Highers : 4 rather than 5

[Frustration247]

Hi I’m probably over thinking this but that’s just where I am right now !

Child currently choosing highers for S5, has not had a great year and a lot of supporting and building up self esteem and confidence is going on with school and family support.

my wondering is … would doing 4 highers in S5 be detrimental down the line in terms of uni is she decides on that as a destination? Are the majority of universities ok with not all highers taken ‘ at one sitting ?’
ahhh it’s so much pressure at this age isn’t it !
many thanks for any words of wisdom!

Possibly best to check individual university requirements for specific courses. I would think four Highers in fifth year would give a better chance of passing them, if she's had a difficult year. I went to uni with four Highers but it was a very long time ago. She could pick up a higher or two in sixth year if fifth year goes well. What is her guidance teacher advising?

Have a look at uni entry requirements for the kind of thing she wants to do. Some do require 5 in one sitting.

My son and daughter both sat 4 highers (2010 and 2012)

Daughter didn't like what was offered for 5th subjects and did musical theatre so uni entry didn't come up.... however she has since gone back and just completed a law degree though probably got in with her BA in musical theatre rather than highers and subsequent a level and advanced higher music and drama.

Son dropped a higher just before sitting them his dad died 8 weeks before them and he just couldn't cope. He got into uni to do neuroscience (dad had a brain tumour😞) but changed to applied computing after first year. No issues

Medicine would have been a different matter though. Need 5 highers at one sitting as we had looked into this at the time.

I think it will be a case of maybe getting conditional offers for uni instead of unconditional in most cases (probably not med or vet etc.) My DD dropped a Higher in S5 (so ended up taking 4) and is taking AHs and a Higher this year in S6 and is getting conditional offers for uni. School advised it was better to get 4 good Highers than risk failing by taking 5. DD was not in a good place last year, she's much better now and I think 5 would have broken her. I like the Scottish system because it seems flexible and allows for catch up (I grew up in English system).

As pp said, it all depends on the uni/course, all the unis should have details of entry requirements on their websites.

Our local schools would insist in S5 the spare column in the timetable is filled with something - another/resit a NAT5?

My DS is in S5 and recently dropped one Higher. Sitting four now instead. He just wasn't getting on with one of them, we just spoke to his guidance teacher who was understanding about why. Not detrimental to him as he is looking to take two Highers in S6, and is looking to do a music degree and then PGDE afterwards. Nothing that requires five Higher passes in one sitting. If he leaves with six Higher passes at the end he will have done better than I did years ago! I left school with five Highers but sat three in S5, two in S6.

OP it all depends what your DC is planning to do after school.

Thanks all , school have been very supportive and at the moment the plan is to do 5 however one subject that she is really struggling with have said they may just present her for n4 with a view to n5 in s5 . This sounds sensible to me.
appreciate all the advice and experience

I did 4 highers in 5th year and went onto University of Edinburgh at 16, to a competitive course.

This was 15yrs ago, but look at entry requirements for courses if it's still 4 highers I don't see it being an issue.

Some schools only let pupils do 4 higher in s5!

Look at what uni courses they want to do. Then work back from their what their entrance requirements are.

Depends on the hoped for degree. My son needed 5 highers in one sitting and may get a conditional based on his AH.

That sounds sensible.
Its quality, not quantity that really counts for university entrance. So if doing 5 highers spreads her too thinly and she ends up with 5Bs, that will get her into less courses than 4 highers at 2As and 2Bs would

Scottish Unis publish what results they require so get on the internet and start researching.

e.g.

Dundee for social subjects wants AABB and doesn't specify subjects
Dundee for biology wants BBBB but specifies this must include Higher Biology and Chemistry plus National 5 Mathematics at grade B
They don't have different requirements over S5 and S6

Stirling Uni for social subjects wants AABB if achieved at end of S5 and AABBB if achieved by end of S6
Stirling for biology wants AABB at S5 or AAAB at S6 and requires one of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics.

Really helpful replies many thanks I feel a lot better, ah teenagers

There's quite a lot of flexibility thankfully in Scottish uni entrance and good courses available at a wide range of unis. My kids cover the full range and are all at uni: five As at one sitting, five A-C at two sittings, and one with no Highers ( dropped them all!) who had to do two years of access courses at college instead.

I chose to do 4 higher in 5th year in order to try get the best results and I got into St Andrews but that was around 15 years ago. Although I felt that I probably could have done 5 and it might have not made much difference to the other scores but obviously difficult to say.

I dropped one and got into a competitive RG English University, a good while ago now. I think that decent grades and being flexible is important. Not just volume.

I’d say if her the reasons for her struggles are something that can be officially documented then that would be a good idea to get. Accessibility and inclusion are playing a huge role nowadays. There is a huge squeeze on Scottish home student places due to funding cuts so admission requirements are likely to have to get more competitive