Parents

Options

Welcome to the Year 9 Options section of the school website

Year 9 is an important time in a child’s school journey. It is considered to be a transition year from Key Stage 3 through to Key Stage 4 and enables students to be GCSE ready.

It is the time when students get to choose what they wish to continue to study, whether they want to look at new GCSE courses or begin to explore vocational and technical awards.

The choices made are important as students have to study the courses for 2 years and complete any assessment work and examinations at the end of the course. The choices made also lay the foundation for the next step of their journey, whether that is to 6th from colleges, apprenticeships and other educational settings to study A-Levels or vocational and technical awards, such as BTECs or T-Levels.

Some Post-16 courses and apprenticeships require students to have studied certain subjects/courses already, and to have achieved a particular grade in those subjects, alongside additional entry requirements related to English and mathematics. These requirements also differ from one educational setting to another. It is therefore important, as part of this process, that students begin to explore their future aspirations and choose courses which complement their aspirations should they have a clear career pathway in mind.
 

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The information and guidance included in the Year 9 Options section of the website will help you understand more about how each course is composed and delivered, as well as how the course is useful for the future.

Each course has an introductory video, information about the course and a section on ‘frequently asked questions’ which you will hopefully find extremely useful. Further information can also be found in the complete Options Booklet.

DOWNLOAD OPTIONS EVENING PRESENTATION 2023-24

Pathways

Click here for a short summary of each option subject

Compulsory

Mathematics

English

Religious Education

Personal Development

EBACC GCSE Options

GCSE Computer Science

GCSE French and German

GCSE Geography

GCSE Science

Additional GCSE Options

GCSE Art

GCSE Business

GCSE Design and Technology

GCSE Drama

GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition

GCSE Music

GCSE PE

GCSE Photography

Vocational and Technical Awards

BTEC Technical Award Health and Social Care

BTEC Technical Award in Enterprise

NCFE Level 1 Certificate in Food and Cookery

NCFE Level 2 Technical Award in Music Technology

OCR Creative Imedia

OCR Engineering Manufacture

OCR Information Technology

OCR Sport Studies


FAQs

What should influence my choices for Key Stage 4?

Interest, engagement and enjoyment in the subject, how useful it is for your future, will it give you a degree of breadth to your choices, how capable you are in the subject if it is continuing from Key Stage 3.

What Pathway am I on?

You will have received an email or phone call confirming if you have been designated to Pathway 2 or 3.

How do I complete the options form?

This year the form is online, with a link to each pathway on the relevant page.

When is the deadline for the options online form?

Monday 20th March 2023

Will I get to do all of my preferred options?

In most cases, yes. But, it is not always possible, with some combinations, if courses are full or if there are not enough students to run the course. This is why we ask you to make 2 reserve choices which you would definitely want to study.

How do I put my course choices in order of preference?

In this example, the subject which would be your first choice is Business Studies in option block B, then DT – Graphics in option block C, then Geography in option block A and then History in option block D.

What happens if I change my mind?

This will undoubtedly happen for some students, which is fine. However, the earlier the change the better. Once the option blocks have been confirmed and set in stone the choices are then limited. In September we wish all students to be in a situation where they are happy with their choices and are ready to start their Key Stage 4 courses.

Contact

The Fernwood School
Goodwood Road, Wollaton
Nottingham, NG8 2FT

0115 9286326