Education Requirements at Key Stage 4

Key Stage 4 is the name given to the period of education during Years 10 and 11. A range of qualifications are available to ensure that you achieve the best possible grades to match individual levels of ability and aptitude. Although there is some flexibility in terms of the choice of courses followed at Key Stage 4, the Department for Education insists that all students follow a compulsory core of key subjects, which includes English, Maths, Science (Double or Triple Award) and aspects of Religious Studies, Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) which includes Careers. 

These mandatory subjects will automatically be added to your timetable as a lesson, as part of our pastoral delivery or focus days. Further changes have also been made recently by the Department for Education to ensure that you have access to a broad and balanced curriculum consisting of at least 8 subjects.

In addition, when you sit your GCSEs, almost all subjects will be examined in full at the end of Year 11. All courses will also contain a high level of external assessment. An increased emphasis on literacy skills mean that most examinations will carry marks for extended written answers containing the correct spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG).