The answers to these FAQs should help provide you and your parents with the information you need to make your subject choices. Please read through the information carefully and discuss any questions with a subject teacher or your Principal Teacher Pupil Support. It is important that you take time, look at all the information available to you and choose subjects carefully.
You should base your choice on the following:
Ability in the subject – you are likely to be keen to continue with a subject where you feel confident that you can do well.
Enjoyment of the subject – you should choose subjects you enjoy, as these are the subjects where you are most likely to do well.
Career and/or future study possibilities – if you already have a clear idea of a career or area of study you want to pursue after school, then choose subjects that are essential or useful for that area.
Balance of subjects across curriculum areas – you may well feel confident that you want to work in science, but it is unwise to abandon a curriculum area completely. You may well change your mind, or in S6 you may wish to pick up an additional qualification in a new curriculum area.
Your 3-year plan – the 6 subjects you choose for S4 are crucial as you will continue to study 5 of these same subjects for S5. If you intend returning for S6, you should begin planning now for the qualifications you would like to have when you finally leave school.
S4 pupils study 7 subjects, including English and Mathematics, at National level. There will also be 2 periods of core PE, a period of RMPS, and a period of PSE with your Principal Teacher of Pupil Support.
S5 pupils study 6 subjects (normally including English and Mathematics), including a mix of Higher and National level, mostly continuing with subjects studied in S4. In the column where S5 pupils have NOT selected a subject, they should choose PSE and study.
S6 pupils should study 6 subjects, at Higher or Advanced Higher level. S6 pupils should NOT routinely choose National level courses.
All students wishing to stay on at school in S6 need to select at least 4 subjects. The only exception is students taking 3 Advanced Highers. This is the learning offer available for going on to study in S6. It is similar to going to university where you would be expected to study 120 credits a year, or if you chose to study Social Subjects at college - you would have to do all the modules, you wouldn't be able to opt out of History.
S6 offers students a chance to prepare for the world, career and life ahead and it can be useful to think beyond what would be needed and to consider more generally what might be enjoyable or helpful. For example, some students learn Art or Music as a way to destress, while others knowing they may be living on their own for the first time take practical cookery. Some learners take vocational college courses like Hairdressing to help secure a flexible part-time job while they continue on to college or university, others pick up languages (for holidays), craft skills (for DIYers), or augment their knowledge of a field by picking up other related subjects within the same faculty. Some subjects like Administration & IT or Business Management offer skills and/or knowledge that will make other jobs easier.
There are great courses on offer in S6, but it isn't for everyone and if you want to specialise in just one or two areas then often college is a better path, in terms of attainment, depth of knowledge and future progression.
We encourage all students to discuss their options with their Principal Teacher Pupil Support. PTPSs know their students well and can maybe offer relevant suggestions.
National courses are available at different levels. National 4 courses are assessed internally by teachers and do NOT have an end of course exam. They are assessed as pass or fail.
Instead of an exam, National 4 courses have a piece of independent work called an Added Value Unit, which is assessed by teachers in school. To achieve a full National 4 award, pupils must pass all unit assessments, and the Added Value Unit.
National 5 courses have an exam and they are graded A-D, with marks awarded externally by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
It will be different for different pupils but should be based on thinking carefully about your future ambitions, keeping a balance of subjects across different curriculum areas, taking into account entry requirements for college or university courses, and also thinking about the subjects prospective employers expect you to have. A good course choice should be one where each choice can be justified, as in the example over.
All universities and FE colleges publish the entry requirements for all their courses in their prospectus. These are available to download from institution websites, such as:
University of Aberdeen: www.abdn.ac.uk
Robert Gordon’s University: www.rgu.ac.uk
North East of Scotland College (NESCol): www.nescol.ac.uk
Other universities in the country, such as those in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee also make entry requirements clear via their websites and offer a huge range of opportunities, from Computer Game Design to Dentistry and beyond.
Talk to your subject teachers and guidance teacher; seek advice from family members and look online. Look at job adverts online, or consult My World of Work, Scotland’s national careers advice website.
