Year 9 into Year 10 Options

The Curriculum for Year 10 

All Year 10 students will be required to study the following subjects across Key Stage 4: 

The Compulsory Core 

The table below summarises the two year KS4 programme for each Core subject area. Please note that the two year KS4 Core subject programme followed by students will be dependent on the sets students are placed in for English, Maths and Science.

Students will receive a personalised pathway form based on their attainment to date, which will provide them with guidance regarding their option choices.

Core Subject Year 10 Year 11
English GCSE English Language/ Literature GCSE English Language/ Literature
Maths Maths GCSE Maths GCSE
Science

GCSE Triple Science or

GCSE Combined Science

GCSE Triple Science or

GCSE Combined Science
RS Religious Studies Religious Studies
PE Practical PE Practical PE

Personal Development

 Personal Development Personal Development

 

Further Subjects

Students will study a further 4 subjects in addition to those above.

Most students will receive an online pathway form which requires them to select a humanity subject (Geography or History) and a Modern Foreign Language (French, Italian or Spanish).

Some students may receive an online pathway form which requires them to select 1 or 2 BTEC subjects; this is because we are confident that this route will provide them with optimum outcomes at the end of Year 11 and reduce the exam burden of many exams in the summer of Year 11.

If BTEC subjects are not a requirement on a student’s pathway form, this does not prevent that student from opting for one or more BTECs.

All subject information is current at the time of publishing, and is subject to change, particularly for new specifications.

 

Key questions to ask yourself

Where

  • Make sure you get advice from people who know what they are talking about
  • Be careful with advice from the internet, can it be trusted?
  • Never be afraid to ask too many questions – this needs to be right

 

 

 

Career

  • Do you have ideas on possible careers?
  • ​What subjects do certain careers insist on now or later?

  • What should you do if you do not know what you want to do yet?

 

 

 

 

Advice

  • Make sure you get advice from people who know what they are talking about
  • ​Be careful with advice from the internet, can it be trusted
  • ​Never be afraid to ask too many questions – this needs to be right

 

 

 

Work

  • Do you have an idea of the assessment or exam workload for a subject you want to do? Generally, BTEC subjects have a larger coursework weighting which can be completed throughout the course, whereas most GCSEs are largely exam-based at the end of Year 11
  • ​Are you prepared to work at 100% in that subject for the full two years?

 

 

Commitment

  • Whichever course you take during Years 10 and 11 you will require motivation, hard work, determination and organisation to succeed
  • Reflect on how well you demonstrate these areas in school at the moment and what, if any, you might need to work on

 

 

 

Numbers

  • All the subjects listed in this booklet are those we hope to run in September 2025
  • Please be aware that courses will only run if a specific number of students opt to take it
  • There has to be a maximum capacity for the subjects so the key is make your choices early and ensure that you are happy to take any of your options, including reserve choices

 

 

Please click below for the Options booklet:

KS4-Option-Booklet-2025-26-.pdf

 

Please click below to access the Options Evening presentation:

Year-9-Options-Evening-2025.pdf