Past Papers and Marking Instructions

Specimen Question Papers are available for National 5 and Higher Qualifications.

Visit Understanding Standards to learn more about the standards of assessment as they are applied by the SQA examination teams.

Note: Adapted Question Papers in Digital Format for candidates with disabilities and/or additional support needs, are also available on the website: Digital Question Papers

For National 5 Modern Languages and Gaelic (Learners): We have published a second set of 2014 Reading and Writing past papers in a new format. The questions are the same but there are separate question and answer booklets for Reading and for Writing, which is how the question papers will be structured from 2015 onwards.

The past papers are copyright to SQA. They may be reproduced to support SQA qualifications only, on a non-commercial basis. If they are to be used for any other purposes, written permission must be obtained from the Assessment Development and Delivery Team - NQ Assessment.

Where the past papers contain materials from other sources (secondary copyright) this material should only be reproduced for the purposes of assessment. If the material needs to be reproduced for any other purpose, it is the responsibility of the user to obtain the necessary copyright clearance.

Some users may find that they are unable to download batches of past papers to their device - especially Android, iPhone and iPad users.

As the downloadable past papers are in zipped format, you'll need an extra app to unzip and view the files.

iPhone and iPad

Download WinZip (free) from iTunes

Android

Download AndroZip (free) from Google Play

If you still can't open a past paper from within your chosen app, you may also need to download Adobe Reader. Download this free app from iTunes or the Google Play Store.

For further assistance please email customer@sqa.org.uk