Qualifications Scotland (SQA) Advanced Higher English Past Papers 2026

Literary Study

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Textual Analysis

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Independent literary investigation

Duration: Coursework (independent research)

One piece of original writing in a chosen genre

Duration: Coursework (first draft in class, up to 4 hours, may span sessions)

Sustained literary argument — moving beyond assertion to analysis and evaluation

All three course reports identify the failure to sustain analytical depth as the primary dividing line between grade-C and grade-A performance in the Literary Study paper. Markers described responses as assertive rather than analytical, with candidates stating a point without developing its significance or linking it to the question's specific terms.

Question Paper 1 — Literary Study

Coverage of both required texts at equivalent analytical depth

Across all three years, markers flagged under-coverage of one of two required texts as a consistent problem in drama and prose fiction questions. Candidates who spent most of their time on one text and offered only surface commentary on the second were unable to access the higher mark bands regardless of the quality of their primary analysis.

Question Paper 1 — Literary Study

Close-reading technique-to-meaning connection in Textual Analysis

The move from identifying a technique to explaining its precise effect on the reader and its contribution to the text's overall meaning is the step most candidates failed to complete. Markers noted a 'scattergun' approach in poetry responses — listing quotes with short micro-comments — which prevented cohesive analysis and evaluation across all three years.

Question Paper 2 — Textual Analysis

Engagement with poetic structure, form, and technique beyond word-choice

Markers across all three years noted that weaker poetry responses analysed only word-choice and imagery, failing to engage with stanza structure, line breaks, rhythm, rhyme scheme, or the relationship between form and meaning. This limited candidates' ability to evaluate the poem as a whole literary entity.

Question Paper 2 — Textual Analysis

Dissertation thesis clarity and literary focus

Vague, issue-based, or overly broad dissertation topics were a recurring problem in all three years. Topics such as 'the theme of love', 'mental health in X', or comparative analyses without a clear literary angle prevented candidates from constructing a focused argument. An increased number of dissertations in 2024 and 2025 focused on diagnosing characters' psychological states with little literary engagement with the texts.

Project — Dissertation

Secondary-source integration and use of critical apparatus in the dissertation

Markers noted that many candidates failed to engage meaningfully with secondary critical sources, either ignoring them or mentioning them without integrating them into the argument. Some dissertations also showed a very limited range of textual quotation, which directly limited the analytical depth achievable.

Project — Dissertation

Portfolio register, complexity, and genre control at Advanced Higher level

Submissions across all three years were regularly criticised for failing to demonstrate the complexity and sophistication required at Advanced Higher. Prose fiction often included extensive description with little effective use of structure, imagery, or plotting. Poetry submissions frequently lacked a firm grasp of poetic structure and shaping. Technical inaccuracy and a lack of editing were cited annually.

Portfolio — Writing

Drama as performance — recognising subtext, tension, and dramatic function

In Textual Analysis, candidates who engaged with drama texts at the level of dialogue, character revelation, and stage dynamics scored higher than those who treated the text as prose. Markers in 2025 specifically noted that some candidates in drama failed to recognise the sexual tension between characters — a central dimension of the extract's dramatic meaning — because they engaged only with explicit statement and not subtext.

Question Paper 2 — Textual Analysis