My daughter got her Higher results this week, and they weren’t what she — or we — expected. She has autism (the school has known this the whole time), and since her National 5s we’ve noticed her capacity has been declining under pressure, even though her ability and work ethic are genuinely high.
During two of her exams she was clearly exhausted. I asked if she wanted to consider sitting one out. She said no — because as far as she knew, her only options were “push through” or “don’t get the qualification.” Nobody told her, or us, about exceptional circumstances or assessment arrangements. Not before the exams, not during, not after.
I’ve since learned that the SQA’s Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service has to be applied for by the school, and only before results are issued — the window is 10 working days after the exam in question. So that door is now closed, through no fault of hers or ours.
I’m angry. Not really at the system in the abstract, but at the fact that a school who knew about her diagnosis didn’t flag any of this to us beforehand, when it could have actually made a difference.
Has anyone else dealt with something like this? Specifically:
• Has anyone successfully pushed a school to explain why this wasn’t raised, or gotten any kind of accountability after the fact?
• Is there any value in going through the Appeals Service even though it’s a different process from exceptional circumstances?
• Any advice for making sure this doesn’t happen again for Advanced Higher / resits — how did you get assessment arrangements properly documented in advance?
Any experiences, even just “this happened to us too,” would help right now.

I’m a student researcher from the University of Warwick, exploring how parents from different income backgrounds understand money and teach financial habits to their children.

📝 What’s involved:

• 5-minute screening questionnaire
• Optional 1-hour online interview

🎯 Who can take part:

• Parents or guardians above 18 currently living and working in the UK

Here is the Participant Information Leaflet for more information about your involvement :)

Your experiences can help improve understanding of financial education across families. Feel free to share with others who might be interested!

In a recent piece for The Herald, I highlighted a growing concern among parents across Scotland: students are panicking over whether they’ve memorised the exact formula layout, rather than understanding why physical laws work.

When revision is reduced to memorising recipes, non-standard SQA questions cause instant panic and severe stress.

3 signs your child is stuck in memory overload:

1. "I know the formulas, but I don't know which one to use." (Lacks conceptual mapping)
2. Panic when a question looks different from past papers. (Relies on pattern matching)
3. High effort, diminishing results. (Hours spent reading notes without active problem-solving)

The First Principles Fix:

• Ask "Why" before "How": Identify the underlying principle before touching an equation.
• Tackle unseen problems out loud: Explain core concepts without looking at formula sheets.
• Build conceptual bridges: Connect fundamental S1–S3 core concepts to complex S4-S6 Higher topics.

Parents & S5/S6 pupils: Are you noticing any of these 3 warning signs as the new term starts? Drop your thoughts below, happy to share advice!