Explain Scottish degrees to me like I’m five please.

[SheWoreYellow]

Having moved from England, I am confused.

DD is in a private Scottish school, most of them stay on for advanced highers. So does that mean she’ll go straight in to a second year of a degree course?

Secondly, do degrees tend to be broader to begin with/throughout? I am looking at universities and courses but they presume a certain level of knowledge
She’s ideally like to do a joint honours, but I can’t work out of there any need for that.

No they don't go in to 2nd year. They start in first year like all other students. I don't know about advanced highers but I found A levels were always at a higher level than highers were.

And yes they start off broader in that you don't have to select your honours subjects until you are heading in to 3rd year. My DD went to study art history and graduated with a theology degree!

Thanks!

So what’s the benefit to doing the advanced highers then?

When I was at school I. Scotland, you did advanced highers (csys then!) if you wanted to study in England because they were broadly equivalent to A level.

But everyone started at uni in first year (At Andrews) - no-one skipped to second year, it just wasn't done.

From my research it WAS possible to go into Y2 if offering AH - but I suppose it depends on subject area. This was science at Dundee.

I guess it will help a lot with first year at uni and also it means the student isn't going off to uni as a young 17yo.

@ApolloandDaphne

No they don't go in to 2nd year. They start in first year like all other students. I don't know about advanced highers but I found A levels were always at a higher level than highers were.

Not always.

Advanced Highers are worth more UCAS points than A-levels (A in an Advanced Higher is 56 UCAS points, A in A-level is 48, A* is 56 points.) SOME degrees might offer direct 2nd year entry for students with good advanced highers but it depends on the institution and the course. DS was offered 2nd year entry onto a Biomedical Science degree as he had strong passes in Adv Higher Chemistry and Biology, and a good pass in Higher Maths.

Remember too that Scottish degrees are typically 4 years compared with the English standard 3 years. It was previously very common for kids to leave school after S5 and their Highers and go to Uni without doing Adv Highers at all (these exams were called Certificate of Sixth Year Studies) in my day. So some unis recognise that the addition S6 year at school is equivalent to first year at Uni, and offer year 2 entry - which students can choose not to accept.

Degrees are generally broader in the first year, my degree was Accounting and Spanish but in my first year I also did French, Marketing and Economics. DS is on a Microbiology degree but is also doing Statistics, Pharmacology and other related things.

To add to @RavenclawDiadem's useful summary.

It depends which university and which course in terms of how broad years 1 and 2 are. The older universities generally are broader but again depends on the course.

At the university I did my undergraduate at I studied a huge range of subjects in years 1 & 2, specialising in my degree subject for years 3 & 4 but if I did the same subject at the university I currently work at then it wouldn't be anywhere near as broad.

@RavenclawDiadem It is pretty rare to go straight into 2nd year though. None of my DDs peers did this and a lot had great exam results.

From personal experience, I would not have wanted to miss out on my first year. I ended up choosing my „third“ subject as one of my degree subjects and have followed a career in the field. The Scottish system offers a great way to try things out and find what suits at a university level. Very different from studying a subject at school.

There is a thread about this on the Higher Education forum which you might find useful.
Advanced Highers do require much more independent study and are a good preparation for university.

First and second years at Scottish universities tend to be broader than in England - students typically study 3 subjects and it does allow people to try completely new subjects - I did archaeology.

I went straight into second year as a mature student, having done a HNC which I believe is roughly equivalent to AH. The prerequisite material I would've needed from first year had been covered in my HNC, but the volume and pace of work was quite heavy so if I hadn't already been used to a higher education setting I would've struggled I think. There were also optional Evening maths classes for those hadn't done AH maths.

There were a few others on my course who started in second year, but I don't remember any of them coming straight from 5th year old high school.

Good grades at AH in related subject can give entry to 2nd year but most students choose to start in 1st year along with all their peers.
It does make 1st year a little easier if they've done AH so can be good introduction to university life.

