that.
Again, hope this helps- you've got this!!

I cant find the summary notes on JabChem
Reply 5
Original post by sregginontop
I cant find the summary notes on JabChem

Ah sorry, they are called the 'Traffic Lights- self evaluation'- essentially they are just summary notes for each unit

Let me know if you still cannot find them
(edited 4 months ago)

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