The Allocation of GCSE subjects

Whilst we strive to be able to accommodate all students' preferences, in some cases we may require students to consider alternatives. Having students select 1 more choice than they will study, from which we will then allocate, gives us the best possible chance of being able to allocate students' choices successfully. As such, it is important students are prepared to study all of the choices they submit. We will of course try to allocate their preferred subjects in order of priority but this is not always possible due to the timetabling of subjects and student demand.  

 This is more likely to happen where students have opted for subjects which:

1. May only run once in the timetable, for example PE or Child Development

2. May be oversubscribed and the number of classes are limited, this is often the case in technology subjects and art. 

3. Form part of a combination which has not proved popular within the cohort, this varies year to year

These are explained in more detail below. 

1. Subjects running once in a timetable cycle

In the case of PE and sometimes Dance, due to facility demands, these subjects generally run in one subject block only. As such, if this is high on a student's preference then it may be that the combination of other subjects is therefore difficult to accommodate. In other subject areas where perhaps take up is lower than that of other subject areas then it is likely there is only 1 class; this can also cause clashes between subjects chosen. This is often the case with music and child development. This can however vary year to year due to student preference. 

2. Over-subscription in subject areas

Due to staffing and resourcing[1] constraints there are some subjects where the number of classes of a particular subject is limited, this may also include a strict student maximum for health and safety reasons in the classroom. 

At present we have limitations on the following subjects; Art, Child Development, Design & Technology, Drama, and Food Preparation & Nutrition. If subjects are oversubscribed, we use the student preferences (rankings) to determine entry into the subjects. If the subject is still oversubscribed and has not been resolved through student rankings, then we will employ a random lottery to allocate students. We assure you this process is always conducted in a fair and equitable manner. 

3. Subject Combinations

Student cohorts vary year to year and whilst some subject combinations may be popular in one year, they may not be the next. If a student has chosen a combination that has not been popular within the cohort then this is often difficult to accommodate. This can be even more so if the subjects chosen are also subjects within categories 1 and 2 described above. 

Student Preferences & Notifications

It is therefore necessary to reiterate the importance of ensuring students are prepared to study all of the the subjects they have opted for on their choice submission. It may not be possible for students to change once allocations have been made. 

It is our aim to try and meet as many students’ preferences as possible and we work extremely hard to obtain the highest number of student choices. If, however, we are unable to accommodate your child’s choices we will contact you in the summer term to consider alternatives. We appreciate this can be extremely disappointing for students and we will do our best to support them in considering alternatives. Students who need to do so will be interviewed by Mr Atwell and will have priority over subjects before students are able to request changes. Please note this refers only to students for whom we have not been able to allocate four of their five choices. We do not interview students who have been allocated their '5th choice', if students have been allocated their 5th choice this is considered to be an 'options success'.  We do try to minimise the number of students that are allocated their 5th choice, but it is not always possible due to the reasons outlined above. 

Students who have been allocated their choices will not be eligible to request amendments until students who have had to consider alternatives have been interviewed and re-allocated. It is important to note that changes may not be possible due to timetable conflicts or over-subscription of subjects and/or class capacity has been reached. 

All students will be notified of their allocations in the latter part of the summer term. Students can request changes following allocations, subject to availability. They can also request amendments within their first half-term, upon their return to school in Year 9. 

[1] You will be aware of the ‘Worthless’ campaign, which highlights the contextually poor funding that West Sussex schools receive.