England GCSE is equivilan to what Scotish qualification?

[Masooma78]

Hi! I have recently moved to Scotland in Newton Mearns from England. Schools are closed here. Still waiting to get my children get enrolled in a school. Head teachers are off on holidays. I am confused what equivalence would there be for my children here as my son was suppose to give GCSE in England next year but they r offering him S4 here which means he will sit N5 exams after 2 years. Can anyone explain how scotish education system is diffrent from England? Why is he not going to be enrolled for S5 so that he can give N5 exams? Is N5 exam is equivilant to GCSE? Sorry too many questions but I am totally confused. Please help me understand. Many Thanks!

o ok so if N5 is like A-C then is there any other equivance for A's? I am curious because my son is very good at studies. All his expected gcse grades in England were A-A's. He is especially good at Maths, Chemistry and Biology.

Ooops, just check and next year the first exam is May 2nd, not end of April.

I don't care now :-) My youngest has just left school forever, but I've been in the school system with them since 2001 and have one child that was the last year of the old Standard Grade system and one who was the first year of the new N4/5 system. In my opinion, N5 exams are slightly more difficult than GCSEs appear to be. Most pupils in Scotland only take 6 or 7 as the content is greater than in Standard Grade in may subjects.

No, an A is the highest on the certificate but if the school can give the child their score breakdown afterwards they will know whether they scored an A1 (usually 80% +) or an A2 (usually 70-80%).

There is a good series of books for Nat 5s called the 'How to Pass N5...' series. They're worth investing in.
www.hoddereducation.co.uk/howtopass

"o ok so if N5 is like A-C then is there any other equivance for A*'s?"

It was a rough equivalency - I don't understand A* TBH, lol.

It's more that I'd class N4s as a bit below average really.

N5s are graded, so he'd be looking for an A pass if he's an able student.

lol great many thanks for such quick reply. It will be Start of May then. You r lucky your kids have past this age.I am enquiring about my oldest Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help! If you don't mind can you please share the website link from where you checked the exam dates. It will be very helpful in future for my daughter as well

After all the comments I understood that at the end of S4 there will be exams of N4 for everage students and of N5 for more able students depending upon assessments by teachers at school.

This isn't strictly true as N4 has no exams at the end of the course. What is more likely to happen is that all the pupils will sit prelims in their subject between Nov-Jan and the teachers will base the level recommendations on those results. Those who score well will complete the Nat 4 assessments quickly and start to work towards the Nat 5 exam in May and the lower end of the scores will complete their Nat 4 activities by around April.

Great thanks tabulahrasa! I am grateful for all your help

No problem, it's this site www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/70972.html

There is section for your son and you to have a look at past papers if he wants to see the N5 standard, the marking instructions are there. Have a good explore of the site to familiarise yourself with the Scottish system.

You'll also hear talk of Nat 6 and 7 which can be confusing. It's a new system so it's taking time to get there. This link should help.
www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/3089.html

Rather than this section of MN you would be better to post on the Scotsnet section, you'll get lots more locals helping you.

o ok dotdotdotmustdash.... you mean there will be mock tests between Nov-Jan of N4 in S4 right? and in the same year (S4) there will be preparations for N5 from February till May before N5 tests for kids who will perform well in mock N4 tests. Am I getting it right? and children who will under perform in mock N4 tests will perform more activities till April to achieve N4 level, but there will not be any final tests for N4 in May for them, right?

I think different schools approach nat4 vs. Nat 5 differently. In the school that my DS attends, course work for nat4 is completed in S3 (for the majority of students) but not submitted, as students progress through the year they are assessed and recommended for Nat4 or nat 5 by the end of S3, those that have been recommends for nat 4 will spend another year working towards completing the requirements to pass Nat4. Those recommended for Nat5 will move onto the Nat5 course at the start of S4. Only in the event of a failure at Nat5 or a deterioration or standards will the paperwork for these students be submitted to secure a Nat4 qualification.

If your DS is academically able u shd expect him to be on a Nat5 course in S4 and not Nat4.

Then there is the confusion of schools that do nat5s over 2 years S3/S4!. I'm surprised anyone can work out what's going on

Hmmm..... didn't know about Scotsnet. Thanks I will try there as well if I need to.

Thanks alot dotdotdotmustdash for the web links. I will definitly explore them Thanks Alot!

Massoma, the mock tests will be for Nat5, Nat4 is internally assesses. Nat 4 is a different course, your DS will likely be on a Nat5 course for all subjects if his predicted GCSE grades are accurate.

