Introduction to the Sixth Form

You should consult carefully on your choice of subjects. You are in the fortunate position, not enjoyed by pupils of previous generations, of not having to reduce your choice to three. So you may find that your choice of four is an easy and obvious one to make; you may find that you have a clear idea of three which fit together – say Maths, Physics and Chemistry – but would like also to continue your studies in a foreign language as well; you may even find that narrowing the choice down to four will be difficult. Whatever your thought-process on this issue, it is important that there is a thought-process involved in making the selection and that you are prepared to listen to the advice available from subject teachers, Heads of Academic Departments, Housemaster or Housemistress, and from the Director of Studies and his team. We are all concerned to find the choice of courses which is right for you individually and, since this choice is such an important one, it is as well not to rush into it, nor to choose simply on the basis of where you expect – or achieved - your best GCSE results.

In fact, when choosing your courses, it goes without saying that you should select subjects which you think will maximise your potential with regard to final grades. Often these will be subjects you enjoy or subjects where you have shown a particular aptitude. If you can, you should also bear in mind the university and career options you may wish to pursue beyond school and you should check your proposed courses against these plans. Alternatively you may wish to keep open a variety of options and you may wish not to close off too many possibilities through the subjects you select.

Your A Level courses will be assessed on what is called a modular basis. You should not worry too much about the jargon: essentially a modular course is one which is assessed not simply by examinations at the end of the course but one which is assessed by examinations, or through the submission of coursework, at various points during the course. In practice most AS modules will be taken in June of the Lower Sixth year, although some will be taken in January; in the second year, A2 modules will be taken in most subjects in January and in all subjects in June. Again you should not be concerned about the detail at this stage: but you should remember that you are effectively working directly towards examinations and coursework from the very beginning of your Lower Sixth courses

The options shown in the four blocks below need some explanation. Each subject listed will be available as a full A Level over two years and also as an AS Level over one year. You will not need to decide until August 2010 whether you wish to continue with each chosen AS subject to a full A2 Level in June 2011 (however, you should be aware that each member of the Upper Sixth is required to complete three academic courses during the second year of the Sixth Form). So, at the start of the Lower Sixth Form, it would, for example, be possible for you to choose four subjects (one from each block) and then:

continue with three subjects to A2 Level, leaving the fourth as an AS Level qualification
or continue with all four subjects to A2 Level
or continue with two subjects to A2 Level and take a new AS Level with Lower Sixth classes during the year

BLOCK A                  BLOCK B                  BLOCK C                  BLOCK D

Art*                        Biology                      Biology                    Business Studies
Business Studies      Business Studies      Classical Civilisation  English
Chemistry                Chemistry                 German                   French
Economics                Design                     History                    Mathematics
English                     Economics                Mathematics            Further Mathematics
French                     English                       Music                      Physical Education
Geography              Geography                Physics                    Politics
History                     Latin*                        Politics                    Theatre Studies
                                Philosophy of Religion Spanish

(Please note that the two subjects marked * offer the Cambridge Pre-U Certificate syllabus, rather than the standard A Level course. The Pre-U qualification offers the equivalent of an A Level in the eyes of universities, but the non-modular nature of the course and the more imaginative syllabuses in these two subjects allow for a better experience of the subject at Sixth Form level. More detail on these two courses is offered in the subject descriptors, and is available from the Director of Art and the Head of Classics as detailed on the back of this booklet.)

Further Maths is usually taken as a “double” A Level by someone who is very strong in Maths. Thus we generally expect that anyone who takes Further Maths will opt for only two other courses but, very occasionally, three courses may be taken. Further Maths is taken in both Blocks D and E (see below) and thus, if you opt for it, you will not then be able to take a two-year AS Level in Block E.

If a particular subject appears in more than one block, it makes no difference in which block you choose to take it. It is possible that some pupils will need to be reallocated to the same subject in a different block in order to balance set sizes. We naturally attempt to satisfy the desired combination of courses you make but we are not able to guarantee you a combination which does not appear here.

In addition, to maintain as much breadth as we can in the options open to you, four AS Level courses, to be studied over two years instead of just one, will be available. You can opt for one of these two-year AS Level courses as an alternative to choosing a subject from one of the four blocks above. It will be possible to choose any two-year course irrespective of the combination of other subjects selected (apart from Further Maths – see above).