Welcome to the Year 9 Option Choice page. Choosing which subjects to study at GCSE level may feel exciting or stressful.
QPCS aims to make the selection process simple by providing information on this website, and hosting an Option Choice Evening for students and parents. This will take place on Wednesday 5th March 2025 at 6pm.
It is the aim of the school to ensure that every student achieves excellence, makes good progress and has equal access to the curriculum.
It is our belief that this is best achieved by students following a broad and balanced curriculum. Consequently our Year 10 students follow a broadly common core programme of study. All students will study for GCSEs in English, Maths, Science and a Humanities subject (which includes short course RE irrespective of whether you choose Geography or History) and will also continue with PE. They will then be able to choose three additional subjects. Some parts of the curriculum such as the personal development curriculum, citizenship and computer literacy will be covered during our Curriculum Extension Days.
All students take the following subjects:
English Language
English Literature
Mathematics
Science (Combined or Triple)
RE, History or Geography (which includes RE and Citizenship).
Students then choose three other subjects to study.
Students should aim to design the option part of their curriculum in a way that best suits their interests and abilities. For example:
Performing Arts: Students could choose Drama and Music
Design: Students could choose DT and Art
Enterprise: Students could choose Business and Computer Science
Creative Arts: Students could choose Media Studies and Art
Languages: Students could choose French and Spanish
Humanities: Students may choose Geography and History
Our advice when choosing these option subjects is to think carefully about what you enjoy and feel you will be successful at. Don’t worry if you think a subject you enjoy is not directly related to your career aspirations. By having a core curriculum the school has ensured you have the foundations required to move on into the Sixth Form, regardless of the areas you might want to study later on. When making your option choices try to have a balance: a Language, a Creative Subject and a Social Science makes the perfect combination if you do not have a specific area of interest.
Additional Courses
There will only be one additional course offered this year. Good mathematicians are offered Further Mathematics. This is taught during the ’normal’ Mathematics curriculum time for one lesson per week. You do not have to select this as an option as the Maths department will decide who is most suitable to start the course.
Vocational Courses
Some students may be interested in taking a more vocational route. We are not able to offer many vocational courses but our Hospitality and Catering course has a vocational element. We also run a skills based course called ASDAN. Please see the subject section of this booklet for further information.
Additional Support
Students who are working significantly below G1/G2 in their core subjects may be advised to substitute an option with Core Support. This will give them an additional lesson each week in Mathematics, English and Science to support their learning. Students who have been receiving literacy support this year may be required to select this option in order that we can continue to offer them support without missing any of their core subject lessons.
Heritage Languages
All students who speak, read and write their heritage language will be offered the chance to take a GCSE in this in Year 10 if they have not done so already. There will be no tuition from the school and not all languages are necessarily available as a GCSE. If you think you might be interested in this, you need to speak to our Exams Officer, Ms McNeela, at the start of Year 10.
Finally, there are certain combinations which students are not allowed to choose even though they appear possible in the options. There are also some combinations which would be deemed unwise for example deciding to do Geography, History, Sociology and Media Studies. This would represent a curriculum that was too biased towards the Social Sciences. Although the majority of subjects are open to everyone to choose if they are interested, in some cases there will be selection criteria. For Further Mathematics, and Computer Science, a proven ability to work at a high level will be required to do the course. Students will be invited to join the Triple Science group based on an assessment of the standard of their work in Key Stage 3.
You should make your choice by completing the Google Form which you will find here:
by Friday 21st March 2025.
Please be aware that getting your form in early does not make it more likely that you will get your first choice of options.
If you have any questions or curriculum requests please contact Mr Drummond in school, or email options@qpcs.brent.sch.uk