SQA Higher Modern Studies Paper 1 - 23rd May 2025

does anyone have predictions for essays including - democracy in Scotland, social issues and International Issues? @StrawberryDreams

SQA Higher Modern Studies Paper 1 - 23rd 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: 23 May 2025
Time: 9AM-10:45AM
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Good luck!

Reply 1

gracetaylor7367

I think it might be voting behaviour - with media. democracy in Scotland
international influence - china (for my topic)
and social issues I have no idea.

Reply 2

StrawberryDreams

TSR Community Staff

Original post

by gracetaylor7367

does anyone have predictions for essays including - democracy in Scotland, social issues and International Issues? @StrawberryDreams

Hey! Thanks for the tag - can you confirm which paper this is so I can get it added to the directory? :smile:

Reply 3

gracetaylor7367

Original post

by StrawberryDreams

Hey! Thanks for the tag - can you confirm which paper this is so I can get it added to the directory? :smile:

higher modern studies - paper 1

Reply 4

Becca2008

Here is my guesses!
I think for democracy it could be:
Issue 1- Alternative Systems of Governance for Scotland - It's only come up 3 times in the past 5 years (including the 2021 assessment paper) and it wasn't used in 2024
Issue 2- Implications of Leaving the EU - It only came up once in the 2021 Assessment essay where it asked how the arguments for Brexit are more convincing than the ones against.
Issue 5- Voting Behaviour - It could also come up because it's only been used 3 times in the past 5 years, and it was not used in 2024 as well. The only thing that puts me off this is that it was used 3 times in a row (2021, 2022, and 2023) so there might be a longer break between that and it being asked again.
Issue 6- Pressure Groups - It's only come up 3 times and they have been relatively spread out. However, it was used in 2024 so there might be a break between it being asked again.

For Crime:
Issue 1- Legal Theories - It's only been used 2 times in the last 5 years (2023 and 2022), and it was not used last year
Issue 3- Impact of Crime on Victims, Families, and Offenders - (More specifically Family) - It's also only been used 2 times and it was not asked last year. Impact on victims was asked in 2019 and impact on offenders was asked in 2023 so it's only logical that there is a question on family impact.

USA (World Powers): I think it is likely that this is where the 12 marker will be. In the last 5 years, there has only been 1 12 marker given to this section and it was in the 2021 assessment paper so it's not even technically an exam
Issue 2- Dominance of Political Institution - It's only been asked 2 times in the last 5 years, and it was not used in the 2024 exam last year.
Issue 4 - Responses to Inequality - It's only been asked 2 times in the last 5 years and one of these instances was in the 2021 paper.

My neighbour is a modern studies teacher and she can't decide between Issue 1, 2, 5, and 6 for democracy, and Issue 2, 3, 4, and 5 for USA (lowkey this might just be her way of getting me to study bc that's like all the topics lmao)

Reply 5

D0rrian

Original post

by Becca2008

Here is my guesses!
I think for democracy it could be:
Issue 1- Alternative Systems of Governance for Scotland - It's only come up 3 times in the past 5 years (including the 2021 assessment paper) and it wasn't used in 2024
Issue 2- Implications of Leaving the EU - It only came up once in the 2021 Assessment essay where it asked how the arguments for Brexit are more convincing than the ones against.
Issue 5- Voting Behaviour - It could also come up because it's only been used 3 times in the past 5 years, and it was not used in 2024 as well. The only thing that puts me off this is that it was used 3 times in a row (2021, 2022, and 2023) so there might be a longer break between that and it being asked again.
Issue 6- Pressure Groups - It's only come up 3 times and they have been relatively spread out. However, it was used in 2024 so there might be a break between it being asked again.
For Crime:
Issue 1- Legal Theories - It's only been used 2 times in the last 5 years (2023 and 2022), and it was not used last year
Issue 3- Impact of Crime on Victims, Families, and Offenders - (More specifically Family) - It's also only been used 2 times and it was not asked last year. Impact on victims was asked in 2019 and impact on offenders was asked in 2023 so it's only logical that there is a question on family impact.
USA (World Powers): I think it is likely that this is where the 12 marker will be. In the last 5 years, there has only been 1 12 marker given to this section and it was in the 2021 assessment paper so it's not even technically an exam
Issue 2- Dominance of Political Institution - It's only been asked 2 times in the last 5 years, and it was not used in the 2024 exam last year.
Issue 4 - Responses to Inequality - It's only been asked 2 times in the last 5 years and one of these instances was in the 2021 paper.
My neighbour is a modern studies teacher and she can't decide between Issue 1, 2, 5, and 6 for democracy, and Issue 2, 3, 4, and 5 for USA (lowkey this might just be her way of getting me to study bc that's like all the topics lmao)

You can find past papers older than 2019 by using the WayBack Machine on Internet Archive or loads of past papers (including Mods) can be found on this website: https://www.learnyay.co.uk/modern-studies/sqa-modern-studies/higher/past-papers/. If you have subjects where you can't find past papers using either of these methods then search for "Higher [subject] [year]" and you'll be able to find marking instructions and can figure out what was asked from that. I've done this for all of my subjects and it's made my predictions soooo much better. I felt like Nostradamus when I saw that I'd predicted the English Critical Reading questions.