It is prelims week for National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers pupils

March 4 2025

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Prelim exams for pupils in Classes 9 to 12 are now well underway. The diet will last until the start of next week. There will be 27 prelims – or practice exams – in all, ranging from SQA National 5, to Higher and Advanced Higher, with pupils taking up to five prelims across 15 separate subject disciplines.

Prelims replicate the look and feel of the final exams – which candidates will sit in April or May – so candidates get a good idea of what it will be like on the day itself.

Prelims also help pupils and teachers to check on their progress at a time when course-teaching is nearly complete. Mock exams – which are similar to prelims but apply to GCSE examinations – will be sat by Art & Design candidates towards the end of next week.

For the majority of pupils in the Upper School, these next few weeks are the beginning of an intensive period of consolidation and preparation: revision timetables will be carefully drafted; course notes will be organised and highlighted; and past papers will be studied, completed and marked. The final exams themselves will begin almost as soon as pupils return from the Easter break.

It is a nerve-racking and exciting time. But we know our pupils tend to perform very well in exams. The average ESS pass rate for Higher Level over the last five years has been above 90%, which is significantly above the Scottish national pass rate, which last year dipped below 75%.

While in recent years pupils at Edinburgh Steiner School have excelled in the three sciences, English, Art and Maths, in 2025 we are delighted to be presenting candidates for more subjects than even before, including subjects at Advanced Higher Level.

A full list of the School’s SQA exam results over the last five years can be found here: Exam Results (2020 – 2024)

Full details of how the exam system works and which courses are offered at ESS can be found here: Qualifications, Exams & Careers handbook (2024/25)

How the exam diet fits into the Waldorf curriculum for Classes 9 – 12 can be viewed here: Upper School Curriculum Overview.

Words by SQA Coordinator and Education Manager, Alistair Pugh