2025-26 National 5 English discussion

Welcome to the discussion for National 5 English! :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 >>

Reply 1

jasmineva3128

Hi, my name is Jasmin and I got an A1 in National 5 English in 2025. Specifically, I scored 26/30 in the RUAE exam, 40/40 in the critical reading exam, and 20/30 in the folio.

I'm here to answer any questions about National 5 English. I'm also now doing Higher English, 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 2

fb276

How do I revise for the SST?

Reply 3

jasmineva3128

Original post

by fb276

How do I revise for the SST?

I mainly revised using flashcards. I would write the quote, technique, and analysis on the flashcard and read over them all in the lead up to a test/the exam.

If you're studying poetry then it's very realistic to just make flashcards for every single annotation, however if you're studying a longer text then you need to be more selective. If your SST is longer, I'd make flashcards with at least 5 annotations per theme/element that could come up in the 8 marker.

Other than that, past paper questions are your best friend. For some SSTs you can find free resources online that were made by schools or tutoring websites. Study Rocket has some useful stuff, particularly for Jekyll and Hyde, and I found plenty of resources by schools about Norman MacCaig poetry. BBC Bitesize is okay, but definitely shouldn't be used on its own.

If you're someone who learns well by listening to information then you could record yourself saying the annotations and listen to it back. There's also free online AI tools that make your notes into a podcast if you would prefer not to listen to yourself over and over.

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

Reply 4

fb276

Original post

by jasmineva3128

I mainly revised using flashcards. I would write the quote, technique, and analysis on the flashcard and read over them all in the lead up to a test/the exam.
If you're studying poetry then it's very realistic to just make flashcards for every single annotation, however if you're studying a longer text then you need to be more selective. If your SST is longer, I'd make flashcards with at least 5 annotations per theme/element that could come up in the 8 marker.
Other than that, past paper questions are your best friend. For some SSTs you can find free resources online that were made by schools or tutoring websites. Study Rocket has some useful stuff, particularly for Jekyll and Hyde, and I found plenty of resources by schools about Norman MacCaig poetry. BBC Bitesize is okay, but definitely shouldn't be used on its own.
If you're someone who learns well by listening to information then you could record yourself saying the annotations and listen to it back. There's also free online AI tools that make your notes into a podcast if you would prefer not to listen to yourself over and over.
I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. 😊

hii!

thank you so much for this advice, it genuinely helped a lot. i used your method for short stories by making flashcards with adaptable quotes and a bit of scene context, then quote, technique, analysis, and themes, and it worked really well. i actually got full marks on my textual analysis, which i’m so happy about, especially since i really struggled with the last one.

i’m really grateful for your suggestion because it saved me a lot of wasted time, and i’ll definitely keep using this method. i’m also planning to print the short stories to annotate and blurt, then remake the flashcards again. thank you again, i really appreciate it!

Reply 5

jasmineva3128

Hi. I made a playlist on YouTube with all of the videos I could find on how to revise and answer questions for Higher English, so you may find it useful to check that out (even though you're doing National 5 just now).

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX4QkfWXJ5b6pHjcVDggLfiDAH7nWxYzc&si=7zI4zZKGKymEu63C

Reply 6

Study_Go01

Original post

by jasmineva3128

Hi, my name is Jasmin and I got an A1 in National 5 English in 2025. Specifically, I scored 26/30 in the RUAE exam, 40/40 in the critical reading exam, and 20/30 in the folio.
I'm here to answer any questions about National 5 English. I'm also now doing Higher English, 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.

Hey! That's really great scores, congratulations! However, is it possible to get full marks in the critical essays? I had asked my teacher but they didn't really explain on how you lose marks in essays, just told me SQA never gives full marks for essays, are there any specific tips or methods you followed to get high scores? I was also wondering how much time do you spend on studying and how early do you start to get high marks?

Reply 7

jasmineva3128

Original post

by Study_Go01

Hi. Thank you. It's definitely possible to get full marks on your critical essays as the SQA gave mine full marks.

