Learning Modern Studies gives you a greater understanding of the contemporary world and your place in it.
You will learn contemporary political and social issues in local, Scottish, United Kingdom and international contexts, and, in these contexts, develop an awareness of the social and political issues you will meet in your life. You will also develop investigating, evaluating and analysing skills in order to understand and explain political, social and international issues.
The skills you learn in Modern Studies are valuable in many career areas, including public administration, business management, law, teaching and journalism.
Career Pathways
To see what career areas this subject could lead to and the routes to get there, download and view these career pathways:
Arts, Social Sciences and Languages
Information, Culture and Heritage
Social, Caring and Advisory Services
Uniformed and Security Services
Entry is at the discretion of the school or college, but you would normally be expected to have achieved:
Democracy in Scotland and the United Kingdom
You will study aspects of the democratic political system in the UK including the place of Scotland within this system.
Social Issues in the United Kingdom
You will study either:
International Issues
You will have a choice of international issue contexts for study. These focus on either the study of a major world power or the study of a significant contemporary world issue:
The course assessment has three components totalling 110 marks:
For the assignment component (which has 2 stages, research and production of evidence), you will choose a topic which allows you to analyse a contemporary issue. You will organise your findings to address this issue and produce evidence to support your findings.
Both question papers are set and externally marked by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
The grade awarded is based on the total marks achieved across course assessment.
The course assessment is graded A-D.
If you complete the course successfully, it may lead to:
Further study, training or employment in:
Your school will give your parents an Options or Choices information booklet, which has detailed information on the curriculum and the individual subjects or courses you can study. It will also invite them along to a Parents’ Information Evening.
They can also read the information leaflet(s):