Scottish university entrance qualifications are Highers however they are sat at age 16/17.
It used to be common to go to university at this age however that is pretty rare now. Most kids now stay at school for S6 to grow up a bit more before going to university and therefore will take AHs

My friends child went strain into second year. Exceptionally able, gifted, 98/99% in every exam ever taken but it was a mistake.

Her child really struggled to get to grips with the difference in teaching, focus and assessment not even to mention about not having made a supportive peer group as the others had over first year. Often it's not about academic ability but about maturity and adaptability.

I definitely wouldn't have been keen on my children skipping a year, there's a lot to miss which just isn't worth it. Uni is stressful enough without making it unnecessarily worse for them.

DS1 was offered direct entry into 2nd year from 2 of his Uni choices. He did go to one of those Unis but didn't skip 1st year. He's studying Computer Science and they had only a little flexibility in the early years. I think there was one 20 point option that they were allowed to pick from other subject areas, but those doing a masters had no choices at all.

DS2 on the other hand is doing Politics and IR and he had loads of non degree subject options in first year and a few in 2nd year. In his first year he did some economics, history, english, sociology, psychology etc as well as his modules in politics and IR.

Ah, this is interesting patritus

“Most kids now stay at school for S6 to grow up a bit more before going to university and therefore will take AHs”

I was thinking that most go straight after highers.

@readsalotgirl63

There is a thread about this on the Higher Education forum which you might find useful. Advanced Highers do require much more independent study and are a good preparation for university.

First and second years at Scottish universities tend to be broader than in England - students typically study 3 subjects and it does allow people to try completely new subjects - I did archaeology.

Yes, just seen that! It does answer a lot of the questions.

@SheWoreYellow

Ah, this is interesting patritus

“Most kids now stay at school for S6 to grow up a bit more before going to university and therefore will take AHs”

I was thinking that most go straight after highers.

These days most stay on for Advanced highers. I went after my Highers but was still 16 when I started Uni (turned 17 a couple of months after starting).

Or they do more Highers rather than Advanced highers.

Would certainly advise doing S6 - the year makes a lot of difference to maturity and levels of independence.

First and second years at Scottish universities tend to be broader than in England - students typically study 3 subjects and it does allow people to try completely new subjects - I did archaeology.

I did 5 subjects in 1st year, but I think my university was unusual in that (Strathclyde). Then it narrowed down to 3 in 2nd year.

My son is doing AH and also some Highers this year, and has an offer to go in at 2nd year (also to Strathclyde)assuming he gets good enough grades in his AH. I think this is unusual, but I have seen it happen before with English students. He probably won't because he will only be 17 when he starts and he feels he'd rather be with his own age group.

It was Strathclyde and Heriot watt that offered DS1 a 2nd year start for CS.

Dd's BF got an unconditional offer from Glasgow after highers but still did AH.
Most going to Uni do.

@SheWoreYellow

Having moved from England, I am confused.

DD is in a private Scottish school, most of them stay on for advanced highers. So does that mean she’ll go straight in to a second year of a degree course?

Secondly, do degrees tend to be broader to begin with/throughout? I am looking at universities and courses but they presume a certain level of knowledge
She’s ideally like to do a joint honours, but I can’t work out of there any need for that.

No, not straight into second year.

Highers are the university entrance requirements.

Advanced Highers are for other destinations.

The breadth of the degree depends on the degree. Certain degrees, eg engineering, have so much content that there is no time to faff about with outside subjects.

Yes, what @RavenclawDiadem said

Also in Scotland you can get unconditional offers based on your Highers as it's the following year that you apply to university. Some courses will offer based on AH results but it varies.

When I was in 6th year I was accepted to medicine with an unconditional offer based on my highers but to 2nd year entry of my backup of biochemistry with a conditional based on AH results. I was still only 17 when I went to uni.

My high school boyfriend went to uni at 16 having left after 5th year! (This was the late 2000s)