2026 SQA exams - is there a thread?

[YouBelongWithMe]

I can't see a thread so am starting it!

Last year my DS went through a mix of Hs and AH in S6 and now is finishing first year of uni.

It's now the middle child's turn - she's sitting six Highers in S5, and they're all packed in over about thirteen days! She's totally finished by the 11th.

Can't believe they've come round so fast.

My daughter is doing far less than last year 😬 Last year she was so organised, had a revision schedule and was very diligent. This year feels very ad-hoc and also secondary to her social life. She is revising (I think) but at mad times in between working in her PT job and seeing her friends.

I booked a two-day city break to Barcelona months ago, thinking it would be a nice break from revision. We leave tomorrow and I'm now thinking I should have left the whole thing!

She is very academic, predicted six As at Higher. I am nervous that she's set herself up for a bit of a fall...

I'm really panicking about how little DS is doing for his nat 5s. He is predicted eight As, and got mostly As some Bs in his prelims. He is completely chill about it and doesn't think he needs to study 😬.
He's certainly not revising daily, he did half a past paper last week and today he did some multiple choice questions for one subject and he thinks he deserves and medal 🙄.

I'm trying not to nag too much, but gently encourage him. I made him a revision kit with all the stationery bits and notecards etc as well as his fav snacks. He's scoffed the snacks and done no revision! I just don't want him to be disappointed on results day if he doesn't get what he expected and wishes he had worked a bit harder.

Glad to see the thread back! DS1 is now at college so it’s the turn of DS2 and his Nat 5s.
He worked his socks off for his prelims and did very well, but seems to have slacked off a bit recently.
He’s doing Maths Apps but is planning to do what he calls ‘big maths’ in S5, along with 4 highers, all being well.
As for SQA, I can confirm that the logo on the exterior of their HQ has changed, it’s just down the road from me 😂

I’ll join this, dd is doing Nat 5s this year. She seems to be revising a lot more than she did for her prelims so I’m hoping will work out ok.

Well, ds starts next Friday 😫 Five highers and not a huge amount of studying going on as far as I can tell. He did well in prelims but he could do better!

Two DD’s here, one in S6 doing two more highers and two advanced and one S5 sitting 5 Highers.
DD1 needs an A in either of the AdvH to be accepted to her top uni choice but has 4 unconditionals also so not the end of the world if she doesn’t get it.
DD1 got an A in H Maths last year after getting a D in the prelim so don’t lose hope!
No Higher Maths for DD2, we were all over the moon with her Nat5 B last year.

Only 4 days until first exam in this house. Nerves kicking in now (for me, not DS 😂)

First exam here today. The best of luck to everyone sitting Spanish or Environmental Science!

My DS has his Spanish this afternoon 😩 I think I’m more nervous than him.

first one down for DD - Spanish went well apparently. Only another five to go…

Higher Spanish was apparently all good apart from
the second listening piece....

Also answering as a teacher - I will be teaching until the second to last day and I don’t reteach that content after the holidays - if you’re on holiday etc it’s on you to catch up. Obviously we revisit the content through questions etc but at N5 and Higher it’s the kids responsibility to keep themselves caught up.

Higher geography here & it seems to have gone ok, which is a good confidence boost for DS. I feel he didn’t know the curriculum as well as he should have - translate that as he didn’t study enough! But a good start either way.

yes, Higher Geogrpahy seems to have been good. DD said first paper was great, 2nd paper was okay so together will hopefully be a good mark overall.

DD has Higher Business Management today….😬 and then thankfully a breather before H English next week.

still, we enter the weekend with 2 out of 5 done which is a good feeling!

First invigilating shift this morning for the Business exams. No idea if I'll be in the hall, or more likely with a student who gets extra time or something like a scribe.

First one for DS2 today - Engineering Science. He seems ok but he has autism so it can be hard to tell. He’s also dyslexic so has extra time. It’s his first experience of having extra time for Eng Sci as the department ‘forgot’ to apply alternative arrangements for anyone who needed them in the prelim.

Hi, here we are - it has rolled around fast! 3H here, in reality unsure if will pass any as approx 20% in prelims but I have to remind myself I didn't think he would pass any Nat5 and he did but the jump up to H has perhaps been too big a stretch for him. He has ASN. He has done a Foundation Apprenticeship this year which is worth a H so I keep reminding him of that.

English first for us. Gulp.

I am finding H Drama quite hard to get my head around. Then lastly H Apps!

Blink and it will all be over after lots of stress and tears!

The foundation apprenticeship is a great thing to have - what was it in?
DS1 took 4 highers and failed 3, also with ASN. The jump genuinely was too big (plus he didn’t do enough work!).
He’s now in his second year of college, training as a chef and while I wouldn’t say he was loving life, he’s much happier than he was at school.
Good luck to your DS!

General consensus from the students I spoke to today was that both the Higher and Adv Higher Business papers were fair. Most of them thought the case studies (Vue cinemas for Higher, Netflix for Adv H) were relatable.

My dd had Nat 5 business today she said she found it extremely hard and it’s usually one of her best subjects. All her friends also found it hard so bit concerned about that. Will just keep fingers crossed.

Nat 5 business today, ds said it went really well, both him and his friend said they found it fairly easy compared to past papers. He had done a bit of work over the last few days so hopefully that has paid off!

My sons had 2 nat 5s now... he and his pals all.said nat 5 geography on thursday and.nat 5.engineering yesterday went well..so thats a good start!..2 down 5.to.go!

It was Creative & Digital media - he's really enjoyed it. Initially I was unsure if he'd manage as it's a level but he seems to have hopefully done ok. In hindsight he should have perhaps left school now at the end of S5 but he's a Dec birthday so very young (at least to me!)

First exam for DD tomorrow - Higher Music. We're currently on the train on the way home from the Alex Warren concert... hoping that counted as revision!!

Same here. DD doing Higher music exam as I type. Good luck to everyone's DC today and over the coming weeks! 🍀🤞🍀