What are grade expectations for most “good” university courses in Scotland

[Yumyi]

I have been looking at various prospectuses and often they say AAAB or AABB is this actually enough? Is 5 good grades in one year required?

I just read an old thread on here where a mum said their child was predicted ABBB and they were worried they wouldnt get any university offers.

i would really appreciate any advice as it was the 90s when I applied and it seems so much more competitive now. First child doing Nat 5s this year so just thinking ahead for next year. Not sure what he will do at university but perhaps history or a social science type subject

If you're not a contextual/widening access applicant, you need to look at the higher of the standard grade range to give you an idea of the level of offer (e.g. AAAAA-AABBB). So in this instance you would need AAAAA to usually be in with a chance of an offer.

The most popular courses can often be oversubscribed however, and attaining the grades doesn't always lead to an offer.

My daughter got an offer from Edinburgh which had ABBB as standard, she had AABB. Wasn’t one of the hugely competitive courses though, which would have lots of overseas/English students applying though.

Aberdeen which is Top 20, most subjects ask for AABB. Same as other unis. I think it’s the very competitive courses that ask for 5 Highers. For example, I see History at Edinburgh is AAAAA (end S5) but History with Scottish History is ABBB (presumably much fewer students trying for this). So I think non-straight As students may need to be more strategic with the subjects they go for.

It seems to have changed so much. Even b and c grades were able to get in to university when I went

Ds is in s6. He has 4 As and we've been told he'll more than likely get unconditional at likes of Stirling but not edinburgh.

Thanks @thaegumathteth can I ask did he do all in one year? And did he just do 4 highers? Or was there a fifth at a lower grade?

He did them all in s5. He was also doing a Nat 5 but dropped it before the exams. He's doing 2 more Highers, a Nat 5 and a level 6 course this year.

Thanks. Just thinking about if four strong highers are better than 5 and risking spreading too thin

From what I can see as parent and what we were told, for law, medicine, vet med as a Scottish resident, you're looking at 3 Advanced Highers at AAA and probably straight As at higher ( 4 or 5) plus good Nat 5s. That is for your St Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee unis. That is, as others have said, for candidates without special circumstances or English or overseas students paying higher fees. Also in addition to the state exams, some unis require aspiring medical and law students to sit the Medicine National Aptitude Test or for law, the Law National Aptitude Test. Glasgow uni used to require this - don't know now. These tests need to be paid for, sat externally and require a fair bit of prep.

Some universities require 5 highers in one sitting so be very careful trying to game the system for 4 better results.

Also many students get into university without 5As, there are some excellent Scottish degree courses with much lower entry requirements than this.

DC1, not at one of the big name universities got in with 5Bs.
Their friends who are currently at Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews all had minimum AAAAB in one sitting.
None eligible for contextual offers

Agree that AAAAB is pretty much what you'll need. Both of my older two got those grades and applied to a wide range of Scottish universities on two very different courses. DS had (unconditional) offers from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, St Andrews, Strathclyde. DD also had 5 unconditionals from Glasgow, Strathclyde, Stirling (x2 degrees) and Aberdeen, although the Glasgow offer was after an interview.

When I applied to uni in 1990 I had AABB at Higher (failed my Higher Maths) and got unconditionals. The entry requirements for the course I was looking at was BBBB. Now the same course asks for AAAA at one sitting or AAAAB at two.

It will also depend on the grade distribution for that year. Grade inflation during covid and for the couple of years afterwards made it hard to predict what offers would be, but I think this year's results have been more normal and that coupled with the lower A level results, may make a difference.

Keeping my fingers crossed for my DS who did Highers last year. He did enormously well and got 5 As but is wanting to apply for a very popular course and hasn't that much of note on his personal statement.

Oh and I got into Edinburgh to study Business in 1988 with BBC in my A Levels. Now they are looking for AAAAB (higher) minimum