I think some of the confusion and differing approaches comes from small/large schools and whether the subject is a commonly studied one. Some schools don't have enough pupils to run an N4 and N5 class in S4 so end up with mixed groups who have to work alongside each other, with the brighter (or harder-working) kids going on to the N5 exam. I work as a TA in High Schools and I've seen various approaches.

oooo.....it means different schools will take on N4 and N5 courses at diffrent years. My kids are expected to go in Eastwood High School any parent from Eastwood High here?

Yes I have his results of all three terms from last year and in all of them his expected GCSE grades are from A- As recently there maths English and Science subjects have changed to 1-9 where 9 is equivilant to A but anyway things are changing everywhere. I am just wondering...... would the school take a test to assess my kids right after they would start school to check their level so that they will be put into their respective courses or would they contact the old school for results? Any ideas?

If your son is going into 4th year, he should sit external (set by the exam board) National 5 exams next May/ June.

We are in Glasgow, my sons school try and get all pupils to pass their National 4 by the end of 3rd year as a safety net in case they don't pass their Nat 5. For National 4 there is continuous assessment and school set tests (there is no external set exam)

I'm guessing that the new school will do their own assessments and decide whether your DS is able to do nat5s in 9 months time. Most of the work will have already been done, with a good chunk of the coming months given over to mock exams and revision. Maybe you could help by getting some study guides and seeing what the differences are? As your DS is very bright, maybe he could catch up with the bits where the curriculum is different?

I did O'grades in Scotland (when English children were doing O'Levels). The courses will be similar but not the same. e.g. in English -which was a blended exam including literature and language - we did Hobson's Choice, Macbeth, Animal Farm, An inspector Calls and I think, Sunset Song. Apart from Sunset Song (which is a beautiful book, btw), all those books are GCSE books too.

Great thanks for all the help and guidance.
@ TrivialPursuit. I have brought them books from Waterstones for English SQA Endorsed by David Swinnerton and Physics Bright Red Study guide by Bright Red Publishing. R their any recommended books by SQA for N5 as in England we used to use CGP books or the exam board books? R their any recommended workbooks other than advice and support books? English Literature is something we need to look into with school as the books that he has done with his school is Chrismas Carol, Animal farm, The inspector call and few more I can't remember but he has certainly not done Hobson's choice. I hope he will catch up on that and others.
Any recommended books for N5 revision and workbooks to prepare for any tests that school might take or any websites for preparation? Many thanks!

Hi, we have used the 'How to pass National 5 xxxxxx' books, they were v useful, bought them from Amazon. Bbc bite size has units specific to the Scottish Exams, past papers r on the SQA website.

You will def need to wait to speak to the school re what literature to study. It has def changed since N5 came in. My DS has just sat N5, he only studied one 'English' book which was Othello, other classes studied different books, each teacher selected what book they wanted their class to study (I don't know what list they chose from). In addition they need to study Scottish literature, that list is on the SQA website, but they do not study the whole list but the selected works of one Scottish Author, again it is the class teacher that decides what their class will study. But don't panic my DS was not assigned his allocated txt until the start of the term following the summer break, they did not really start on the Scottish texts until after the Christmas break.

As your DS will not have been exposed (unlikely to have been) to Scottish texts up 'til now it may be useful to have a look at this sooner rather than later.

Great Thanks celtiethree for your quick response. I will definitly ask him to look into Scottish text on SQA website. Many thanks for your help I think someone else here has also recommended How to pass N5..... books. I have bought English version of that already and I will definitly grab other subjects of How to Pass N5 ..... books

When does the term start? It can't be long now...

I considered moving to the Glasgow area during the Summer holidays a couple of years ago and had a conversation with the lady at the council who told me that the HT/ teachers often pick up their email during the summer holidays. I'm sure you'll be able to find the HT's email online and then you could ask and have your mind out at rest.

Did you not have any contact with the new school before you moved house?

My dc go back on 17th August . Hope we're organised for it!

I couldn't contact school earlier as you have to be sure in which property you are moving to before you contact school and by the time we managed to secure a property here the schools were closed. The lady at school reception now says that deputy head has been contacted and we have meeting with him on 8th of August in School. I was wondering is there anything that I need to ask that I am missing here? I don't want to miss this golden opertunity to ask questions from Deputy Head. Anything that anyone can think about worth asking will be very much appreciated!