Not doing Higher English

[PolkerrisBeach]

DS is in S4 and heading towards Nat 5. His teachers are already encouraging them to look ahead to the next choice point for Highers. DS is definitely headed for a science degree - Biochemistry, Microbiology, that sort of thing. He is adamant that he doesn't want to do Higher English.

We've looked on the websites for various unis and right enough, they demand something like AAABB at Higher including Chemistry and Biology. Another Uni demands AABB at Higher with the sciences, but also says "National 5 B/Standard Grade 2/Int 2 B; Maths National 5 B/Standard Grade 2/Int 2 B; English National 5 B/Standard Grade 2/Int 2 B)"

In my day (the dark ages according to DS), everyone did Higher English. Is it just not a "thing" any more? DS is planning on doing Higher History, so will have something more "Artsy" than just plain science, maths and computing.

DSs both were assessed on their typing skills and didn't get extra time but there is clearly a range of support available. DS2 was also allowed to produce all his homework electronically but he didn't want to use the laptop in class. It definitely helped. We had to constantly remind the school though as often he wouldnt be on the list for the it room for his prelims.

And we'll done to your DS wigglybreezer, that's definitely worth a boast!

My son’s school eas all for everyone doing Higher English but I concerned that as he would need 5 As to get into medical school doing Higher English might be a disadvantage. I contacted the admissions officer of all 5 med schools and all said Higher English wasn’t necessary - better to focus on subjects good at to ensure 5 As. I was prepared to fight the school but he didn’t want me to make a fuss. He did get the A he needed. I think the schools push this but the universities are more relaxed especially science faculties.

At our local private school it seems it's not that unusual to avoid Higher English, at least for the science specialists, keeps the number of straight As high for the advertising.

wiggly that is definitely boast worthy. Less than 650 students got an A let alone a Band 1 in Advanced Higher English.

All the SQA Attainment Stats are available online for anyone weighing up the options. Interestingly the "A" rate for Higher English is only 23% as opposed to 33% for Maths. Otoh 19kish sit Higher Maths as opposed to 36kish sitting Higher English. (total cohort of 17 year olds is around 55k for ref).

www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/63001.html

It's funny but I still detect a bit of residual "wonkyness" in his spelling and Grammar, he's not at the level you would expect for someone with his grades with regards to commas, semi- colons and paragraphs etc and he won't be allowed to use spell check at uni so I'm expecting a dip in grades unless he makes a concerted effort to go back and relearn some grammar rules.
I think he missed too many lessons in third year when he had so many ops on his hand and arm ( another reason he's allowed to use IT).

To be fair, I think really good punctuation comes with experience. I still have to think carefully about the difference between colons and semi colons.

I used to ring my mum for advice if I was really uncertain. I was always the "go to" person at work for grammar questions; () my colleagues even used to ask on occasion for me to ring my mum. She also used to say to me sometimes that if the grammar were that awkward just to rearrange sentence

I miss that

I've mentioned to ds that even as an adult I used to ring mum - and that he shouldn't be embarrassed to call me if he is ever unsure about something, as I'll be happy to advise.

SpaG doesn't really feature in the Higher English syllabus, except in the portfolio which is typed and can be spell checked etc before submission.

Also common misconception that you need to be creative or of a literary bent to do well.

30% of the marks are for the portfolio. Half of this is a persuasive essay which should be an exercise in researching a subject and building a pov based on properly sourced evidence. The other half can either be a creative piece or a factual piece based on personal experience.

30% of the marks are for linguistic analysis of a piece of writing. This year's Higher was an article on Nelson Mandela. DD1 improved her performance in this section massively when she stopped putting in her own ideas and concentrated more on dissecting what was in front of her to answer the specific questions asked.

The remaining 40% is for literature with a choice of set Scottish texts for half and a more general text / film /play for the rest - Saving Private Ryan is a popular film option which is just as likely to yield an "A" as Shakespeare. It is possible to pre-prepare for a standard range of stock questions based on Past papers for this section.

From DDs friends it seems the ones who underachieved either got "the fear" over what was involved or were too blase based on over reliance on their innate literary abilities.

I bumped into a friend yesterday who has older children and I mentioned DS's plan not to do Higher English. She said her older child had been the same, but because of timetabling constraints he was pretty much forced into it. 90% of kids or more are taking H English in S5 at the school and right enough, when I looked at last year's form the choices in column A applicable to an S5 would be:

Higher English
Higher Dance
Higher Fashion & textiles
Higher Maths
Higher Photography
Higher Psychology
Higher RMPS.

Even if he chose maths in that column, the other column containing maths has:

Higher Drama
Higher English
Higher Music Technology
Higher Philosophy.

So it seems very much that he'll have no choice but doing Higher English in S5 as he has no interest in the rest of those subjects. The other option would be another Nat 5, but again the choice is very restricted. It will therefore probably come down to a choice between Higher Computing or Higher History (with the opportunity to do the other one in S6 assuming all goes well in S5).

My DD1 also hates English and much prefers Maths / Science. That is the reason I can tell you chapter and verse on the syllabus. She approached it in the above strategic manner and got an A Band 1.

She also did History which she really enjoyed and says that you would struggle to do it on its own without English. I think the History also supported the English.

My dd has just graduated with a 2:1 from a scottish uni. While she needed 4 highers to get in (can't remember the specific grades) she only needed English and Maths at Standard Grade / Int 2 etc. It really does depend on the course, so check the requirements on UCAS because there are courses that do not require Higher English. DD struggled with certain aspects of it and while she got her Int 2 she really did not want to take it further, preferring to do other subjects that she knew she could do well in. Not having it really did not hinder her progress at uni.

Well we had a meeting last week with school and they have suggested digital papers for the "wordy" ones like English and History. They're going to assess his typing and take it from there, giving him practice before the prelims in January.

I showed him the choices sheet from last year which pretty much shoehorns him into English as there's nothing else he'd want to choose. He's not impressed, but at least it's the school's fault and not Mum's fault for a change. He isn't ever intending doing History for anything more than interest so it's a better S6 option, as long as he can swing a secure pass in H English in S5. The school also suggested starting the Higher English course in S5 and not sitting the exam until S6 but again I'm not sure that's appropriate as it's not that he struggles with the content, it's purely the presentation.

In other news, he's discovered the NHS runs a work experience placement scheme and is excited about the prospect of spending a week next summer in a lab. Weird boy.

He sounds like he has his head screwed on if he can track down a lab work placement. Love it when I can blame the school (without having to admit agreeing with them).

My Dd has dyspraxia she got scribed for her exams, she was Standard grade then higher though. I am not sure if the old highers are the same as new anyway she managed a B in higher English and did her advanced Higher English and also got a B so if your school is suppportive of him it would be better for him to do the Higher for his uni application because they do look for it.