I'll type up a more in-depth answer later on when I get the chance.

Reply 8

jasmineva3128

Original post

by Study_Go01

Hi, sorry for taking some time to respond. Hopefully what I've written here helps, but let me know if you have any more questions.

Revising the Text

Knowing your text well is the foundation for a great critical essay. I could not have written as good a critical essay as I did without knowing my text really well. When learning quotes and the analysis I wanted to make surrounding them, I used flashcards/alternatives. Depending on the size of your text, you may prefer to make physical flashcards, digital flashcards, or create a revision guide (a document with all your quotes + analysis in tables according to their theme - you can print out your revision guide if you like).

Regardless of which method you use, the premise is the same. You want enough quotes for each theme and character that you can effectively answer the essay questions in the final exam without trying to remember too many quotes.

Creating mindmaps (ideally from memory) can be a great way to revise. Pick a character or a key theme and write down everything you can remember surrounding it (scenes, quotes, characterisation, ect). Once you've written everything you can remember, get out your notes and fill in anything on your mindmap that you missed in a different colour pen. This is useful for revising the text in general but also helps you identify and weaker areas.

I'm linking a video by the YouTuber Jeta about how she revised for A-Level English lit and got an A*. Whilst it's obviously not the same as National 5, you might find some of how she revised applicable when studying yourself as I know I did.

The Essay Itself

The way you write can definitely help or hamper your marks. And with a critical essay, it's not so much about what you did to not gain marks, it's more about what you didn't do. It can be quite difficult to explain, so I found an old practice critical essay that I wrote about a month before the final exam and that my teacher gave full marks.

3. Choose a novel or short story or work of non-fiction in which there is a character for whom you feel sympathy. (2024)

The short story ‘The Pedestrian’ was written in 1952, at the dawn of television, by the author Ray Bradbury. It follows the main character, Leonard Mead, who is viewed as a strange, backwards man by the rest of society because he does not value television, and instead partakes in other activities, like walking, reading, and writing. Due to this, Mead and society are isolated from each other - neither really understanding the motivations and desires of the other. Throughout the story, Mead walks through the streets of the desolate city, coming across not a single soul, before being detained by a police car for his unfathomable behaviour. These events, along with Bradbury’s clever use of setting, characterisation, and symbolism cause the reader to feel sympathy for Leonard Mead.

One way that Bradbury creates sympathy for Leonard Mead is through the barren, uninspiring setting that he places him in. We see this when Bradbury says “To enter into that silence” and “silent and long and empty” in reference to the streets. This word choice and repetition of “silence”/”silent” shows the reader that Mead is undoubtedly alone in his setting as there is no noise at all. This creates sympathy for Mead as he has no companionship in this dreary, depressing setting - a place which feels like somewhere you would not want to end up alone. Additionally, Bradbury creates sympathy for Mead by describing the pavement as a “lumpy walk”, highlighting the setting’s disrepair and abandonment. No one bothers to repair the pavements as no one uses them, and so they have been abandoned and left to crumble. This symbolises that society also abandoned Mead, and left him be in his weary setting as they do not comprehend how to communicate and interact with him. This lack of care for the setting therefore creates sympathy for Mead as it mirrors his treatment and neglect, and shows a disregard for the setting and his feelings as the setting is important to Mead for his walking.

Another way in which Bradbury creates sympathy for Mead is through the characterisation of Mead himself. Mead is shown to be viewed as an odd, backwards man by the rest of society, and is therefore an outcast - which causes the reader to feel sympathy for him. We see this during his confrontation with the police car, in which he is asked the rhetorical question “Walking, just walking, walking?” and told he has “”No Profession””. These interactions with the police car show the reader that Mead is judged, shunned, and belittled by the rest of society for not conforming to their expectations. The reader therefore feels sympathy for Mead as his interests and pleasures are ignored by everyone else, which one can infer would be upsetting for Mead. Furthermore, the reader feels sympathy for Mead when Bradbury writes “picking up a leaf as he passed, examining its skeletal pattern, smelling its rusty smell.” The word choice of “examining” and “pattern” suggests design, order, and complexity - only things which Mead has the capacity to understand. It shows that Mead is the only person out there who could pick up a leaf and admire its complex qualities. This creates sympathy for Mead as it highlights that he is the only one alive who is the way he is and shows the extent of his isolation and loneliness, as well as just how much the rest of society has deteriorated. It must be difficult for Mead to be the sole intelligent inhabitant of earth.

