Advanced Higher
The Advanced Higher is an optional qualification which forms part of the Scottish secondary education system. It is normally taken by students aged around 16-18 after they have completed Highers, which are the main university entrance qualification.
An Advanced Higher is the highest certificate offered by the Scottish Qualification Authority as part of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework. An Advanced Higher is essentially a simulation of the first year of university in that particular subject; this is the reason that Advanced Highers can be used for second year University entry.
Universities in Scotland traditionally tended to take students with only NQ Higher or A-level qualifications, but many have since begun to take students with qualifications gained elsewhere in Britain or, as with the University of Glasgow, for example, an International Baccalaureate.
The Advanced Higher is Level 7 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.[1]
History
Advanced Highers were introduced in 2001 to replace the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies (often abbreviated to CSYS or just SYS). The final CSYS exams were taken by students at the end of the 2001/02 educational year. In 2007 a noticeable decrease of 2.4% in those taking Advanced Highers has prompted concern in certain areas.[2]
UCAS tariff
The UCAS tariff of valuing qualifications for university entry has increased its scores for Advanced Highers at A, B and C from 2010. Advanced Highers now attract more UCAS tariff points than A-Levels at the same grades.[3]
A-levels and Advanced Highers
Some English Universities, such as Oxford University and Cambridge University, have begun to take into account the wider syllabus involved in studying Advanced Highers and have been giving slightly lower conditions for entry into their institutions. Oxford University's admissions forms require schools to comment on the percentage of students achieving the top grades in examinations, presumably to provide contextual background to the achievements of a particular student. The question is framed in terms of the percentage of candidates achieving AAA+ at A-level and AAB+ for Advanced Higher, possibly indicating that greater value is attributed to the Advanced Higher[4] However, from September 2009, Churchill College Cambridge state that their typical offer for Scottish students will be A1, A1, A2 at Advanced Higher. (http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduates/typical_offers.php/)
Subjects
The following subjects are available at Advanced Higher:[5]
- Accounting
- Administration
- Applied Mathematics: Mechanics
- Applied Mathematics: Statistics
- Art and Design Enquiry: Design
- Art and Design Enquiry: Expressive
- Art and Design: Research and Appreciation
- Biology
- Building and Architectural Technology
- Business Management
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Classical Greek
- Classical Studies
- Computing
- Drama
- Economics
- Electronics
- English
- French
- Gaelic (Learners)
- Gaidhlig
- Geography
- Geology(currently unavailable)
- German
- Graphic Communication
- History
- Home Economics — Fashion and Textile Technology
- Home Economics — Health and Food Technology
- Home Economics — Lifestyle and Consumer Technology
- Information Systems
- Italian
- Latin
- Managing Environmental Resources
- Mathematics
- Mechatronics
- Media Studies
- Modern Studies
- Music
- Philosophy (Unavailable as of 2007)
- Physical Education
- Physics
- Politics
- Product Design
- Psychology
- Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies
- Russian
- Sociology
- Spanish
- Technological Studies
See also
External links
- Scottish Qualifications Authority official website
- Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework official website
- Article in The Times: Highers Pass A Levels as Oxbridge Gold Standard