Highers and uni entry confusion

[Cheeesus]

I’m sure this has been answered before, but I can’t find quite the answer.

Scottish school system is new to me and I’m struggling to understand the final bit of it!

So, S5 and S6. They do Highers. Do they try and do all of them (5?) in S5? Do they need to add some advanced highers in S6? Or more highers? Do some of them go to university after S5 and not bother with S6? Does it make a difference if they are considering an English university?

I have asked different people this and got very different answers!

For context, we’re hoping my eldest would go to a middle-y sort of Scottish university.

The gold standard would be 5 highers in s5. If pupils achieve this they can go to university and not do S6. Nowadays I think most will complete S6 and complete up to 3 AHs or more highers or other types of qualification. English uni's often look for AH at entry as their degrees are typically 3 years rather than the Scottish standard of 4. Essentially AH would be similar in level to 1st year in a Scottish uni. It's possible to gain direct entry to 2nd year in some courses with AH levels.

Having said that there are many many people who get entry to uni with highers taken over 2 years and /or other qualifications.

It would useful to look at courses DC might be interested in and check typical entry requirements.

Some uni/courses will have contextual offers based on factors such as post code and school attended.

If aiming for uni then most kids will do 4 or 5 highers in S5. They will then do a combination of Highers and Advanced highers in S6. Many university/courses will accept exams taken over 2 years.

Although it's possible to go to uni after S5 most kids nowadays stay for S6.
If interested in English uni then will usually need advanced highers as it's a 3 year degree as opposed to 4 years in Scotland

Some universities require 5 highers from one sitting so it is important to research properly if thinking of doing something different in S5.

In S6 Pupils can then take extra highers, advanced highers or a mix of the two depending on their ability, interests and availability of options at their school.

It's been a few years since I was in high school, but in my experience, students stayed on in S6 for the social aspects. In my peer group, we got our unconditional Uni offer part way through S6 so the pressure to pass exams was off. We just chilled out in the common room and alongside a couple more Highers did short modules such as "photography".

I really appreciated ds1 having his unconditional, and he did too.
He did 5 highers in s5 and did well, but really had no intention of going to uni right after. It wasn't on his radar at all.
S6 gave him the headspace to work out where to apply, and if he hadn't done as well at higher in s5 he could have had another go.
It's probably confusing precisely because of the flexibility.
I did a-levels in England and we all did more or less the same thing. Whereas with this there is a lot of choice.

S5/6 they can also undertake a foundation apprenticeship as part of their studies

Thank you so much everyone. That makes a lot of sense.
So far I haven’t seen ‘in one sitting’ on the courses we’ve looked at, but I’ll keep an eye out.
DD is finding school a bit bitchy and constrictive so was hoping to escape sooner rather than later. Hopefully S5 and S6 are a bit nicer though!

Sorry to hear she not really enjoying school right now @Cheeesus Hopefully things will improve.

Some kids who have a fairly good idea what they want to do at University leave school after S5 and go to college to do a one year HNC.
That is then used as the university entrance qualification but it is subject specific and easier to do for some subjects than others.
So for science, IT, social subjects, engineering, marketing, Business it's quite a well trodden path people take. Just something else to look into if she doesn't want to stay at school

Thanks, @Jethia that’s good to have another option.

I'd double check (maybe ring) the unis about the one sitting. Years ago when I went to uni we had no choice in my school and had to do 5 highers in one sitting. It's obviously harder than splitting them between the years. Then found out that nobody was requiring them in one sitting, they only checked the grades, not the dates. Meaning my five in one year were considered equal to someone else's 3 in one year and 2 the next year.

I'm obviously not bitter... 😂 Worth checking!

I went to school in Scotland - I did 5 Highers in S5 (attained AAAAB) - I didn't fancy leaving school at the end of S5, so stayed on for S6 and did 2x AHs and 1 other higher. Check the course requirements carefully as some courses won't take an AH grade if you already have a grade A in the higher (as was the case with me with my AH English!)