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Original poster

Scotsnet exams thread 2022

430 replies

WeAllHaveWings · 08/01/2022 14:40

I haven't seen a thread for this years exams yet so thought I'd get the ball rolling (hopefully not too early!). Who has dc sitting exams this year and how are they getting on with their prelims so far?

ds(17) is in S6, he is sitting

Maths AH
Physics AH
Geography H (crash)
PE H (sat 2 years ago at NAT5)

They had their prelims in December which was good as they could relax over Christmas. He has had results back for 3 - will start with the good - Physics AH 70% 😀, then the no so good - Maths AH 45%, PE H 42% 😮.

He is very pleased with Physics, as he didn't expect it. The others he expected but seeing it has still been a shock. Hopefully in a good way and he will get his finger out as he hasn't been applying himself this year due recent first car freedom 🚗 + first girlfriend since he was 14 👫 + out together in said car 💏 + finally started his teenage rebelling phase 🙄.

Did anyone find it was similar in S6 with their teens? I think he is just scunnered this year with school and going through the whole studying and exam process for a 3rd year running. Many of his friends seem to feel the same this year.

OP posts:
TheScottishPlay · 26/04/2022 13:14

Is anyone heading up to Aberdeen for the Open Day tomorrow?

Threeboysandadog · 26/04/2022 19:49

@PrincessRamone Ds3 is sitting N5’s and is not doing anything like that amount of revision. He has his practical music exam tomorrow so has been into school yesterday and today for his music lesson but otherwise hanging out with his friends in school and at the gym. He says he will revise physics and chemistry after tomorrow so we shall see. He seems quite confident! Your son deserves to do well with all his hard work.

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 27/04/2022 15:18

PrincessRamone · 25/04/2022 12:16

How much revision is normal for N5 level?

DS1 has been doing a couple of hours each day since before Christmas. Basically stated revising for prelims and didn’t stop. And now that he’s on study leave he’s doing 3-4 hours per day except when he has an exam.

I just have no idea whether that is normal or too little? His prelims were good and he seems to be getting through everything he wants to.

ds did similar for his NAT5s a couple of years ago, a couple of hours a day after school/before dinner most days as his school doesn't set homework and he is home by 3pm most days. Then once on study leave have a small lie in and other wise studied during school hours with the odd day out with friends.

Worked well for him, especially the studying in the run up before and after (not during) Christmas as he wasn't stressed going into the assessments at all. Followed same plan for his Highers.

S6 and it has all gone out the window, little study in the run up and he was multitasking reading H Geography on the laptop while on his PS5 at 10pm last night for todays exam🙄

OP posts:
Aurea · 28/04/2022 15:00

www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/101229.html

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 28/04/2022 17:25

Thanks @Aurea Interesting announcement

I thought by now they would be thinking of getting back to normal but, thinking about it, the kids who were in S1/S2 when this all started have missed out on a lot of teaching and still need to catch up.

Wonder how many more years it will keep going for, I do think ds's cohort has missed out by not having the experience of writing projects/assignments prior to uni and it it a shame more kids will miss the same. Also the assignments and experiments for science were always the "fun" bit.

OP posts:
Aurea · 28/04/2022 18:34

I completed an SQA questionnaire (in the capacity as a parent) some time ago and one of the questions asked for an opinion on whether exams should get back to normal in 2024 or 2025!

WoodstockJ · 28/04/2022 21:41

i agree that we need to compensate for the lost learning of those in the BGE when this all started. However, the exclusion of science projects etc. is a huge loss to pupils in the senior phase. I think these should be reinstated.

savagegardenneedstrimmed · 29/04/2022 15:44

My son did his Chemistry Higher today and it didn't go well at all!
Not helped by all his classmates saying it was easy. He didn't think so, although he really didn't work hard enough. Unfortunately you reap what you sow. Today's not the day to say 'I told you so'
Luckily in both prelims he scraped an A - does this mean he can appeal if he gets lower in actual exam (likely)?
Do you think this will be straightforward or a lengthy process? I can't see how it will work? Surely everyone will do this if they get lower than their prelims.

He's just not studying as hard as he should be. He's very bright but immature and can't see the bigger picture.

Aurea · 29/04/2022 15:51

Just about to post too about chemistry higher.

My son said it was a fair paper with one or two questions which were a bit odd. He has been revising pretty hard for it though. He's taking AH chemistry next year.

I think the evidence of a higher grade has to be robust for an appeal. Someone more knowledgeable may come on and correct me though.

savagegardenneedstrimmed · 29/04/2022 16:00

@Aurea thanks. That seems to be the general feeling that the paper was ok.
His class are all bright and hard workers. They were all very happy with the paper apart from him. My son wanted to take Advanced higher chemistry too. It's actually his favourite subject but not sure if that will be possible if he gets a B or C.

This is the point I'm trying to make to him that he may be predicted an A but it's not a given. He seemed to think he can appeal and get an A as his prelims were As (low As at that). He's always just scraped good marks by the skin of his teeth with minimal effort. Highers is such a step up though and I don't think a few days revision cuts it now.

