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Year 9 Pathways

At Sir Harry Smith Community College all students in Key Stage 4 will study compulsory courses in English Language, English Literature, Mathematics and Science.

In addition, students will study two non-examinable subjects; Physical Education and Skills for Life, unless they have selected to study Triple Science. 

Two routes are available for students to follow at Key Stage 4; the EBacc route and the standard route.  The EBacc route provides the student with a breadth of academic qualifications, highly valued by post-16 providers and universities.  Many of the top universities (those in the Russell Group) require you to have studied the following subjects at GCSE level: English Literature, Maths, Science, History or Geography and a Modern Foreign Language (e.g. French or German). In addition they expect you to have studied one of these subjects at A level, even if you are not studying these subjects at degree level. These are called facilitating subjects.  Both pathways satisfy the requirements of the new Progress 8 measure, so that all students gain a broad range of qualifications to prepare them for the future.

 

EBacc Route

Those students wishing to follow the EBacc route, MUST choose:

Geography or History

and

French or German

(plus two further subjects from the list below)

 

Standard Route

Those students wishing to follow the Standard route must choose at least one of the following:

French

Geography

German

History

(plus three further subjects from the list below)

 

Art

Business

Child Development (vocational)

Dance

Design & Technology

Drama

Food Preparation & Nutrition

French

Geography

German

History

Music

Psychology

Religious Studies Sociology

Sport (vocational)

   

 

With a fixed number of subjects running we will not know what is possible until we have received student requests and for this reason, students will also need to indicate two reserve subjects.