In approximately 10 weeks’ time, Scottish pupils will start sitting their Higher exams. Here, we look ahead to what will happen and when.

When do the Higher exams start?

Thursday 25 April.

What’s the first subject up?

The Higher PE exam starts at 9am on Thursday 25 April, with the exam consisting of one paper sat over 2.5 hours. Also up that day are Higher Latin and Higher administration and IT.

When do the exams finish?

Almost exactly five weeks later, on Friday 31 May; the final exam is the Higher in care.

The lowdown: The SQA exam timetable in full

Quick read: Last year’s results in numbers

Long read: Behind the scenes at Scotland’s exams body

What are the most popular subjects?

Traditionally, English and maths are the subjects with the highest number of pupils sitting. The maths Higher takes place on Thursday 2 May and the English Higher on Wednesday 8 May.

How many students will sit Higher exams?

There are usually close to 200,000 Higher entries, with about three-quarters of those who enter passing - so gaining an A-C grade. Most Highers in schools are sat by pupils in S5, but a substantial number of students also sit them in S6, the final year of school in Scotland.

What’s the longest Higher exam this year?

The philosophy exam, which takes place on Monday 20 May and takes a total of 4 hours, split across two papers. One paper will be sat in the morning and will take 2 hours and 15 minutes; the other, in the afternoon, will take 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The longest single Higher paper is the business-management exam, which will be sat on Thursday 16 May. If pupils use the maximum allotted time, they will be sitting in the exam hall for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

When do pupils receive their results?

Results will be posted first-class and arrive on Tuesday 6 August, or they can be sent by text or email if pupils sign up for the service.