2025 SQA Exams

[Issy422]

With SQA exams starting tomorrow, is it time for a general exam thread?

It's just DD for me, doing Nat 5s. My first 'anxious parent for formal exams' experience. Starts with Music on Monday and ends with Art & Design on 26th, so we've exams throughout. Study leave not started here so first exam is on first day of study leave. She's over revision already so going to be a long 5 weeks.

That’s DD dropped off for nat5. She usually walks but it’s extremely hot and I do enjoy our wee chat in the car, it’s one of the best times to talk and she headed off in high spirits.

good luck everyone

Higher history gone well here! I’m so happy for her!

🙏🏻 the N5 paper is decent. Higher seems to be ok and AH mixed reaction from my students.

Higher history seemed to go well here too.

DD says AH was awful (their topic was america). She says they all just looked at each other and agreed afterwards it was shit. Not good when the Higher last year was a total shambles.

You remind me of one of my exams where everyone studied different topics so answered only the relevant sections of the paper. I remember looking at one of the topics I had studied, then looking at a section on a topic I hadn’t studied but had touched on in a different subject and being genuinely unsure which I should do as the section I had studied was so awful. (I did it in the end on the basis that you don’t know what you don’t know)

My DC was extremely nervous for the N5 History one today so I’m slightly anxious here waiting to hear how it’s gone.

I hope DD is not confused by the different topics in the paper. I hadn’t thought about that aspect before and I didn’t check she had seen a full paper, rather than working through the relevant topics’ questions. Now I have another ‘worst’ scenario to worry about!

Hope she didn't get confused @CleaningSilverCandlesticks. Am only getting texts from DD because she's on the school bus, but seems Nat 5 was ok. No white terror but a 6-marker on extension of the franchise which stumped them all.

Nat 5 gone pretty well here. She was the Great War, Atlantic Slave Trade and Rise of Nazism. She felt it was fair over all, that some 9 markers tricking worded but she’s happy she could answer them. So relieved it’s now 4 days until maths. 5 down with 2 to go. She’s taking tonight off (thank goodness) but will get back to it tomorrow. Hope everyone is ready to breathe and reset across the weekend .

Ditto here! Says nobody knew this!

Great to hear @Locallassie. DD also did Great War and Slave Trade and wanted to do rise of Nazism, but class chose Civil Rights.

BTW - Extension of the franchise was in Great War and was about the vote being given to all men over 21 and some women over 30 after the war. Shame as DD did know that had happened, but didn't recognise the terms in the question to know it was about voting.

Heavy revision needed this weekend here. Lots to learn for D&M on Tuesday and lots of practice needed for maths on Wednesday (and Apps on Friday but think that will have to be a Thursday cram).

That’s 3 Highers done and he’s glad that he’s got the 2 he isn’t as keen on out of the way (English and History). Just Maths and Human Biology left.
I don’t know about everyone else but I think I am way more stressed than he is!

I’m deffo more stressed than DD, and have surprised myself with this new feeling! They don’t prepare you for this at first steps group!

hope everyone has a nice weekend! Before maths week!

DD said higher history went pretty well, apart from the school cocking up her adjustments for dyslexia. Business next on the 22nd.

DD missed out the extension of franchise question altogether she was completely confused by it.

If she didn’t get her AAA then she should put in for EECS.

Sorry, what is AAA and EECS?

N5 history has some very tricky questions. Son has done badly in the two 9 markers which make up almost a quarter of the paper 😢

Sorry. Alternative Assessment Arrangements and Examination Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service (I missed out a C)

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/109851.html

Didn’t recognise what ‘franchise’ meant here either. DC is also doing business management where franchise has a quite different meaning.

I invigilated Nat 5 history today and heard several similar comments from the students. They had obviously been taught using "right to vote" or "voting rights" or similar - and I think this is part of hte issue with the SQA exams. They are so formulaic that the teachers concentrate on what is meant by an "explain" or "to what extent" question that there is no time left to discuss basic terms like franchised/disenfranchised.

franchised/disenfranchised

Funnily, I would have picked up what disenfranchised meant before franchised.

Many thanks @CleaningSilverCandlesticks I’ll look into that. Would the exceptional circumstances look at prelims? Or other stuff?

I think the phrasing of the question was "expansion of the franchise" or similar.