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SQA Higher History (British, European and World History) - 9th May 2025

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How did your SQA Higher History (British, European and World History) exam go today?


SQA Higher History (British, European and World History) - 9th May 2025 [exam chat]

Welcome to the exam discussion thread for this exam. Introduce yourself! Let others know what you're aiming for in your exams, what you are struggling with in your revision or anything else. Wishing you all the best of luck.

General Information
Date: 09 May
Time: 9am - 10:30am
Paper 2 chat is HERE

Click here to find discussions for other SQA exams
(edited 8 months ago)

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Reply 1

Hey guys! What do we all think will come up in this year's higher history essay questions

I've seen posts like this from previous years, so I just thought I'd make one for this year

Good luck to everyone who's sitting it on the 9th of May. I hope you're not all as nervous as me! :smile:

Reply 2

My teacher has predicted Issue 1, 3, and 5 are likely to come up!

However, she also said that this is like the end of a cycle for the SQA, so it's possible that they might shake things up just to see how we cope. Personally, I think that's unlikely given all the backlash about last years marking. If anything, I would say that they could make both papers easier for us this year just to save face.

Reply 3

Original post
by Becca2008
My teacher has predicted Issue 1, 3, and 5 are likely to come up!
However, she also said that this is like the end of a cycle for the SQA, so it's possible that they might shake things up just to see how we cope. Personally, I think that's unlikely given all the backlash about last years marking. If anything, I would say that they could make both papers easier for us this year just to save face.


What questions are those

Reply 4

Original post
by Anonymous 543
What questions are those
My teacher says that it doesn't matter which topic you study, the same Issues will be asked for each of the exam questions. So it would still be Issue 1 (for example) for Britain, USA, Italy, The Crusades etc etc.

For the British section this would be:
Issue 1- An evaluation of the reasons why Britain became more democratic, 1851–1928
Issue 3- An evaluation of the reasons why some women were given the vote in 1918
Issue 5- An assessment of the effectiveness of the Liberal social welfare reforms

For the USA this would be:
Issue 1- An evaluation of the reasons for changing attitudes towards immigration in the 1920s
Issue 3- An evaluation of the reasons for the economic crisis of 1929–33
Issue 5- An evaluation of the reasons for the development of the Civil Rights campaign, after 1945


And the same for any other topic

Reply 5

Are we excited? (lol) I’ve barely revised my essays since before the holidays because I’ve been focusing so much on my other exams for uni. I’m hoping I can still make an A in the exam. Does anyone have any tips for revising essays? It takes so long and I’m always so unmotivated to actually get started.

Reply 6

Original post
by Bee2008
Are we excited? (lol) I’ve barely revised my essays since before the holidays because I’ve been focusing so much on my other exams for uni. I’m hoping I can still make an A in the exam. Does anyone have any tips for revising essays? It takes so long and I’m always so unmotivated to actually get started.

Hey, I know how you are feeling! I feel not too bad for the Britain essays as I think the votes for women essay will come up which is my strong point and i think I can get full marks. It's the Cold war that does it for me and its sooo complicated and i am finding it quite hard to get my brain wrapped around it! Has anybody got any study tips for revising the cold war?? Pls I need help!

Reply 7

Original post
by be_read08
Hey, I know how you are feeling! I feel not too bad for the Britain essays as I think the votes for women essay will come up which is my strong point and i think I can get full marks. It's the Cold war that does it for me and its sooo complicated and i am finding it quite hard to get my brain wrapped around it! Has anybody got any study tips for revising the cold war?? Pls I need help!

hey, I felt the same way for mine when I did them! my biggest tip this closes to the exam is honestly to forget about fully understanding the topic and just clearly pick things to get you each mark (clear knowledge point etc). in terms of remembering, just try and remember small parts of each point and it will come back to you in the exam. a clear structure also helps keep a clear mind in exam and is makes it far easier for them to award you marks! I picked what essays I felt best in and was writing them out over and over again up until the day of the exam. good luck 🙂 feel free to ask any questions

Reply 8

Original post
by be_read08
Hey, I know how you are feeling! I feel not too bad for the Britain essays as I think the votes for women essay will come up which is my strong point and i think I can get full marks. It's the Cold war that does it for me and its sooo complicated and i am finding it quite hard to get my brain wrapped around it! Has anybody got any study tips for revising the cold war?? Pls I need help!


the Cold War essay is gonna be the end of me, I made flashcards with a card for each paragraph and... I couldn't tell you if they're working. rn I'm just writing my essays (timed) and then going over them again with highlighters and a pink pen for corrections.

