21-2022 Series (Arrangements) Updates

Initially there were no confirmed plans to continue with the temporary changes in arrangements that were introduced by SQA and implemented  for 20/2021 session.

However, given continuing circumstances some changes to arrangements for session 21-2022 were published 23/6/2021 and have been confirmed as broadly similar to those from 20-2021. Please see individual subject information below for exam arrangements for the 2022 diet/potential ACM.

PN 2021_22 All Prelims Order Form

English (codes 21/01 to 21/03 and 21B/ENG)

Confirmed 23/6/21. No planned changes to exam papers. Modifications to other aspects of the course as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).

Drama (codes 21/04, 21/05 and 21B/DRA)

Confirmed 23/6/21. The small modifications to arrangements for question papers in Higher are as per 20-21 – two-year rule removed for section 3: performance analysis. Modifications to other aspects of the course as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).

Modern Languages – French, German, and Spanish (codes 21/06 to 21/11)

Confirmed 23/6/21. No planned changes to exam papers. Modifications to other aspects of the course as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).

Mathematics (codes 21/12 to 21/15)

Confirmed 23/6/21, changes to exam question papers detailed below. Modifications to other aspects of the course – Mathematics and Application of Mathematics.

National 5 Mathematics (code 21/12)

The following content will not be assessed in the question papers in session 2021-22: vectors, similarity, 3D coordinates. The marks and durations are: Question paper 1: 40 marks, 1 hour; Question paper 2: 50 marks, 1 hour and 30 minutes

National 5 Applications of Mathematics (code 21/13)

The following content will not be assessed in the question papers in session 2021-22: scale drawing, planning a navigation route, line of best fit. The marks and durations are: Question paper 1: 35 marks, 50 minutes; Question paper 2: 55 marks, 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Higher Mathematics (code 21/14)

The following content will not be assessed in the question papers in session 2021-22: vectors, recurrence relations. The marks and durations are: Question paper 1: 55 marks, 1 hour and 15 minutes; Question paper 2: 65 marks, 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Advanced Higher Mathematics (code 21/15)

The following content will not be assessed in the question papers in session 2021-22: finding the asymptotes to the graphs of rational functions; investigating features of graphs and sketching graphs of functions; calculating a vector product; working with lines in three dimensions; working with planes. The marks and durations are: Question paper 1: 35 marks, 1 hour; Question paper 2: 65 marks, 2 hours.

Geography (codes 21/16 and 21/17)

Confirmed 23/6/21. Changes to exam papers. Modifications to other aspects of the course as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).

National 5 Geography (code 21/16)

Question paper: no changes to the Physical Environments or Human Environments sections of the 2022 question paper.  In the Global Issues section, the number of optional questions that candidates need to answer will be reduced from two to one, which is the same as the modifications for 2021. This reduced the number of marks for this section from 20 to 10 marks. All optional questions will be available so no changes to the structure of this section. The total marks for the 2022 question paper will be reduced from 80 to 70 marks and the duration will be reduced from 2 hours and 20 minutes to 2 hours and 5 minutes.

Higher Geography (code 21/17)

Question paper 1: 100 marks (scaled to 50 marks) with a duration of 1 hour and 50 minutes. No modifications will be made to this question paper.

Question paper 2: 40 marks (scaled to 20 marks) with a duration of 50 minutes. In the Global Issues section, the number of optional questions that candidates need to answer will be reduced from two to one, which is the same as the modifications for 2021. This will reduce the number of marks for this section from 40 to 20 (20 to 10 after scaling). This does not affect the structure of this section as all optional questions will be available.

History (codes 21/18 and 21/19)

Confirmed 23/6/21, changes to exam question papers detailed below. Modifications to other aspects of the course as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).

National 5 History (code 21/18)

Question paper: an optional question is introduced in two of three sections of the question paper.

For questions based on the fourth issue in Section 2: British and Section 3: European and world, there will be an optional question based on an earlier issue in order to reduce the assessable content.

Questions in sections 2 and 3 will therefore sample issues 1-4 or issues 1-3 to allow all candidates the opportunity to complete all the required questions in the question paper.

Higher History (code 21/19)

Question paper 1 – British, European and world history: an optional question is introduced in both section 1 and section 2 of the British, European and world history question paper.

Four of six issues will be sampled instead of three of six issues.

No changes to Paper 2 – Scottish History.

Modern Studies (codes 21/20 and 21/21)

Confirmed 23/6/21, changes to exam question papers detailed below. Modifications to other aspects of the course as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).

National 5 Modern Studies (code 21/20)

Confirmed 23/6/21. There are changes to the National 5 Question paper: for session 2021-22:

• the 8-mark ‘explain’ question will be in Section 1: Democracy in Scotland and the United Kingdom
• in each option within each section, there will be a subtopic area of content that will not be directly assessed.
  • These subtopics are given in italics below:
    • Section 1: Democracy in Scotland and the United Kingdom. Option 1: Democracy in Scotland. Influence.
      Option 2: Democracy in the United Kingdom. Influence.
    • Section 2: Social Issues in the United Kingdom. Option 1: Social Inequality. Nature of social inequality
      Option 2: Crime and the Law. Nature of crime.
    • Section 3: International Issues
      Option 1: World Power. Effectiveness in tackling social and economic issues.
      Option 2: World Issue. Evaluation of international organisation(s) in tackling the conflict/issue.

Higher Modern Studies (code 21/21)

Confirmed 23/6/21. Question paper 1 – as 20/2021 the number of optional extended-response questions in each section/part is increased by 1 i.e. Section 1, +1; Section 2A, +1; Section 2B, +1; Section 3C, +1; Section 3D, +1.

Physics (codes 21/22 to 21/23)

Confirmed 23/6/21. No planned changes to exam papers. Modifications to other aspects of the course as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).

Higher Chemistry (codes 21/25)

Confirmed 23/6/21. No planned changes to exam papers. Modifications to other aspects of the course as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).

Computing Science (codes 21/26 and 21/27 and 21B/COM)

Confirmed 23/6/21. Modifications for session 2021-22 for both National 5 and Higher will remain the same as session 2020-21. Question papers: 80 marks. Section 1 will cover mandatory SDD and CS units. Section 2/3 will offer a choice between database design and development (DDD) and web design and development (WDD). Modifications to other assignments as per 20/21 (see course information on SQA’s website for 21-22).