Higher students - how was the jump from Nat 5?

13

Currently in S4, moving into S5 soon, and I’d like to know what to expect. My subjects will be biology, chemistry, maths, English and French, if that helps. I’m excited to learn more about the subjects I enjoy but starting to get quite stressed.

Thanks!

Reply 1

duplicate-cat

9

Original post

by isa-is-asleep

Currently in S4, moving into S5 soon, and I’d like to know what to expect. My subjects will be biology, chemistry, maths, English and French, if that helps. I’m excited to learn more about the subjects I enjoy but starting to get quite stressed.
Thanks!

hey ! in s5 i took maths, eng, french, business and art. maths is a bit more difficult if you don’t keep on top of it (that’s what i did, ended up getting *the* pass mark in the exam lol). english is quite a big jump too since u no longer get marks for quotes and there’s much more to do but it’s all manageable. higher french is soooo much better than n5, you actually begin to learn the language instead of memorising paragraphs (still do but less). long story short - keep revising but don’t stress it; what’s important is that you know your stuff
good luck in s5 🫶

Reply 2

isa-is-asleep

OP

13

Original post

by duplicate-cat

hey ! in s5 i took maths, eng, french, business and art. maths is a bit more difficult if you don’t keep on top of it (that’s what i did, ended up getting *the* pass mark in the exam lol). english is quite a big jump too since u no longer get marks for quotes and there’s much more to do but it’s all manageable. higher french is soooo much better than n5, you actually begin to learn the language instead of memorising paragraphs (still do but less). long story short - keep revising but don’t stress it; what’s important is that you know your stuff
good luck in s5 🫶

Thank you so much for the response! That’s good to know

Reply 3

University of Strathclyde Student Ambassador

Official Rep

15

Original post

by isa-is-asleep

Currently in S4, moving into S5 soon, and I’d like to know what to expect. My subjects will be biology, chemistry, maths, English and French, if that helps. I’m excited to learn more about the subjects I enjoy but starting to get quite stressed.
Thanks!

Hey Isa!,
I did very similar subjects in S5 apart from modern studies instead of french, I sat my highers in 2022 so just keep in mind, my experience might be slightly different since, for science especially, the assignments were removed for me.

here's a bit on how I found the jump from N5 to higher:
English - found it to be a very similar structure to N5. If you were comfortable with the set text and essay writing side of things before, that part carries over well into Higher. You just go into a bit more depth, and I remember having a bit more to write in the exam, but it’s not a huge change and builds on well from what you've done before. (:

Maths- I found it to be a bit more of a jump (however I think this was largely because I missed quite a bit of the N5 course content during Covid)

Biology & Chemistry - both had a lot more detail within answers but you'll see when you get onto past papers a lot of similar type of questions are asked year and year again, I remember the problem solving in chemistry being a bit more challenging but overall the content was manageable and a lot more interesting!

Overall, the key is to practice questions regularly!- the more you do it, the more you get used to the structure of questions asked & you can clear up any questions with your teachers (:

Try not to stress to badly, everyone is in the same boat!, best of luck with S5 ☺️

Emily
2nd Year Chemistry Student
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep

Reply 4

isa-is-asleep

OP

13

Original post

by University of Strathclyde Student Ambassador

Hey Isa!,
I did very similar subjects in S5 apart from modern studies instead of french, I sat my highers in 2022 so just keep in mind, my experience might be slightly different since, for science especially, the assignments were removed for me.
here's a bit on how I found the jump from N5 to higher:
English - found it to be a very similar structure to N5. If you were comfortable with the set text and essay writing side of things before, that part carries over well into Higher. You just go into a bit more depth, and I remember having a bit more to write in the exam, but it’s not a huge change and builds on well from what you've done before. (:
Maths- I found it to be a bit more of a jump (however I think this was largely because I missed quite a bit of the N5 course content during Covid)
Biology & Chemistry - both had a lot more detail within answers but you'll see when you get onto past papers a lot of similar type of questions are asked year and year again, I remember the problem solving in chemistry being a bit more challenging but overall the content was manageable and a lot more interesting!
Overall, the key is to practice questions regularly!- the more you do it, the more you get used to the structure of questions asked & you can clear up any questions with your teachers (:
Try not to stress to badly, everyone is in the same boat!, best of luck with S5 ☺️
Emily
2nd Year Chemistry Student
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep

Thank you so much for the help! I appreciate the detailed response. I'll take your advice, I feel a little calmer now.

Reply 5

University of Strathclyde Student Ambassador

Official Rep

15

Original post

by isa-is-asleep

Thank you so much for the help! I appreciate the detailed response. I'll take your advice, I feel a little calmer now.

no porblem, happy to help (:

Reply 6

susuu1099

3

Original post

by duplicate-cat

hey ! in s5 i took maths, eng, french, business and art. maths is a bit more difficult if you don’t keep on top of it (that’s what i did, ended up getting *the* pass mark in the exam lol). english is quite a big jump too since u no longer get marks for quotes and there’s much more to do but it’s all manageable. higher french is soooo much better than n5, you actually begin to learn the language instead of memorising paragraphs (still do but less). long story short - keep revising but don’t stress it; what’s important is that you know your stuff
good luck in s5 🫶

how did u find business management? I'm taking it for higher next year

Reply 7

duplicate-cat

9

Original post

by susuu1099

how did u find business management? I'm taking it for higher next year

it’s very straightforward. there are 5 areas - understanding business, marketing, operations, people and finance. most of finance is just advs and disadvs/ what is it for different source of finance methods like a bank loan or an overdraft for example, there is a tiny bit of calculation to be done but it’s dead easy. you also have to do an assignment about a company of your choice, research it and write an essay about them. if you’re taking it after doing n5 you’ll probably get bored quite a bit as it’s almost the same as n5 except something is added (eg extended marketing mix (3 things are added) - if you’re crashing it, i think you’ll manage very well some people in my class last year crashed and got As so it really is easy. if u want i can send you my mind maps so you can get a feel for what content you’ll be learning / get an early revision tool ? lol
one thing i would recommend tho is understanding the command words as sometimes you can lose marks for not following them properly (like identifying instead of explaining)

Reply 8

totally_happyx

9

As someone studying basically the same subjects (human bio, chem, maths , English and business) and currently sitting my higher exams for them the jump from Nat 5 to higher is something people often underestimate. So many people felt as thought they didn’t need to revise in Nat 5 and did really well in their exams. However, the ones that carried this same mindset were the ones that went from getting A’s to barely passing their subjects. Higher is obviously much harder so it requires more work and dedication , this doesn’t mean studying every single day for hours , it just means the little things such as looking over your notes before and after class to jog your memory of what you learned and doing 5 questions each night goes a long way and allows you to spot gaps in your knowledge much earlier than everyone else which therefore helps you to feel prepared for your exams. Always, always make sure you ask for help when you need it and spend the year learning what revision techniques work best for you depending on the subject .

If you do all that I’m sure you’re going to manage well especially since you care about doing well so good luck !

Reply 9

strawbpuffcake

4

Original post

by isa-is-asleep

Currently in S4, moving into S5 soon, and I’d like to know what to expect. My subjects will be biology, chemistry, maths, English and French, if that helps. I’m excited to learn more about the subjects I enjoy but starting to get quite stressed.
Thanks!

i did similar, except i picked art & design instead of french. i would say for english & biology, the jump isn’t that bad. just more writing for english and biology is more specific, just get familiar with the marking scheme and where you pick up marks in answers. chemistry wasn’t too bad either, the only thing i would say about it is to make sure you’re good with all calculations and experiment based questions (as in, you are given an example of an experiement with results and are asked about it). for maths, make sure you consistently revise for it. the gap between nat 5 & higher maths is massive in my opinion. out of all my subjects, maths is definitely the one i’m the least confident in, but that’s just my experience. good luck next year!

Reply 10

username7638211

12

Original post

by duplicate-cat

it’s very straightforward. there are 5 areas - understanding business, marketing, operations, people and finance. most of finance is just advs and disadvs/ what is it for different source of finance methods like a bank loan or an overdraft for example, there is a tiny bit of calculation to be done but it’s dead easy. you also have to do an assignment about a company of your choice, research it and write an essay about them. if you’re taking it after doing n5 you’ll probably get bored quite a bit as it’s almost the same as n5 except something is added (eg extended marketing mix (3 things are added) - if you’re crashing it, i think you’ll manage very well some people in my class last year crashed and got As so it really is easy. if u want i can send you my mind maps so you can get a feel for what content you’ll be learning / get an early revision tool ? lol
one thing i would recommend tho is understanding the command words as sometimes you can lose marks for not following them properly (like identifying instead of explaining)

hey I also take business and I would love to have those revision resources thanks!!