Year 9 Options: Curriculum

The curriculum at key stage 4 has been carefully designed so that, in the vast majority of cases, students will follow a broad and balanced curriculum.

All students study the Core Curriculum, consisting of:

All courses, with the exception of PE, are externally assessed.

Core Curriculum + Four other GCSE choices

In addition to this compulsory element, students choose 4 other subjects that they would like to study.  It is our recommendation that students study:

• A humanities subject
• A technology subject
• A modern foreign language
• A creative arts or business subject

However, there is sufficient flexibility in our options system for students who wish to study 2 subjects from a particular group.

Combinations of Subjects

Due to content overlap, it is not permissible to study the following combinations of subjects:

• Art + Art Photography
• Design BTEC + Art
• Design BTEC + Product Design
• Creative iMedia + Media Studies

The English Baccalaureate

The government’s education policy in recent years has resulted in a phenomenon called the English Baccalaureate.  The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is not a qualification in itself and you will not receive a certificate.  It is a performance measure for schools, intended to recognise students’ achievements across a core of academic subjects at GCSE.  We do not oblige any students to study this collection of subjects but all students must study one of the subjects in the pink ‘Choice 1’ box, all of which are subjects which make up the EBacc.

The subject portfolio that comprises the English Baccalaureate is:

• English Language (and be entered for English Literature)
• Mathematics
• Two Sciences (one of which can be Computer Science)
• A Modern Foreign Language
• History or Geography