Scottish Highers/ Standard Grades..... anyone else awaiting results

[oldmum42]

Other Scottish MN out there awaiting the results? They are due in the post on Thursday 5th (or by text/email notification at 2.30pm tomorrow if your kids have signed up for that).

DS2 awaits his Standard Grade results - holding breath to see if he has the required credit grades for the 5 Higher subjects he stared before the summer hols (he's dyslexic and has worked really really hard this year).

DS1 awaits his Higher results, and this is the biggy for him - his Uni application process begins the minute he has the results - firstly, course choice will be determined by the results (he needs a minimum of 4A & 1B ), then the whole circus starts..... 2 entrance exams to sit, interviews, visits, 2nd interviews etc, months of it.

It was a lot easier in my day....... so many hoops to jump through now.

Seenitall I agree that having to work harder (and using your own strategies) is good prep for Uni.
Yes, med course much longer hours than most - DS1 is a total science geek so will love it if he gets a place.

DS2 got 8 credits, 4x1 and 4x2 . A "1" in all but one of the subjects he's doing at Higher (Maths, Phys, Graph Com, Latin and Computing). He's very happy - he worked hard for those grades, pulling himself up from 4s and 5s in some subjects over the course of his 4th year (once he had good dyslexia strategies in place).

StayingDTG, well done to your DS1, fantastic results! 2 modern languages - does he want to study that at Uni?

He wants to be an engineer, oldmum. He was taking german at GCSE before we moved to Scotland, and wanted to carry on with that - apparently german is a good language for an engineer - and he had to do French as well. I'm really chuffed with his French result especially, because he'd given it up in England, and had forgotten a lot of it, so he's had to work really hard at it.

We've bought steak for tea, to celebrate.

Hi StayingDTG,

we did Steak dinner too - followed by Thorntons choc cake . They deserved it!

DS1 is very into engineering too (anything that's science in fact). His big hobby is electronic/nano scale engineering (the uni's seem to do this type of engineering in their Physics departments mostly, if you are looking up courses to take a peak)and that's his "plan B", but he seems determined to some how weave that interest into his medical career (if he gets in to med school), so I can see him being a researcher of some kind (apparently lots of medical research going on involving tiny electronic stuff).

German would be great for your DS - and the Maths and Physics essential as Highers, as I'm sure he knows.

Could I also suggest the following - Higher and or Advanced Higher Design Tech? If your DS is not doing this as a Higher in 5th year, he may want to consider doing it in 6th year. At my DS1's school, it is possible to do D&T as a "crash" Higher and as a "crash" Advanced higher (meaning with no previous experience of the subject) - if you have good maths and Physics grades. Sadly not all schools offer this subject, but it's basically the dream subject for any kid interested in engineering or architecture. from Higher covers a lot of interesting stuff, designing bridges that won't collapse to designing machinery and electronics to do particular jobs, Advanced Higher I think goes more into theoretical stuff - it's very much Physics/maths based and academically demanding but in an "applied" sort of way. DS1 has enjoyed the course a lot.

I'll take my (fake) "careers advisor" hat off now!

I'll pass that advice along - thankyou oldmum. I think ds1's subjects for next year are already fixed (maths, chemistry, english, physics and geography, if memory serves), but he could do it in S6 as you suggest.

He's hoping to get an RAF scholarship to read engineering, then learn to fly.

Only downside to electronics (I know as that's what my degree is in) there are very few jobs around these days.

Hi Seb1 - yes, I think that's a problem in lots of disciplines at the moment - My SIL opted to do a Phd as very few jobs available in Law (graduated last year) - always difficult to predict what will be in demand 5 or 10 years down the line. The state of the economy hardly helps - far more kids want into uni as no "starter" jobs about either - so lots of competition.

StayingDTG - Wow - a few of DH fellow sudents at Med school had forces scholarships (they were the richest students on campus!).