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.

Your school would have to submit an EECS request
https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/109851.html

My first experience of exams as a parent. Son starts first of his seven N5s tomorrow and will be finished by 16 May. He hasn’t done as much revision as I’d like but he did very little for prelims and did very well so hopefully he can repeat that! I’m more stressed than he is.

We start next Thursday (Nat 5s and AH) and finish on 27 May. DC2 has a lot accommodations. We only got the scribe properly for prelims - and the teachers were shocked how much better she did with a scribe. We spent years arguing that writing (or typing) was so much effort that it limited her answers. Not least because if she thought of three things she would have forgotten two of them by the time she had managed to write the first. DC1 needs his AH results for Uni and failed one in prelims so really have my fingers crossed there as he would be devastated if he lost out on his uni places.

@CleaningSilverCandlesticksThank you! I didn't want to ask the School at this stage, in case they think Dd is somehow 'considering' it, (she's not) but I can see it happening. She had two attempts at sitting her Pre-Lim in this subject (ie being able to stay in seat in the room) and that was with her familiar face (of the last 3 years). I'd hoped School would let her know it will be a different person (plus she's not met the invigilator before, like in the last years) but they've not. She has worked hard, got A grades in her classwork but her PreLim was poor due to nerves so her SQA submitted grade is a C. That would be fine but I do worry rhat it wouldn't be considered if she can't attend due to 'nerves' - she is Autistic & goes into full shutdown - rather than, eg, D&V on the day. Fingers (& toes) crossed ...

Glad to find this thread. Highers here. Dd working very hard now but was quite relaxed until the Easter holidays so is feeling the pressure now.

Are the school on board with this more generally? They need to submit the EECS within ten days of the exams, you can’t submit it.

We had to get a private clinical psychologist on board to help in the run up to these exams due to OCD looking like it was beginning to rear its ugly head again. Learnt from bitter experience not to bother with CAMHS. We did quite a bit of work on calming techniques - you really need to practice them regularly. But the tricky bit is catching an episode of rising anxiety early enough that calming helps to turn the tide. The simplest method that works for her is just having a drink - sips of water.

👋 @CleaningSilverCandlesticks , @LoopyGremlin, @theresbeautyinwindysun (not sure I'll be able to keep up with waving at everyone new)

Good luck to those doing Computing Science and Psychology tomorrow 🍀

D-Day! I think I’m more nervous than the child

Good luck to all of the kids sitting exams today

Good luck to other exam maws! This is my first experience, with DD sitting n5 computing today - first of 8!

she’s deffo more relaxed than me, I’m feeling quite nervous and trying not to project that on her.

DS here Nat5s, computing today. I’m now away to double and triple check that we have all the correct information for times and dates 🫣

The mysqa app is good for the timetable, and automatically updated when the computing exam date got moved so far forward!!

Son seems to think N5 computing went ok! Glad that’s the first one done.

Same here! Next up is graphic communication on weds. One down, 7 to go!

Computing seems to have gone ok here too. Really good to get off to a positive start. Hope it went ok for everyone else today too.

👋 at all the new joiners to the thread

Great to see computing seems to have gone well for everyone.

DD's school sent home a timetable for masterclasses today, with 'pupils encouraged to attend', so here I am at stupid o'clock re-doing her revision timetable, trying to work out how to fit it all in and get her there around work.

For those doing 8 exams, how has the school fitted in the teaching? DDs school only does 6 subjects (but she has 7 exams because of Maths and Apps) and they started some of the work in S3.

They made their subject choices in S2 and started work on the curriculum in S3. I guess they had a bit more time in S3 because they were only doing eight subjects then. Though of course anyone studying a subject in S3 and only doing six in S4 would still have been learning relevant material in S3 even if they hadn’t chosen their options then. We also only did maths or apps, not both.

Ah, that makes sense. DDs school also made subject choices in S2, but they only started the Nat 5 work towards the end of S3 and only in some subjects. D&M didn't start the extra work for Nat 5 until January this year, as they were focused on Nat 4 until then.

They introduced Apps of Maths as Maths is one of the harder subjects to pass, but I do question their logic of reducing the time spent on one to cover the extra material for both. Given the timetable, I'm concerned DD will spend all her time on D&M, which is the afternoon before, at the expense of Maths. Sod's law that it's the only prelim she failed (first time, scraped through the second) and the only exam she has that's straight after another. I'm going to do some past papers myself so that I'm ready to help her, as she'll only come to me for help at the very last minute. I did last year's paper 1 when she had prelims, but dropped marks for using the wrong method, so really important to look at how they're taught now and check the marking scheme before trying to help.

Our school offer maths and apps but you take one or the other. Those who struggle with maths generally get encouraged to take the apps class (from S3).

Yes sorry, she’s sitting mathematics and applications of maths. It’s been bolted on as a bonus and I don’t think there’s been any huge time spent, maybe a period a week in usual maths class. We were told she’d be doing both but we could choose not to if we were concerned.

mr clellend maths on youtube was great for revision on both maths and applications. Talks through past past papers and explains it all

Same here

I think focusing on one would have been better, but if she matches her most recent prelim results, she'll get a C in maths and an A in apps, which I guess is better than just a C. Now just need to get her to stop avoiding revision whenever Maths is on the timetable 😂.

Identical for me too

Hello everyone

I am into my 4th year of SQA exams as a parent. Youngest son in s5. He’s doing 3 highers and are all quite well spaced. GC on Weds, English 7th, maths apps 16th. If he can pass them all I’ll be delighted. He has ASD and we have had so many struggles with his education, I’m so proud of him getting here, especially also in the shadow of a straight As big brother!

good luck everyone

Can anyone confirm for me that higher music is at 2:30pm tomorrow? I have double checked but it just seems late to me and would like a triple check please!

You would be best to check directly with your school. They are allowed to move the start time by (I think) half an hour to fit in with other things - which is why you can’t leave in the first half hour.