Course Choice FAQs

Good Reasons Behind Choices

  • Subjects which interest the student
    - if you     are interested then you are more likely to succeed

  • Subjects relevant to career interests
    - planning for post-school sta    rts now
    - careers adviser can help if you are unsure

  • Subjects which develop skills and abilities

  • Subjects where the student has performed well previously
    - by now you'll have an idea of where your strengths lie

  • Keep options open by choosing a range of courses:
    - many pupils are     unsure of what they want to do in the future so keep your options open by picking a broad and varied set of subjects

Poor Reasons Behind Choices

  • Like or dislike of a teacher:
    -     most subjects have more than one teacher qualified to teach it so there is no guarantee that you'll get a particular teacher

  • Because a friend is doing it:
    - no guarantee that you'll be in the same class
    - you need to be selfish and pick what is right for you

  • Expectation that it will be easy / difficult

FAQS

The section below addresses some of the common questions that pupils and parents have at course choice time. If you have a general question related to course choice then please complete the FAQ Google form. We will look to update the FAQ section below based on your responses.
If you have a specific question related to your choices then please contact your PT Guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions

This section will continue to be updated with any relevant questions that come in from the form above.


  • Will I be allocated all of my choices?
    Around 95% of pupils were allocated their first choices last year, however some were not.
    This is because sometimes classes are oversubscribed or there aren't enough pupils for a class to be viable to run. On rare occasions, due to the combination of subjects you have chosen there will be a clash between two of your subject choices on the timetable resulting in you having to choose which one to keep.


  • I don't know what I want to choose - what should I do?
    Please don't worry - not everybody knows what they want to do when they leave school. If you're in this situation then the most important thing to do is to     let us know! Your Guidance teacher should be your first point of contact - they will discuss options with you and offer additional supports if necessary.


  • A course I want to take isn't on the choice form - what are my options?
    As a school we try to offer as wide a curriculum as we can but unfortunately cannot offer everything. For S6 pupils, if there is a course you would like to do then there is a section in the choice-form where you can let us know. If there is enough demand for a course then we will look to see if we can run it. We will also make contact with our neighbouring secondaries, Mackie and Portlethen, to see if there is a possibility for you to study it there.
    There is, however, no guarantee. You will still need to complete the choice form with the choices that are available.