Reply 9

Does anyone think liberal reforms will come up, that’s the only one I’ve properly learned as i think it will come up but not sure if that’s too risky

Reply 10

Original post
by Becca2008
My teacher says that it doesn't matter which topic you study, the same Issues will be asked for each of the exam questions. So it would still be Issue 1 (for example) for Britain, USA, Italy, The Crusades etc etc.
For the British section this would be:
Issue 1- An evaluation of the reasons why Britain became more democratic, 1851–1928
Issue 3- An evaluation of the reasons why some women were given the vote in 1918
Issue 5- An assessment of the effectiveness of the Liberal social welfare reforms
For the USA this would be:
Issue 1- An evaluation of the reasons for changing attitudes towards immigration in the 1920s
Issue 3- An evaluation of the reasons for the economic crisis of 1929–33
Issue 5- An evaluation of the reasons for the development of the Civil Rights campaign, after 1945
And the same for any other topic

I’ve only learnt issue 5, do we think that’s one of the more likely to come up, or do we think votes for women?

Reply 11

Original post
by Lucybrown222
I’ve only learnt issue 5, do we think that’s one of the more likely to come up, or do we think votes for women?

My teacher was really undecided about whether Issue Five will come up at all, so I'm not totally sure because it could go either way between Five and Six. Votes for Women might be a safer bet to learn as well, just in case.

Reply 12

Original post
by Becca2008
My teacher was really undecided about whether Issue Five will come up at all, so I'm not totally sure because it could go either way between Five and Six. Votes for Women might be a safer bet to learn as well, just in case.

Okay perfect thankyou! Is there any point learning issue 4

Reply 13

Original post
by Lucybrown222
Sorry i meant issue 4 :smile:

If I’m being entirely honest, I would say that there is a point to learning all of the issues you’ve been taught. Predictions aren’t concrete and the SQA could decide to throw a random curveball which goes completely against everything that everyone’s been saying. It might take a lot of time and it might be a pain, but you’ll thank yourself for learning it in the exam if it’s the only question you can answer! (lowkey i’m actually dying with the usa essays though bc why tf are they so similar????????)

Reply 14

Original post
by Becca2008
If I’m being entirely honest, I would say that there is a point to learning all of the issues you’ve been taught. Predictions aren’t concrete and the SQA could decide to throw a random curveball which goes completely against everything that everyone’s been saying. It might take a lot of time and it might be a pain, but you’ll thank yourself for learning it in the exam if it’s the only question you can answer! (lowkey i’m actually dying with the usa essays though bc why tf are they so similar????????)

Oh no that means I’m going to have to learn seven essays by Friday, i do Germany for European world so I don’t have USA but maybe that’s a good thing if you think they are similar. I’ve got three exams in a row, and history is my last so what essay question do u think is least likely to come up, as i really don’t be having the time to learn them all!

Reply 15

does anyone know how you're meant to go about doing evaluation because I know it's about like weighing up the importance of the factor overall but every time I tried that my teacher just said to make it "better" which isn't helpful tbh anyways does anyone have any tips

Reply 16

Original post
by clippy_61
does anyone know how you're meant to go about doing evaluation because I know it's about like weighing up the importance of the factor overall but every time I tried that my teacher just said to make it "better" which isn't helpful tbh anyways does anyone have any tips

I recommend not doing any evaulation points and just focusing on the main points like Knowledge, Analysis and Analysis+ points

Reply 17

Original post
by Bee2008
the Cold War essay is gonna be the end of me, I made flashcards with a card for each paragraph and... I couldn't tell you if they're working. rn I'm just writing my essays (timed) and then going over them again with highlighters and a pink pen for corrections.

I know I HATE the cold war topic, i'm trying to revise it now but like its sooo complicated.

Reply 18

Original post
by Lucybrown222
Does anyone think liberal reforms will come up, that’s the only one I’ve properly learned as i think it will come up but not sure if that’s too risky

It might come up my predictions for the Britain essays are Issues 1, 3, and 5 as they havent came up for a while. I LOVE the votes for women essay sooo my fingers are cross 🤞

Reply 19

Original post
by be_read08
I recommend not doing any evaulation points and just focusing on the main points like Knowledge, Analysis and Analysis+ points


my assignment was garbage I need a good A or I can't get an A overall

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