sqa exams 2023

[NicolaSturGONE]

So only about 2 months til the final exams so starting a thread to discuss revision, exams etc.

Have any schools released details of easter revision classes yet? I've heard nothing from our school and don't know if they are doing any. If they aren't, I might look at what else is on offer over easter.

Did any of your kids do Higher Geography? If so is there a revision / text book you'd recommend?

You have just reminded me I will need to put all the unused revision guides I got ds onto our local facebook!

ds did crash Higher Geography in S6, I bought him a NAT5 book to read up on before his Higher and a couple of the Higher books and tbh he never even opened them, he had his class notes, the school had online revision material, online access to Scholar, BBC bite size and with those and past papers to look at too it would have been information overload. (youtube is also great for subjects like science and maths, never looked at geography on there).

He preferred everything that was online rather than hardcopy books.

I would check out what the school is providing before wasting your money.

If you do decide to buy any check your Young Scot card/website as they usually do 20% off the most popular ones - Brightred, Leckie and Hodder How to Pass.

Thanks. Ds does like a book tbh, buying a n5 one might be a good idea.

What is a crash higher? Presume it's done in shorter time?

What is a crash higher? Presume it's done in shorter time?

@thaegumathteth it's when a higher is taken in a subject that hasn't been taken at Nat 5. So there's no natural progression and building on knowledge, just straight to Higher. Often a subject that's more "topic driven" eg history, modern studies as opposed to something like maths where you need to build on previous knowledge.
Usually done in S6 as there are obvious risks involved!

Oh well that's what ds is doing then 😂

My ds did a crash higher in Chemistry in S5. He's now doing the advanced higher in S6

I need to do something with DDs N5 books she didn't touch but Facebook is full of other people selling theirs so I doubt they'd sell. Would rather not give away for free as they cost me a bit. Anyone got any ideas as to what to do with them? Anyone want them? N5 Art, BMgt, Chemistry, Maths, English, History, D&M

Your school would probably love them. Our PT Equity supports young people whose circumstances would not allow for the purchase of expensive books like these.

My son (against my advice) got his marks and bandings

2 x A1
3 x A2

he’s annoyed because he was just 2% off A1 in 2 of them and annoyed that his English folio got a lot less than the indicative mark his teacher gave. However he’s overlooking the fact he got 37/40 in higher English paper 2 which he said was the worst exam he’d ever sat 😭

He got over 80% in 3 of them which I think is amazing and the 2 he got less in he’s not taking any further, so so what.

DS doing this but with Higher Biology. He has my ancient Leckie and Leckie books🤣

DS got his banding for Nat 5 History on Wednesday - 4B. Now he has (thank goodness) decided not to go for the remark. It could possibly put him closer to a C rather than an A as he had been predicted. Apparently his teacher said to me over the phone that there were several in his NAT 5 class in this situation.

I have insisted a B is still a brilliant grade and we are very proud of him.

Your DS has done absolutely brilliant in his exams, these really are amazing results!!

He is just being daft. He wanted to appeal his English?! Thankfully you can’t appeal an A, otherwise I would also have the fear about the results going down, although this happens very rarely apparently.

Well done to your son too, my youngest is doing apps of maths and if he could get a B it would be amazing, I’m hoping he does manage a C at least.

Mine is doing crash higher physics, no idea what has possessed him

Be careful! The books might be fine for actual content (though I'd still be cautious about that) but the specifications/structure of the exams all changed around 2018 when unit assessments were dropped.

DSs teacher has told him that he thinks the History paper was a bit weird - that he kids who were predicted As got Bs and CS, and the kids predicted Bs and Cs got As.

sorry to sound dim but what's a 4B banding?

I can only see high A, low A, B, C, D on the sqa spreadsheet?

So what counts as a high B and low B please (DD has her percentages but not her bandings so I can only figure out the As - I'm shit at maths)

Thank you for the heads up. I can let him know this, not to rely on it. Will look into the most recent Higher text books he can order instead 😊

DS hasn't even disputed the Bs he got for the other NAT5s, only the history one as he was predicted an A. I agree, there's something strange going on. His history teacher was surprised too.

No idea, I phoned DSs school and the teacher got back to me to explain why it may not be worth a remark. He said it was a 4B, meaning it's closer to a C than an A.

I would imagine that 1B or 2B would be closer to an A. Waiting on the more knowledgeable posters to pop up now if I have this wrong😬

@NicolaSturGONE give your DDs school a phone to chat further into the breakdown of results. You won't get that from the spreadsheet on the SQA website. I only know for history as DS was considering appealing. No idea for the rest of the 7 NAT5s.

My niece did Nat 5 history and I think she said people were crying after it. Apparently one of the questions was a higher and not Nat 5 one

I think it means band 4. As are bands 1 and 2, Bs are band 3 and 4 etc. so it’s at the lower end of the range and therefore a remark is unlikely to raise it to an A.

Yes it's a B band 4 @MathsNervous

From SQA
"How are National Courses graded?
National 2, National 3, and National 4 courses are not graded — the units that make up these course are assessed as pass or fail.
Courses at National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher are graded A-D.
Do grades A-D in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses have bands?
Yes. Grades in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses have the following bands:
▪ upper A (band 1) or lower A (band 2)
▪ upper B (band 3) or lower B (band 4)
▪ upper C (band 5) or lower C (band 6)
▪ Grade D (band 7)
However, this information is not included with your qualifications certificate."

The previous poster is correct. The grades are assigned:

A1 (high A)
A2 (low A)
B3 (high B)
B4 (low B),
Etc.....

The numbers are the bands.

NB you cannot have bands remarked only lettered grades.