Additionally, Bradbury creates sympathy for Mead through the characterisation of society. Whilst the reader never meets society, we learn a lot about its characteristics through Mead/Bradbury. We discover that society is effectively brain-ded, with their sole purpose being to watch television. We see this when Bradbury writes “the grey or multi-coloured lights, touching their faces but never really touching them.” This shows the reader that the rest of society is so addicted to technology, namely the television, that they have a relationship and a connection with it. These numb, mindless people have sat entranced by the pictures for such a long time that it is now the only form of companionship that they are capable of. The word choice of “never really touching them.” shows that it is not actually stimulating their brains, and suggests that this lack of critical thinking has allowed them to regress to the point that they cannot communicate or interact with anything but the television. This causes the reader to feel sympathy for Mead because they see that he is surrounded by people who are intellectually unable to socialise with him and have a more intimate relationship with a device than with other human beings, emphasising that Mead is completely and utterly alone. In addition, Bradbury creates sympathy for Mead when he writes “grey phantoms”. This metaphor compares the people in the houses, society, to ghosts, suggesting that just as a phantom roams the earth due to unfinished business, so too society remains on earth just to watch television. This highlights that society’s only motivation has become television, and that nothing or no one else matters to them. This creates sympathy for Mead as it shows society’s neglect of him. Mead was cast aside, like he was nothing more than irrelevant due to the way that society functions.

A final way in which Bradbury creates sympathy for Mead is through symbolism - most notably, the symbolism of the police car with the police car representing the cold, mechanical control that technology has over society. We see this when Bradbury describes the police car as having a “metallic voice” and “no face”. This suggests that it has no human-like qualities, such as compassion and understanding, because they have been replaced by emotionless technology. This creates sympathy for Mead as the only interaction he has in the entire story isn’t even with another human - it’s with an insensitive bot that is devoid of any kindness. Furthermore, Bradbury tells us that “there was only one police car left” which creates sympathy for Mead as it emphasises how mindless society has become and what Mead has to put up with. It shows that society has become so passive, so incapable of independent thought, that almost no law enforcement is required. Mead is the last individual left in a lifeless, abiding world, and as Mead is detained for the simple, harmless act of walking, the reader feels great sympathy for him.

In conclusion, Ray Bradbury artfully equips relevant techniques, including language, characterisation, symbolism, and setting to force the reader to feel sympathy for the rebellious and unique Leonard Mead. Mead’s isolation in the face of great injustice is saddening and heartfelt for the reader, and causes them to contemplate the dangers of a technologically advanced civilisation.

You don't necessarily need to write this much - I didn't in the final exam - so it's a lot more about the content you choose to present and how you go about doing that. Flowery, embellishing language can be useful as it's showing you understand and appreciate the writer's use of techniques and the text as a whole. Formal, clear language is also good as it makes it easy for the marker to follow and understand what you're doing and when.

A lot of what I wrote in this practice essay (and again in the final exam) was analysis that I had come up with myself rather than been provided with by my teacher. This out of the box thinking shows the marker that you're capable because it usually just feels a bit more advanced than what your teacher provides you with.

I didn't properly start revising until about a month to a month and a half until the final exam. However, we were writing practice critical essays once a week in class from the end of February/early March, so I was actually revising the critical essays much earlier.

Most of my revision consided of studying the text that I was writing my critical essay on. A week before the final exam I emailed my teacher three past paper critical essays that I had done and she marked them for me. Once she came back and said they were full marks, I read over them every other day to try and memorise the structure and the language I used.

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

(edited 2 weeks ago)

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