An analysis of the fairness of 2026 Higher Maths Paper 1

Background

Shortly after the Higher Maths examinations on Thursday 07 May 2026, an online petition  was published, claiming that the non-calculator Paper 1 had been "unfair", "poorly worded", "inconsistently structured", and "out of step with every previous paper students had used to prepare".

The petition quickly gained several thousand signatures, and on Monday 11 May, a BBC News article  gave further voice to the claims. This was quickly followed up by The Daily Mail .

On Tuesday 12 May, further articles appeared in The Scotsman , The Scottish Sun  and on BBC News .

At time of writing, on Tuesday 12 May 2026, the petition evidently has close to 14000 signatures.

Petitioners' claims

The petition states:

"This is not a complaint that the paper was too hard. Students expect to be challenged. The problem is that the 2026 Higher Maths Paper 1 used language and phrasing that was confusing, ambiguous, and inconsistent with every past paper students had revised from. Questions were not simply difficult — they were worded in ways that made it genuinely unclear what was being asked.

"Past SQA Higher Maths papers have followed a recognisable style: clear command words, standard notation, and questions that test understanding rather than the ability to decode unusual phrasing. The 2026 Paper 1 departed from this in ways that penalised well-prepared students simply because the wording did not match the conventions they had been taught to expect."

The following article will analyse each of these claims, looking at the examination paper question-by-question.

Source documents

This article will refer to the following documents:

• Higher Maths 2026 Paper 1 
• Higher Maths Command Words 
• Higher Maths Specification 

Question 1

Topic: Polynomials
Subtopic: Completing the square
Command word: 'Express' – which is in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Identical to 2022 P1 Q11  and 2025 P2 Q2 
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 2

Topic: Integration
Subtopic: Simple integration
Command word: 'Find' – which is in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Identical to 2025 P1 Q3 
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 3

Topic: Circles
Subtopic: Tangent to a circle
Command word: 'Find' – which is in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Near-identical to 2021 P2 Q14 
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 4

Topic: Trigonometry
Subtopics: Exact values, Addition formulae
Command words: 'Determine', 'Find', 'Hence', 'Exact value' – all in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Very similar to 2021 P1 Q5 , 2022 P1 Q7  and 2023 P1 Q4 
Note: Part (c) required the use of an N5 Maths trigonometric identity, which is fair.
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 5

Topic: Functions
Subtopics: Composite functions, Range
Command words: 'Find', 'State' – both in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Very similar to 2022 P2 Q5 
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 6

Topic: Vectors
Subtopic: Vector pathways
Command word: 'Express' – which is in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Very similar to 2018 P1 Q9  and 2019 P2 Q3 
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 7

Topic: Differentiation
Subtopic: Tangent to a curve
Command word: 'Determine' – which is in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Very similar to 2015 P1 Q2  and 2021 P2 Q1 
Note: This question asks only for the gradient, not the full equation, which makes it easier.
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 8

Topic: Logarithms and Exponentials
Subtopic: Logarithmic equations
Command word: 'Solve' – which is in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Identical to 2022 P1 Q8 
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 9

Topic: Vectors
Subtopics: Collinearity, Dividing a line segment in a ratio
Command words: 'Show', 'Find' – both in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Part (a) is identical to 2025 P2 Q5(a) . Part (b) is similar to 2024 P1 Q4  and others.
Note 1: Part (b) asks for one of the end-points. This is an unusual, but fair, application of the course content .
Note 2: The phrase 'is such that' also appears, for example, in 2021 P1 Q11 .
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 10

Topics: Integration, Trigonometry
Subtopics: Standard integrals, radian measure
Command word: 'Find' – which is in the command words list 
Wording/notation: Near-identical to 2019 P1 Q11  and 2024 P2 Q5 
Note: 'Find' rather than 'evaluate' is inconsequential. Candidates should know that a definite integral has a value.
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 11

Topic: Polynomials
Subtopic: Factorising, Polynomial equations
Command words: 'Show', 'Explain', 'Give a reason', 'Find' – all in the command words list 
Wording/notation: (a)(i) identical to 2024 P1 Q10 . (a)(ii) original but clear. (b) quite similar to 2016 P2 Q3 .
Note 1: Part (a)(ii) has attracted particular criticism. However, 'linear' is a common term, even in N5 Maths.
Note 2: Contrary to the The Scotsman  article, 'factors' and 'roots' are different. Pupils learn about both.
Note 3: An irreducible quadratic factor has appeared previously, in 2019 P2 Q10 .
Note 4: The petition's "constructing a justification about uniqueness" claim is false; \(b^2\!-\!4ac\!\lt\!0\) is N5 level.
Note 5: Intersection of line and curve was in 2018 P1 Q7 ; two curves is new but within the specification .
Verdict: Fair question.

Question 12

Topics: Logarithms and Exponentials, Functions and Graphs
Subtopics: Inverse functions, Related graphs
Command words: 'Sketch', 'Determine', 'State' – all in the command words list 
Wording/notation: (a) identical to 2016 P1 Q10 . (b) similar to 2015 P1 Q13(a)  and 2019 P2 Q8(b) .
Note: Part (b) requires quite a deep understanding, but is well within the scope of the specification .
Verdict: Fair question.

Overall verdict

This was an entirely fair paper. Although, as usual, a few of the questions were intended to stretch more able candidates, there was no unusual phrasing, no ambiguous language and no non-standard notation. The published command words were used correctly. In our opinion, therefore, the petition has no merit.

We will not attempt to speculate as to the reasons why so many candidates appear to have felt that the exam paper was unfair, or why the demonstrably false narrative gave rise to so many petition signatures and so much media attention. Those important questions are left for others to consider.

 

All original content is © 2020– Andrew Moulden, unless otherwise indicated. Full copyright notice.
SQA / Qualifications Scotland material is copyright © Qualifications Scotland, used by kind permission.