Standard Grades were Scotland's educational qualifications for students aged around 14 to 16 years. Introduced in 1986, the Grades were replaced in 2013 with the Scottish Qualifications Authority's National exams in a major shake-up of Scotland's education system as part of the

Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is the national credit transfer system for all levels of qualifications in Scotland. Awards are classified under the framework at ''levels'', and study undertaken at that level is valued ...

overhaul. Scottish Standard Grades roughly matched the English, Welsh and Northern Irish

General Certificate of Secondary Education The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

examinations in terms of level subject content and cognitive difficulty.

History

Following the Munn and Dunning reports published in 1977, the Standard Grade replaced the old

O-Grade The Ordinary Grade (commonly known as the "O-Grade") of the Scottish Certificate of Education is a now-discontinued qualification which was studied for as part of the Scottish secondary education system. It could be considered broadly equivalent ...

qualification, and was phased in from 1986. Standard Grade courses were taken over a student's third and fourth year in secondary education. Exams were taken at the end of the 4th Year (around May), with preliminary examinations taken several months earlier in November. (However, certain subjects may have been "fast tracked" at some schools (for example Dalziel High school, which was the first school to use this system), where the course is started in at the beginning of 2nd year and finished at the end of 3rd year (this meant that pupils start standard grades at age 12/13 and finish them at age 14/15). The exams were provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, which also offers the more recent National Qualifications on the

Scottish Qualifications Certificate The Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) is the successor to the Scottish Certificate of Education and the Record of Education and Training, and is the main educational qualification awarded to students in secondary, further, and vocational e ...

. Students would typically study 8 subjects at Standard Grade. Generally speaking, different subjects could be taken independently of each other, although

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

were compulsory, and most schools would structure student choices so that at least one

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

subject, one

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

(and often a

modern language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...

) were chosen. The two main restrictions on this choice were timetable arrangements, and the fact that many less popular subjects are not offered by all schools.

Levels of award

There are three sub-levels (or "tiered" papers) at which Standard Grade exams can be taken, namely "Foundation Level", "General Level" and "Credit Level". At one sitting, students generally sit either the Foundation and General level papers together, or the General and Credit level papers together. Students are awarded a numerical grade for each examination (which may consist of several papers) ranging from 1 (best) to 7. The table below lists the grades, the exam level and equivalence to the new National Qualification exams and the

(SCQF for short).

Higher Still

The Scottish Government Authorities responsible for Education decided to slowly phase out the Standard Grade system in favour of the Scottish Qualifications Authority's Higher Still system as many students and teachers felt that the jump from Standard Grade to Higher was too difficult, particularly in subjects such as English. Although they are not exactly the same, the Foundation Level is similar to Higher Still's Access 3 level, whilst General is similar to Intermediate 1 and Credit is similar to Intermediate 2. Standard Grade exams were replaced progressively by the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) system. Unlike Standard Grades the CfE does not involve external exams for the majority of levels. The new curriculum involves 5 levels; National 1, National 2, National 3, National 4, and National 5. National 1 to National 4 are awarded on the basis of coursework and tests generated and marked by the school, whereas students can achieve National 5 by passing examinations externally set by the SQA.

Standard Grade subjects

Compulsory subjects

The Scottish Government states that all pupils must take the subjects below. However, there are exceptions. * English (4 hours per week minimum) *

(4 hours per week minimum) * Science (At least one from: ''

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, General

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

'') (3 hours per week minimum) * Social Sciences (At least one from: ''

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

Modern Studies Modern Studies is a subject in the Scottish school system, currently taught at National 3 through Advanced Higher. It concerns contemporary social and political issues, and political processes, in Scottish, UK and international contexts. The ...

or Classical Studies''] (3 hours per week minimum) * Physical Education (PE) ^* (1 hour per week minimum) * Religious, Moral and Philosophical Education (RMPS) ^* (1 hour per week minimum) * Education for Personal and Social Development (PSE)^* (1 hour per week minimum) ^* Core subject Most schools in Scotland have periods between 50–55 minutes long, although this is generally accepted as an hour of a compulsory subject. The course choice process begins after the Christmas and New Year of S2, with the completed forms being handed in around the end of February.

Subjects

References

*{{cite web , author = SCQF , title = Table of Main Qualifications , url = http://www.scqf.org.uk/table.htm , work = SCQF Table of Main Qualifications , publisher = SCQF , accessdate = 2008-02-07 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080206072952/http://www.scqf.org.uk/table.htm , archive-date = 2008-02-06, ref=refSCQF

External links

*http://www.sqa.org.uk – Scottish Qualifications Authority *http://www.sqa.org.uk/files_ccc/NQExamTimetable2010.pdf – 2010 Exam Timetable Educational qualifications in Scotland School examinations Secondary school qualifications Standardised tests in Scotland Secondary education in Scotland