The Senior Phase Higher Mathematics course takes a single year approach to achieving a 6th level (Higher) certificate.

The course begins with a focus on refreshing skills from National 5 that create a natural continuity onto higher, extending the knowledge of vectors and straight line into a more deeper understanding.

The 2nd unit brings its focus into quadratic theory, alongside extending into  introducing polynomials and how we interact with them at higher levels, including how  they are represented graphically and how such graphs can be manipulated.

The 3rd unit introduces differentiation,  a brand new concept for the students, and one of the fundamental tools of calculus .  The unit then continues into improving the depth of knowledge of circles.

The 4th unit focuses purely on trigonometry and  begins to tie in an understanding of the trigonometric functions relationships to the waves they represent .

The final unit of the course  provides a higher understanding of recurrence relations. It then goes onto introduce Integration the second fundamental tool of calculus.  Students are then introduced to logarithms and exponentials and their relationships to each other, as well as the laws surrounding how they interact with everything.

The course is finalised with an exam consisting of two papers.  Paper 1 is a non-calculator exam, and Paper 2 is a calculator permitted exam.

The Higher Mathematics units are:

• Expressions and Functions

• Relationships and Calculus

• Applications