For many parents, the landscape of communications has changed since they themselves went to school. Our pupils now have a range of courses and levels available to them which simply didn't exist twenty years ago.

Over these years, O Grades have been replaced with Standard Grades, Intermediates and Access courses. If you expect to apply for training or work in England or Wales, you will find that Standard Grades or Intermediates are the equivalent of GCSE awards.

Standard Grade courses normally last two years with final exams and other assessments at the end of secondary four. The other assessments might include practical work in science or technology subjects or performance grades in music. Intermediate courses will also last for two years with assessments carried out both throughout the year and at the end of the course. We are also able to offer some Access level qualifications. These courses last for a few months at a time and are very good for developing and certificating useful life skills in a subject.

How do all these courses relate to each other?

Most pupils will choose to follow Standard Grades. These test different sorts of skills and abilities in a subject - like Talking or Writing in modern languages, for example. Standard Grades can be passed at three levels. Credit is the hardest; then General; then Foundation. Each level is split into two grades, giving six grades altogether. The six grades are numbered so that a '1' or '2' is Credit Level, '3' or '4' is General Level and '5' or '6' is Foundation Level. Therefore, a lower number is used to signifiy a higher grade.

We are also offering Intermediate courses in some subjects. These are available at two levels called Intermediate One and Intermediate Two. Intermediate Two is more demanding that Intermediate One (the opposite way round from the Standard Grade numbers). Intermediate One is roughly equal to General Standard Grade and Intermediate Two is roughly equal to Credit Standard Grade.

Additionally some pupils may follow an Access level course. These are available at three levels, Access Three being the most advanced and Access One being basic. Assessments are carried out throughout the year, avoiding the need for a final exam. Access courses are designed to be easier than Foundation level Standard Grade.

A recent possibility for some pupils is the chance to follow a Skills for Work course. These are aimed at pupils with interests including: construction trades, aquaculture, sound engineering, hairdressing and childcare as a profession (see later).