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.

Higher music is at 14:30 on the SQA website - it is only an hour. But still check with your school they haven’t shifted it..

I really don’t think schools are allowed to change the start time.

“Double-check the times of your exams as schools can change the start times.”

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/100863.html
(under ‘Before Your Exams’)

DD's school has permission to bring forward some start times so that pupils can finish in time to get school buses home, so definitely check with the school.

Nat 5 music is 13:00 to 13:45 so would make sense that higher is a 14:30 start (assuming some schools might only have one room with the right equipment for a listening exam).

Good luck to the music, media and Urdu students for tomorrow.

It’s down as 2.30pm for DD tomorrow. She’s sitting exams in a room herself due to health conditions so I just hope they have the extra audio ready! She gets the school bus but will miss it and need a lift home afterwards. I think she’ll be glad to have the first one over!

Good luck to everyone tomorrow. Thanks everyone, I’m now assured it’s 2:30✅

Thank you to @Locallassie for the music online link. It's been really helpful. I was googling a small number of terms which are not defined when you click through and came across a great summary. A bit late, but if anyone wants a list to scan through in the morning, the following is good:

https://morningsideschoolofmusic.co.uk/national-5-music-concepts/

Some headings look like they're missing but are in white font, so if you copy it, it shows up. Presume they have a Higher version too.

It's a shame they couldn't move the time for them. The Higher is starting at 14:15 at DD's school because of the buses.

DD is in S6 with an unconditional offer she has accepted, so she doesn't 'need' her AH and H grades, but would like them anyway of course.
However, on the day of her first exam, she gets a letter saying for one of her subjects, the coursework component has been cancelled as they suspect candidate malpractice! No prior warning given, no witness statement sought, no alternative evidence requested (or looked at, as we can prove she's innocent, but they aren't interested, they just tell us to appeal to the SQA now).
Its come as a complete shock and impacting DDs ability to study for her exams. She's had issues with this teacher all year, as have other pupils. We know of other parents who have complained. I don't want to give too many details in case we reveal who DD is but we are really upset and angry. We're not letting it drop but what shitty timing on the part of the school.

That is awful allaboutthatsass. Do they give an indication of what they believe the malpractice was? Did the letter come from the school or the SQA?

What a nightmare @allaboutthatsass. I was reading about something similar on another thread. The UCAS applications one, I think. I hope the appeal works out, but awful timing to be informed.

Nat 5 music seems to have gone ok. DD is never positive about her results, but she thinks she dropped 7 marks. Though she did say that she always thinks that and it's usually more. The realisation has just dawned on her that she won't find out until August. Sending positive vibes to those about to go in for the Higher.

They allege collusion with another pupil. They haven't given us any evidence they have to prove collusion, despite us asking, or any information on what we do now! We do have strong counter evidence but they've refused to look at it. The SQA are no help and keep passing us back to the school. its a nightmare.

Very sorry to hear that awful stress for your daughter.

Higher music seems to have gone ok, with a few tricky things she wasn’t sure of (one she had never heard of!) but she felt positive on the whole. One down. Plenty to go!

Presumably the other pupil has had the same charge made?

I see the appeals processs to to appeal to:

1. the teacher
2. the internal verifier
3. SQA.

You need to take a deep breath and work through this process step by step, making sure are each stage it is clear what you are requesting, presenting evidence, and trying to keep emotion out as much as possible (stick to facts). And do so by email so you have a clear record. By the sounds of things you have done step 1). Make sure you now appeal clearly to step 2). Then you can go to 5he SQA. The SQA appeal process is here and must be submitted with 15 days of your notification

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/appeals-process-information-for-centres.pdf

Reasons for appeal:

SOA defines an unreasonable decision as:
a decision devoid of plausible justification, or

• a decision makers) taking into account irrelevant considerations or failing to consider relevant considerations, or
• a decision makers) failing to give reasons, or the reasons given not making sense

SQA defines procedural irregularity as: 3 a decision- maker failing to comply with SQA procedures

yes and they are as angry as we are about it and also appealing. I've seen that guidance before but the school are ignoring us now and the sqa wont do anything as its the schools job...its really frustrating and upsetting.
Anyway, we will try to keep the focus on the exams, even the one that she will fail even with full marks in the paper, without the coursework being marked.

Higher Music was ‘okay’ here. She felt it was harder than the three previous years’ prelims. Some things that are ‘always’ in were missing and a few curve balls. She’s focussing too much on one where she knows she made a daft mistake. Knew the answer for the subdominant note, got it right and now worrying if she circled the wrong note. All that second guessing you do. It’s hard as she’s predicted and A but it’s a crash higher and she has no real indication how the performance and composition went. She’s got nothing to compare to as didn't do Nat 5. Nat 5 chemistry on Thursday.

I bet she's thrown by a change of format @Locallassie, when they're usually quite predictable.🤞she did better than she thinks.

Make sure you don’t miss the 15 day limit to appeal to SQA. If the school don’t respond then that clearly falls into reasons to appeal to SQA but you have to show you went to them first.

I was contacting the SQA about an exam timetabling and also found them incredibly unhelpful. I first contacted then in November when they told me it was totally impossible to ever change the exam timetable, never happens, set in stone, been worked on since the year dot so can’t be looked at again. Then in February they changed them - except not for our issue.

Scottish government dictated SQA change the timetable due to complaints & pressure from school. Not SQAs decision at all.

Hello, can I join.
Two DD’s one S4 doing 7 Nat 5s and one S5 doing 5 Highers, neither have any until English next week.
Poor DD2 has French and Spanish back to back at some point!

Maybe but they did change to remove many issues but left the one I flagged to them.

I have two with skin in the game this year. DS is S6 and sitting three H and one AH. DD is S4 and sitting six N5.

They're both one exam down (H Computing and N5 Music).

My son had a hypo during his exam and now we're sending off exceptional circumstances 😭

Of course you can @gracielooloo. English next exam here too.

Good luck to those doing Geography tomorrow.

Oh no @YouBelongWithMe . I hope they accept your exceptional circumstances.

We had roadworks start right outside DD's window today. I've looked online and seems they are there for 7 days. Great timing! Trying to look on the bright side, they should finish the day before her next exam, but she was really hoping to use this week to revise for the 5 exams she has next week and the following, so hoping it's not too noisy. Any recommendations for noise cancelling headphones?

Hope no news is good news from the geographers.

Good luck to those doing Admin and IT in the morning and/or Graphic Comms in the afternoon. 🍀🤞

I think Loop are good for noise-cancelling! I hear good things anyway.