Standard Grades (Scottish Gaelic: An Ìre Choitchinne) are Scotland's educational qualifications for students aged around 14 to 16 years, which are due to be fully replaced in 2014 when Scottish Qualifications Authority's Higher Still system becomes the main qualifications as part of the major shake up of Scotland's education system as part of Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework overhaul.

Following the Munn and Dunning reports of 1977, the Standard Grade replaced the old O-Grade qualification, and was phased in from 1984 until the early-1990s.

Standard Grade courses are taken over a student's third and fourth year in secondary education. Exams are taken at the end of the 4th Year (around May), with preliminary examinations taken several months earlier in November. (However, certain subjects may be "fast tracked" at some schools (for example Dalziel High school, who was the first school to use this system), where the course is started in at the beginning of 2nd year and finished at the end of 3rd year (this means pupils start standard grades at age 12/13 and finish them at age 14/15) or by doubling teaching time and sitting courses over 1 year as with Highers.)^{[citation needed]} The exams are provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, which also offers the more recent National Qualifications on the Scottish Qualifications Certificate.

The Basics ( /ˈbæzɪtʃ/ BAZZ-ich) are a three-piece band from Melbourne, Australia, formed by Wally De Backer and Kris Schroeder in 2002. Their style has been described as anything from 'indie-pop' to 'rock'n'roll' to 'pop-rock', though their records show they span a wide range of genres, including reggae, ska, country, and electro-pop. They are "recognised as one of Australia's hardest-working bands".

With close to 1000 shows in their ten-year career, their live performances are well-known for their sense of humour and energy.

The Basics were formed after Kris met Wally at a party in Melbourne. The event was to see off the young aspiring producer, who was about to depart for Los Angeles, and together with a number of musician friends, the two jammed on some blues-rock standards. Later that night, they bonded over a mutual love of The Beatles, 70s and 80s cartoon theme songs and old Sierra adventure games.

Initially, they played around Melbourne as an acoustic guitar/drums combo, starting at The Opposition in Frankston and the House of Fools in Footscray, where in late 2002 they met Michael Hubbard and later invited him to join them on electric guitar. Though lacking any real experience with the instrument, Kris willingly purchased his first bass guitar, and the trio was born. During this time, the group start performing songs with more complicated three-part harmony.