Chemistry · Higher
Higher Chemistry takes the explanations further: why bonds form, why reactions release or absorb energy, why equilibrium shifts, and how chemists manufacture what society needs. The organic chemistry gets real, from esters to proteins.
What it offers you
Chemistry opens the door to medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, chemical engineering and research, and the practical and calculation skills it builds are expected in every laboratory science.
What Higher actually asks of you
Paper 1 — multiple choice
Short, fast questions across the whole course, often testing calculation and recall.
Paper 2 — extended answer
Structured questions with working: periodicity and bonding, redox, chemical energy, kinetics and equilibrium, plus organic chemistry and industrial processes.
Assignment — research a chemistry topic, carry out related practical work and report your findings and evaluation.
Exact timings and mark allocations are printed on the front cover of each paper below.
Topics that come up
Papers & marking schemes
SQA publishes the most recent five years of papers. Older papers and specimen papers live on their site — open Chemistry Higher on sqa.org.uk.