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Scottish school system

I currently live in England and I'm doing my GCSEs this coming year. After my GCSEs, me and my family might be moving to Scotland, so i have a few questions:

1: What is the Scottish equivalent of year 12?
2: What exams/qualifications would I be studying for?
3: Am I able to go to college or anything of the sort?

Thank you!!

Reply 1

Original post
by ziggyzallie
I currently live in England and I'm doing my GCSEs this coming year. After my GCSEs, me and my family might be moving to Scotland, so i have a few questions:
1: What is the Scottish equivalent of year 12?
2: What exams/qualifications would I be studying for?
3: Am I able to go to college or anything of the sort?
Thank you!!


hi! so over here year 12 would be called ‘S5’ which would be your fifth year of Highschool. In Scotland we do 7 full years of primary school and 6 years of Highschool but the sixth year ‘S6’ is optional but recommended to get more grades or if you need to retake any subjects. In S5 you would be doing Highers by the SQA exam board. If you pass all your highers in excellence theres option to take advanced highers but people usually only take them if they need them for a highly competitive course or if that’s what the uni requires. It really depends on what you want to do. If you don’t have the best grades or need further grades you can easily go college after S5 or S6 it is always an option and many believe take thst route then go university or dont. There are many options available so I wouldn’t stress too much about it! If you have any other questions let me know and I hope this somewhat makes sense :smile:

Reply 2

Original post
by unknownuser….
hi! so over here year 12 would be called ‘S5’ which would be your fifth year of Highschool. In Scotland we do 7 full years of primary school and 6 years of Highschool but the sixth year ‘S6’ is optional but recommended to get more grades or if you need to retake any subjects. In S5 you would be doing Highers by the SQA exam board. If you pass all your highers in excellence theres option to take advanced highers but people usually only take them if they need them for a highly competitive course or if that’s what the uni requires. It really depends on what you want to do. If you don’t have the best grades or need further grades you can easily go college after S5 or S6 it is always an option and many believe take thst route then go university or dont. There are many options available so I wouldn’t stress too much about it! If you have any other questions let me know and I hope this somewhat makes sense :smile:

this is a great explanation! only thing i would double check is your birthday; if you're born between september and february you have the potential to be moved up a year so instead of being s5, you could be s6

Reply 3

Original post
by unknownuser….
hi! so over here year 12 would be called ‘S5’ which would be your fifth year of Highschool. In Scotland we do 7 full years of primary school and 6 years of Highschool but the sixth year ‘S6’ is optional but recommended to get more grades or if you need to retake any subjects. In S5 you would be doing Highers by the SQA exam board. If you pass all your highers in excellence theres option to take advanced highers but people usually only take them if they need them for a highly competitive course or if that’s what the uni requires. It really depends on what you want to do. If you don’t have the best grades or need further grades you can easily go college after S5 or S6 it is always an option and many believe take thst route then go university or dont. There are many options available so I wouldn’t stress too much about it! If you have any other questions let me know and I hope this somewhat makes sense :smile:

This makes loads of sense, thank you! Is there an equivalent to a sixth form college in Scotland or do you just remain in school for s5 and s6?

Reply 4

Original post
by ziggyzallie
This makes loads of sense, thank you! Is there an equivalent to a sixth form college in Scotland or do you just remain in school for s5 and s6?

you remain in school for s5 and s6, if you choose to you can go to college to do e.g. a HNC or HND (basically if you don't get the qualifications you need for a course at school, you can go to college to do them or subjects you want)

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