You will find the Curriculum Guide for Year 9 options here when it is published.

During February of Year 9, students will be required to choose their option subject for GCSE. We want to give our students opportunities to succeed in line with their academic targets, prior attainment and progress, and future aspirations. As such, we guide students in their GCSEs by ensuring they take a strong core of facilitating subjects including:

• English Literature
• English Language
• Mathematics
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Religion and Philosophy
• A humanity
  
  • Geography and/or History
• Modern Foreign Language
  • Spanish or Mandarin

All students study Religion and Philosophy as one of their GCSEs. We are a Church of England School and this is crucial to our curriculum offer. More details about the statement of entitlement for Church of England Schools can be found here.

That leaves students with one further option which could come from any of our other subjects listed below. Subjects with * next to them have a Non-Examined Assessment element (NEA) sometimes referred to as coursework. NEAs give students the opportunity to engage in practical activity that will be assessed.

There will be a meeting for students and parents in the Main Hall on Thursday 15th  February at 6.00pm with opportunities to ask questions. Following this, parents can contact teachers for support or more information by emailing options@becketkeys.org.

There are videos here about the GCSE courses.

Computer Science - This is an additional Ebacc subject and is very demanding. It can only be taken by students who achieve highly enough in our Computer Science entrance exam. Students will also need to achieve good grades in their end of Year 9 exams in the following subjects: Computer Science, English, Mathematics, Science, Mandarin/Spanish.

• Art*
• Business Studies
• Computer Science
• Drama*
• DT*
• Food*
• Hospitality & Catering
• Music*
• PE*
• Textiles*

All students must choose a reserve subject.

QUESTIONS:

Is it possible to do both Geography and History?

Yes, this is possible for the more able students. Please select it on the form if it comes up as an option for you. If at the end of the year after the exams we are concerned that it will be too much for you, we will make sure that you have your reserve option instead.

Is it possible to do both Spanish and Mandarin? What about other languages?

It is highly unlikely that students will be able to study both Spanish and Mandarin. This has only been possible for students who are native speakers of one whilst studying the other at Becket Keys. Each year we have students sit exams in other languages that they study outside of school. We are happy to support this. However, we only teach Spanish and Mandarin. If you want your child to sit another language email us on options@becketkeys.org.

Can students study an extra GCSE outside of school?

Although students can study extra subjects outside of school, this is not something we recommend as their attention will inevitably be diverted, to some extent, away from their school studies. However, in circumstances where a second language is spoken at home, we do encourage students to sit a GCSE in this subject, this does not often take a significant amount of time to prepare for.

When are final decisions made?

At the end of Year 9, students will sit exams. These will guide us in making final decisions about which option they will take.

How can I speak to someone about my option subject?

The first port of call is your son/daughter's tutor. You can also speak to Head of Year 9 or Mrs Trebess (Deputy Head in charge of Curriculum). You can do this easily here or using the email address: options@becketkeys.org.

How will my option choice affect what I can do at Sixth Form?

It is a good idea to take a look at our Sixth Form Course Guide. Here you will be able to see how we help students take a range of A levels building on the strong foundation of our GCSE curriculum.