2025-26 National 5 Modern Studies discussion

Welcome to the discussion for National 5 Modern Studies! :grin:

If you are studying this Nat 5 qualification this year then please post below and get involved in the discussion.

How are you finding it so far?
Most enjoyable part?
Most difficult part?

Do you have any questions or tips for others? Please share

You can find discussions about all other SQA national qualifications here >>

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 1

frasercameron

N5 Assignment – Fill in form

I'm doing my national 5 modern studies assignment, if anyone could send me some responses it would be highly appreciated!

Reply 2

jasmineva3128

Hi, my name is Jasmin and I got an A1 in National 5 Modern Studies in 2025. Specifically, I scored 73/80 in the exam and 20/20 in the assignment.

I'm here to answer any questions about National 5 Modern Studies. I'm also now doing Higher Modern Studies, so if anyone's got any questions about that so far or the jump from Nat 5 to Higher then I can answer those too.

Reply 3

fb276

Any tips for revising Nat 5? For me i just seem to cram a week before my test and just hope for the best. I do well, but I’m looking for more active ways.

Reply 4

jasmineva3128

Hi.

I honestly never knew more than a week in advance if I had a test in modern studies (except for the prelim) so I always felt like I was cramming a bit.

I think that it really depends on the way that you find best to revise (which you can figure out if you haven't already).

If you find flashcards useful then I would make them as you learn so that you can go over them as much as possible once you know you have a test.

If you find blurting (recalling what you know without using your notes) useful then try a mix of past paper questions, mind maps, and writing out your notes the best you can from memory. If I couldn't be bothered writing then sometimes I would speak the answer to a question instead.

I do think that if you use flashcards you should still do at least a bit of blurting as that will help the information stick more, but for some people that isn't always necessary. If you do blurting then you don't necessarily need to use flashcards.

I hope this helps you, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. 😊

Reply 5

joshshshsh738

hi, im just wondering if you could tell me how you revised and remembered your assignment? im having a hard time trying to remember all of it if you could just suggest what worked for you? thank youu

Reply 6

fb276

Original post

by joshshshsh738

hi, im just wondering if you could tell me how you revised and remembered your assignment? im having a hard time trying to remember all of it if you could just suggest what worked for you? thank youu

hi! i’m in s4 and we did our assignment back in november, and mine went pretty well, so i’ll just share what worked for me :smile:

the main thing that helped was breaking everything down into clear sections. for the research methods and evaluation, I learned each method in the same pattern: what the method was, why it was a strength, and why it was a weakness. keeping that three-part structure for every method made it way easier to remember because the layout was always the same.

for the analysis and key findings that’s where I split things into smaller parts. i organised it by aim 1, aim 2 and aim 3. under each aim I’d remember is it as “source A shows…”, “source B shows…”, then finish it with a short sentence that summed everything up and linked back to the aim. thinking of it in those small building blocks made it feel much more manageable.

after that, i turned everything into flashcards. i’d either say the answers out loud or write them out repeatedly from memory until it stuck. active recall made a big difference compared to just rereading notes.

i also used a big whiteboard at home. i made a mind map with branches for aim 1, aim 2, aim 3, and then smaller branches for each source underneath. then i’d wipe parts of it and try to fill it back in from memory. that really helped me visualise how everything linked together and spot gaps in my knowledge.

for the conclusion, i basically reduced it into clear bullet points and memorised the key ideas rather than full paragraphs.

this might not work for everyone because some people prefer learning the main points and then adapting their answer in the actual write up. for me personally, i feel more secure fully memorising what i want to say so i can write it down confidently. since the assignment is worth a percentage of our overall grade, i didn’t want to risk going blank after putting so much effort into it (literally my worst fear 😭). memorising it properly just gave me peace of mind.

honestly, try not to stress too much. even though i only put minimal information on my resource sheet, i was still able to remember what i needed in the exam. just make sure nothing on your resource sheet is copied directly from your assignment, since you’re not allowed to lift wording from it.

hope that helps a bit :smile:

you’ve got this!

Reply 7

joshshshsh738

thank you so much! im in s5 i did do modern studies last year but that was my issue i didnt remember my assignment at all which got me no marks and if i did remember it i probably wouldve passed, but i didnt lol

i wouldve passed if i got 4 more marks thats why im trying rlly hard this year i need higher but i js wasnt locked in last year 😭

but thank you sm!

Reply 8

jasmineva3128

Original post

by joshshshsh738

hi, im just wondering if you could tell me how you revised and remembered your assignment? im having a hard time trying to remember all of it if you could just suggest what worked for you? thank youu

I agree with what fb276 has said. I think it's a very good way to memorise it.

I personally like to read over a paragraph and then summarise it (or have someone read it aloud to me and then I have to tell them the key points back).

However, if you're wanting to make sure you don't forget any of it my method is less full proof.

Reply 9

MR finder al

Original post

by jasmineva3128

Welcome to the discussion for National 5 Modern Studies! :grin:

If you are studying this Nat 5 qualification this year then please post below and get involved in the discussion.
How are you finding it so far?
Most enjoyable part?
Most difficult part?
Do you have any questions or tips for others? Please share
You can find discussions about all other SQA national qualifications here >>

i wanted to do politics but i do more scinece in modern study do you know how to improve my paraphasing

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Articles for you

How student finance actually works

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.

Try out the app

Continue on web