Key Stage 4 Curriculum Choices

At KS4, all our students will study the core subjects of English (Literature/Language), Maths and Science. Our students will also take two non-examined classes, PSRE (PSHE + RE) to broaden their understanding of how philosophy, religion and ethics form the basis of our culture, and PE, to promote and support an active, healthy lifestyle. As we are a nationally recognised language school, most of our students will also continue to study either French or Spanish as a GCSE.

Students will then have three subject choices available, which have been grouped into the following curriculum areas to help support a broad and balanced program of study.

Creative Expression: Art, Dance, Design & Technology, Drama, Food and Nutrition, Hospitality & Catering Level 1/2, Music, Photography, Physical Education, Sport BTEC, Textiles or Triple Science.

Understanding the World: Geography, History, Media Studies, Religious Studies, Sociology, Travel & Tourism BTEC, or Triple Science.

Broadening my Perspectives: Computer Science, Latin, Statistics OR any of the other options if it has not already been selected.

NB. Please note that students can only study 1 of either Art, Photography and Textiles. They can also only study 1 of either PE or Sport BTEC.

We also offer the following after school courses in addition to the main KS4 options: Further Maths and the Higher Project Qualification. Selecting one or both of these courses does not count as 1 of the option choices.

For 2023, students must make their choices by Friday, April 14 via SIMS Options. Students can register to use SIMS Options via an invitation they will receive in an email from noreply@sims.co.uk. They should follow the instructions in the email and ensure they choose to register with Google and that they use their School Google account.

A guide for our students and families on how to register for SIMS Options and select courses can be viewed here.

If you are having any technical issues using SIMS Options, please complete this form Problems Signing into Options Online. You will then receive a further support from our technical team.

Options Booklet

The Options Booklet contains:

Information about our KS4 curriculum offer.
Advice on how to make the right choices.
The details of the courses we offer (core and options).
The process for selecting options, including important dates.

Below are videos, which have been made by our curriculum team leaders to provide students and families with detailed information about each of the option subjects available. You can also explore the curriculum of these subjects in greater depth by reading our curriculum overviews.