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 29/04/2022 16:19

You probably have already looked it up, appeal info here Appeals 2022 - Information for learners. There are always caveats, but key point bolded below.

If your final grade is lower than the estimate your school, college or training provider submitted to us before the exam, you may be able to make an appeal directly to SQA, or through your school, college or training provider. You should always discuss the discrepancy between your estimated grade and your final grade with your teachers/lecturers or centre staff to determine whether the estimated grade and supporting evidence support an appeals request.

If your appeal request is accepted, SQA will carry out a clerical check of your exam script and assignments. SQA appointees – practising teachers and lecturers – will also review the assessment evidence that your school, college or training provider sends to us to decide your final grade. The final grade might be different to the estimate that your school, college or training provider sends us. In this case, you will be awarded the higher of the two grades based on the two sources of evidence.

Sounds like no harm in trying if they will always get the higher of the two grades.

Hopefully he has done ok and it is just post exam nerves.

OP posts:
savagegardenneedstrimmed · 29/04/2022 16:55

@WeAllHaveWings thanks. I just can't see how they can implement it. Surely loads and loads will apply for upgrades.
They can't just award them the higher grade from prelims. It's a bit like try, try and try again. We will give u the best out of 3. ???

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 29/04/2022 17:24

I think the sticky point will be the supporting evidence, was the prelim challenging enough and set in the right conditions. Did it contain the whole course, did it have questions that were challenging enough for an A grade.

If he got a low A, you would hope if the worst happens and he totally flunked the actual exam he will at the very least get a B and maybe learn an important lesson going into his AH.

OP posts:
neveradullmoment99 · 29/04/2022 17:32

Aurea · 29/04/2022 15:51

Just about to post too about chemistry higher.

My son said it was a fair paper with one or two questions which were a bit odd. He has been revising pretty hard for it though. He's taking AH chemistry next year.

I think the evidence of a higher grade has to be robust for an appeal. Someone more knowledgeable may come on and correct me though.

My daughter sat the hhemistry Nat 5 today. She said it was really hard!
Anyone else?

JenniferAlisonPhilipaSue · 29/04/2022 18:22

so for N5, does that mean work in S3 will count towards the final grade?

stormsurfer · 29/04/2022 19:55

Our nat 5s seemed to think the paper was fair and very similar in style to the practice ones and prelims.

The evidence that can be sent to support appeals has to be done under proper exam conditions... so in effect prelims.

Threeboysandadog · 29/04/2022 21:53

Ds3 sat Nat 5 chemistry today. He thought it was easier than the prelim paper. He was also finished half an hour before the end of the usual time and he’s supposed to get extra time so he’s probably failed to spot one of the pages and has only sat half an exam! Nothing would surprise me.

neveradullmoment99 · 29/04/2022 23:33

Threeboysandadog · 29/04/2022 21:53

Ds3 sat Nat 5 chemistry today. He thought it was easier than the prelim paper. He was also finished half an hour before the end of the usual time and he’s supposed to get extra time so he’s probably failed to spot one of the pages and has only sat half an exam! Nothing would surprise me.

Oh no! That is a shame that he didn't spot one of the pages. Hope he gets on ok.
I was hoping that others found it hard. My dd did well with her prelim. She got an A but she said that the stuff in the paper was recent stuff and felt that it was very different to her prelim exam. She also did the past papers and also found those different so who knows! Maybe she didn't study enough of the things she did recently and then she was off with covid. Really hope she has done ok. She did finish it all and then went back to check. She found the open ended questions quite tricky.

neveradullmoment99 · 29/04/2022 23:33

Oh I see you are joking about the pages! Hope not then!

PrincessRamone · 30/04/2022 11:13

Thanks for the info on revision effort 🙂

DS is remarkably chill so far. Still plodding away with revision. First exams are on Thursday and Friday next week. I thought he would be really anxious so it’s great that all the work that we and the school did with him on strategies seems to have worked.

Threeboysandadog · 30/04/2022 22:43

@neveradullmoment99 Only half joking! Ds3 has ASD and is very scatter brained. He also had Covid the two weeks before the Easter holidays which didn’t help. Chemistry is his favourite subject. I think English and Gaelic will be his challenges. Hopefully your dd will have done ok.

Bluepeach · 02/05/2022 06:35

@Aurea @savagegardenneedstrimmed there is a Chemistry teacher on youtube called Andrew Hay going through this year's paper. I'm sure some children would rather just wait and see their result in August, but for those who'd like to see it worked through now, they could take a look.

Aurea · 02/05/2022 12:30

Thanks BluePeach. My son has just watched the MCQ video and 'thinks' he got all the answers right. We'll see.......

Bluepeach · 02/05/2022 12:53

@Aurea what is MCQ?

Aurea · 02/05/2022 12:55

Is it not multiple choice questions? Sorry - brain is mushy today.