Preparing for assessments

Learners studying for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses will be assessed through coursework and exams.

Your child’s teachers or lecturers will advise them on how each of their courses will be assessed. SQA has also published a table that summarises how each National Course is assessed, which you can view on the SQA website.

Useful websites

Revision guides

SQA revision tips can help your child to get exam ready, with tips on creating a study plan and taking notes.

Past papers and marking instructions

Your child can practise for their exams using SQA past papers and marking instructions. These are available from the past papers and marking instructions page of the SQA website.

Some of the 2022 and 2023 past papers are labelled ‘modified’. This means SQA made changes to the question paper as part of its temporary modifications to assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your child should check with their teacher before using past papers for revising.

Additional support needs/disabilities

SQA can put assessment arrangements in place to support disabled learners or learners with additional support needs during their assessments. View SQA’s assessment arrangement guide for learners.

This support may include digital question papers for learners who have reading and/or writing difficulties.

View more information on digital question papers on the SQA website.

SQA works in partnership with CALL Scotland (Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning) on developing digital question papers. CALL have an Adapted Digital Assessments website that provides advice and guidance on using digital question papers.

Related links

SQA’s NQ learner support web page contains essential information to help your child prepare for their exams, along with useful information for parents and carers.