Don’t panic! This is the situation for many young people. Many adults had no idea what we wanted to spend our lives doing when we are 14 or 15, which is why it is so important to think carefully about subject choice and keep as many options open as possible. A young person may change their mind about a final career many times, and there is also the fact that the job market is changing rapidly – there are jobs available now that simply did not exist 10 years ago (social media manager, app developer)... this will happen again in the next 10 years: you may end up in a role that doesn’t exist yet!
A link will be provided to all pupils to be able to submit their choices electronically, using a Google Form. This link will be emailed to pupils and placed on both the school app and the school website. Pupils currently in S4 or S5 returning for S5 or S6 will also be asked to complete a paper return to give teachers the opportunity to comment on how suitable their choices are.
In the first instance, please contact your young person’s Principal Teacher of Pupil Support.
Past papers and detailed course outlines can be accessed, free of charge, on the SQA website, which can be found at www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/58062.3806.html. A brief guide to each subject we offer is also available on the school website.
In columns B (Monday and Wednesday) and D (Tuesday and Thursday), learners can choose a City Campus option. This means they will travel to another school or to a NESCol campus to study there. The cost of travel is covered by a bus voucher for the session.
Details of the options available can be found here and more information is available at nescol.ac.uk/courses/school-links.
Please be aware that choosing a ABZ Campus option involves a separate application to either NESCol or the city school involved. Entry to these courses is not guaranteed and pupils should make a back-up choice.
Like every school, we have limited resources and cannot always meet the demand for over- subscribed subjects. We are limited by class size (20 for practical subjects) and by our staffing allocation. Where we are unable to offer places to all pupils who have applied, we try our very best to allocate places fairly, on the basis of prior attainment, career priorities and other subject choices.
Pupils who have displayed a commitment to their education in S5 are welcome to return for S6. This can be an excellent preparation for future academic study and also gives an opportunity to prepare for the world beyond school.
S6 pupils choose 4 courses of study. This means they have non-contact periods, or free periods, which they can use for independent study and developing other skills through school service and community placements.
S6 pupils are expected to maintain all 4 courses for the entire session. Universities and future employers often look at S6 attainment to differentiate between applicants with similar academic profiles – being able to demonstrate that S6 has helped a young person gain more qualifications and leadership experience can give our pupils an edge in a competitive world.
S3 is part of the Broad General Education (BGE) phase so students must continue to study each of the eight national curricular areas. Within this there will be some limited options for personalisation where learners choose subjects within a curricular area/faculty but can't leave any of them. So for example, students will be able to choose between Chemistry with Physics or Chemistry with Biology but they won't be able to choose to drop Science. Likewise, students will be able to choose between Modern Studies, Geography or History but they cannot drop the Humanities. S2 students moving into S3 will therefore have less input than when they come to choose their subjects for S4 where they are not required to take all curricular areas and the courses will lead on to qualifications.
Within the next few weeks, learners in S2 will have the opportunity to complete options forms. Traditionally we start collating choices from S5 pupils moving into S6, and work our way down through the year groups throughout February and most of March.
Foundation Apprenticeships
There are also a wider range of Foundation Apprenticeships available than previously. These are 2 year courses, which are suitable for pupils who are also doing some Highers. Some Foundation Apprenticeships are for one year only and are suitable for S6 pupils.
FA in Children and Young People
FA in Civil Engineering
FA in Creative and Digital Media FA in Electrical Engineering
FA in Food and Drink Technologies
FA in IT (Hardware and System Support) FA in Mechanical Engineering
FA in Scientific Technologies
FA in Social Service and Healthcare
Glossary
AGS: Aberdeen Grammar School
FA: Foundation Apprenticeships
NESCol: North East of Scotland College, with campuses at Gallowgate in the city, and Altens
NPA: National Progression Award - these courses do not involve an exam, but are internally assessed and awarded by SQA. They are awarded at SCQF level 4 or 5 or 6, equivalent to National 4, National 5 or Higher.
SCQF: The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework has 12 levels ranging from Access at SCQF level 1, up to Doctorate at SCQF level 12. The different levels indicate the level of difficulty of a qualification and increases in levels relate to factors such as the complexity and depth of knowledge and understanding.
SfW: Skills for Work – these courses do not involve an exam, but are internally assessed and awarded by SQA. They are awarded at SCQF level 4 or 5, equivalent to National 4 or National 5.
