Origins In 1888, the Scottish Leaving Certificate was established in response to the terms of the
Education (Scotland) Act 1872. It was designed to have higher and lower levels assessed as individual subjects including Mathematics, Ancient or Modern Foreign Language, Science, etc. The higher level aimed at university entrance and the lower to suit the General Medical Council entrance requirements. This was later revised to higher level for entry to university and lower for banking insurance and business. Between 1963 and 1982 Higher Grades were awarded by the Scottish Certificate of Education Examination Board (SCEEB), which later became the
Scottish Examination Board (SEB), and was the historical terminal exam for the majority of Scottish secondary school pupils, especially those seeking work in skilled industries or progress onto higher education. They were usually taken in the 5th Year of secondary school (often referred to as S5, and entered at age 15 or 16). The SCE Higher progressed on from the SCE
Ordinary Grade. Pupils studied for one academic year (in practice two terms – Winter and Spring), sitting exams in the May of S5. The majority of courses were examined by written papers with practical work present in subjects such as Art and Design. There existed a further extension qualification, the
Certificate of Sixth Year Studies, which was awarded on a separate certificate.
1992 revision As a result of the
Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 a series of
Revised Higher Grade courses was put in place. When listed on the
SCE the subject name would be followed by (Revised). The revision process changed the curriculum content and the method of examination with the majority of Higher Grade courses changing to two terminal papers with a coursework element. Paper A was a short answer question paper and Paper B required longer, more in-depth answers. Coursework could account for anything from 0% (
English) to 30% (
Computing Studies) of the final mark. The majority of Scottish Higher Education Institutions were generally only accepting Revised Higher Grade for entry, except where a pupil was classed as a
mature student (aged over 25).
1999 revision In 1999, a reform of the examination system known as "
Higher Still" took place. In the process, a new style of Higher examination system was introduced in
Scotland. The new Higher was designed to operate within a framework of qualifications known as
National Qualifications. This was designed to link the most basic examination offered by the
SQA (Access 1) with the most difficult one (
Advanced Higher) on a continuous "ladder of achievement". Qualifications offered under the "Higher Still" framework have a common structure, typically consisting of a mixture of summative and formative assessment. Qualifications usually consist of units of work ending in a basic competency test that functions as an internal assessment (commonly known as a "NAB" as they are drawn from the National Assessment Bank), and a terminal examination which serves to determine the final grade. To obtain a qualification, all the internal units for that qualification must be passed, and a passing grade must be obtained on the terminal examination. It is possible to sit the examination only, in which case "Exam Only" will be recorded on the Certificate. In some schools, all units must be passed (with two or less attempts) or the student is not allowed to sit the final national exam.
Criticism of modularisation The system was criticised at the time of introduction as objections were made to the modularisation of subjects such as English and Art which require an accumulation of critical and productive skills over a full year rather than the passing of discrete modules, which was seen as a system much better suited to scientific subjects. However, strictly speaking, English teaching is not modularised, given that the internal assessments do not assess fixed blocks of knowledge, as in the sciences, rather, they assess specific skills and can be delivered at different points in the year. The modularisation of the Higher examination and the other qualifications under the "Higher Still" umbrella is also not the same as that of the English
A-level, in which terminal examinations are themselves arranged into modules. Under the Scottish system, the final examination is still essentially synoptic in nature and draw from all units. Additionally, the internal units do not contribute to the grade awarded. Higher became Level 6 on the
SCQF and is now a
National Course.
2000 marking controversy The administrative structure accompanying the new system was not entirely successful, and 2000 saw a
marking fiasco that cost the head of the authority his job and severely damaged the career of the Education Minister,
Sam Galbraith. Thousands of pupils received incorrect or late results, leading to difficulties for the pupils,
UCAS (the University and Colleges Admissions Service) and
Higher Education Institutions, as many pupils did not receive accurate exam results until after the universities' academic year had started. == Role in university admissions ==