What do students say?

Here is what some of our students have to say about their experiences....

Students in Year 11DE1

Take time to read the booklet.

Involve your parents and show them the information. Have a conversation about which subjects you are thinking of taking.

Look at how you are assessed. Is it all exam or is it part coursework.

Take your time, get as much information as possible and don't rush in to making choices.

Don't opt just because your friends are taking the subject.

-talk to students who are doing the courses, especially for new subjects like Business and Engineering
-don't choose the same subjects as your friends
-choose the subjects you enjoy because you don't know for definite who will teach you

Students in 11LD2

Libby:

"In the process of picking my GCSE's, what helped me the most was the booklet given to every student as that gave the initial idea of what kind of GCSE it was- whether it was coursework or a final exam. The yellow (options) card that was given to us was also really helpful as that gave us the chance to see whether the teachers thought we were right for that specific subject. When choosing your GCSE's, the advice given was that you shouldn't pick that subject if you didn't enjoy it but are choosing it because your friends are doing it, because the chances are you will be with them in different lessons anyway. Another piece of advice was to not choose it only because your favourite teacher teaches that lesson, because there may be more than one class and you might not be with them. I would definitely consider choosing options you want to do as it will be more likely you can excel and get top grades for that subject".

"Rather than just checking what the work is like with other students, try to check what the exams are like too. Some of them have different formats to others so you'll need to find exam styles that suit you too".

Erin