Ask what grades you need for a Scottish university and you will get a number. Ask where the number came from and things get vague. The honest position is that there is no single answer, because Scottish universities do not publish one.

Not one Scottish university publishes a university-wide typical Higher profile. Requirements are set course by course, and they vary enormously inside the same institution. Anyone who tells you “Stirling wants AABB” or “you need five Highers for Glasgow” is guessing. Go to the course page.

What you can learn in advance is how to read that course page, because most of them now carry at least two grade profiles and the gap between them decides who gets in.

Standard, typical, minimum: three words, two meanings

A modern Scottish course page usually shows two figures.

The standard or typical entry requirement is the ordinary offer. It is what a competitive applicant with no special circumstances will be asked for.

The minimum entry requirement, often shortened to MER, is the floor. It is the lowest profile the university will accept for that course, and in practice it is reserved for applicants who meet widening access criteria. It is not a back door for everyone.

Some universities add a third tier in between. Heriot-Watt calls its middle tier adjusted entry.

Worked example: Heriot-Watt

Heriot-Watt prints both figures side by side on the course page, which makes it the clearest illustration. For BSc (Hons) Computer Science, September 2027 entry, year one:

Tier	Highers	A-Levels
Standard entry	ABBB (over two sittings). Must include Maths achieved at B.	BBC. Must include Maths achieved at B.
Minimum entry	BBBC (over two sittings). Must include Maths achieved at B.	BCC. Must include Maths achieved at B.

Look at what changed and what did not. The overall profile dropped by two grades. The Maths at B condition survived intact in both rows. That pattern repeats across almost every university and almost every subject: the general grades flex, the named subject condition does not.

Heriot-Watt also publishes a full subject-by-subject minimum entry table in its Fair Access Policy, which has been in force since 1 September 2022. Most subjects sit at Highers BBBC. Accountancy, Economics and Finance is BBBC. Business Management is BBBC. Psychology is BBBC. Computer Science is BBBC with Maths at B. The exceptions carry subject conditions rather than higher overall grades, with Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics the notable step up at ABBC with an A in Maths.

Worked example: Stirling publishes a formula instead

The University of Stirling takes a different approach. Rather than printing a minimum next to every typical offer, it publishes the conversion and lets you do it yourself. Its widening access pages give this table:

Higher typical entry requirement	Higher minimum entry requirement
AAAB	ABBB
AABB	BBBB
ABBB	BBBC

Stirling’s own wording on that page is that “the minimum entry requirement may be adjusted by up to two grades”. Its Admissions Policy states it slightly more firmly, as “adjusted by two grades”, and the policy document itself says it is valid for admission to courses in academic year 2025/6. If you are applying for a later year, treat the formula as the shape of the thing rather than a promise, and check the current version.

Apply the formula to real Stirling courses and you can see the spread inside one university. LLB (Hons) Law asks for Highers AAAB for year one entry. BSc Nursing (Adult) asks for BBC, and the honours version, BSc (Hons) Nursing (Adult), asks for BBBB. Same institution, and the gap between Law and the non-honours Nursing route is wide. There is no Stirling number. There are Stirling course numbers.

Worked example: Edinburgh Napier

Napier publishes both figures per course, as Heriot-Watt does, and states that its minimum offer requirements “will, in most cases be two grades below the standard entry requirements published”.

Its LLB (Hons) Law page carries this:

Tier	Scottish Highers
Standard entry	ABBB to include English or another literary subject at grade B
Minimum offer	BBCC to include English or another literary subject at grade B

Again the subject condition holds firm while the profile drops. Napier lists the alternative literary subjects it will accept in place of English: Government and Politics, History, Latin, Law, Modern Studies, Philosophy, Geography, Psychology, Sociology, and RMPS, with ESOL considered at grade A.

Napier also prints the sentence every applicant should read twice: “Competition for places varies from year to year and you aren’t guaranteed a place if you meet the minimum qualifications.”

The requirements nobody mentions until it is too late

Highers get all the attention. National 5s quietly disqualify people.

Heriot-Watt requires English at a minimum of National 5 grade C, or GCSE grade C or 4, for all courses. It also requires Mathematics or Applications of Mathematics at National 5 grade C or the GCSE equivalent for all courses, with the exception of Language and Fashion programmes and Business Management programmes in the Edinburgh Business School. That is a university-wide floor sitting underneath every course-specific offer, and it does not flex.

Two related details from the same Heriot-Watt page. If you hold both Higher Mathematics and Higher Applications of Mathematics, they count as two separate subjects. But where Higher Mathematics is specifically required, Applications of Mathematics will not be accepted in its place.

How grades get counted

• Only C and above counts. Napier states that only Higher grade C passes or above are counted towards your Higher tally. A D at Higher is not a bad grade in this arithmetic. It is not a grade at all.
• Sittings can matter. Heriot-Watt writes its offers as “over two sittings”, which accepts S5 and S6 combined. It also warns that where competition for places is tight it may increase requirements for applicants taking Highers across more than one sitting, especially those resitting more than one subject. Not every course words it that way, so check.
• Entry can be from S5. Heriot-Watt states that entry may be from fifth or sixth year, and will consider applicants who took one or two Highers in S4.
• Advanced Highers usually replace rather than add. Where you hold both a Higher and an Advanced Higher in the same subject, most universities count the subject once and use the better grade. Our page on whether Advanced Highers are worth it goes through the exceptions.

How to read your own course page properly

1. Find the standard or typical profile, and write down the exact string including any bracketed conditions.
2. Find the minimum, if one is published. Note whether the subject condition changed. It usually has not.
3. Check the year of entry the page is written for. Requirements change between cycles.
4. Check the university-wide National 5 rules separately. They are on an admissions page, not the course page.
5. Check whether there is a year two entry route, and what it asks for.
6. Check whether you qualify for the minimum tier. That is a separate question and it is covered on our page about contextual offers in Scotland.

Common questions

Can I apply if I only meet the minimum?

You can always apply. Whether you will be considered at the minimum depends on eligibility for widening access, and even then it is not a guarantee of a place at every institution. Napier says so directly, in the sentence quoted above.

How many Highers do I need?

It depends on the course. The examples above range from three (Stirling BSc Nursing Adult at BBC) to four (most of the rest). Count the letters in the published grade string. That is your answer for that course and no other.

Do UCAS points get me in?

Rarely at a Scottish university. Offers are made in grades and named subjects, not points. Points are useful for comparing across qualification types, and our SQA UCAS points calculator will do the sum, but do not plan around them.

What if I miss the grades on results day?

Read what to do in the first 48 hours, then Clearing in Scotland and SQA appeals. Missing by one grade is very often survivable if you move fast.

Is there a route in without the Highers at all?

Yes, several. College is the main one. See how HNC and HND articulation works.

Sources: Heriot-Watt University BSc (Hons) Computer Science course page, 2027 entry, and school qualifications page; Heriot-Watt University Fair Access Policy, in force from 1 September 2022, subject minimum entry table; University of Stirling widening access pages and course pages for LLB (Hons) Law and BSc / BSc (Hons) Nursing (Adult); University of Stirling Admissions Policy, stated as valid for admission to courses in academic year 2025/6; Edinburgh Napier University LLB (Hons) Law course page and understanding our entry requirements page. All grade strings quoted are course specific and change between admission cycles. Check the course page for your own year of entry. Last checked August 2026.