Year 8 Curriculum Personalisation

Year 8 Curriculum Personalisation

Welcome to the Year 8 curriculum personalisation page of the website.

The summer term of Year 8 marks the start of the curriculum personalisation process; this is a very important milestone in your child’s educational life. It is an exciting time where students begin to take some control of their learning and specialise in the areas that they select.

It is imperative that students have the right guidance and support to enable them to make informed decisions. Parents and students are invited to an information evening and students participate in taster lessons before making their choices. These subject choices will shape their journey over the next few years when applying for apprenticeships, further education, university and beyond.

At this point in Year 8, students will be able to make choices about the ‘wider’ subjects they take forward. In Year 9 all students will follow a core curriculum of: English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, French, German, Computing, PE, PSHE and RE.

Students will choose three subjects (to complement their core subjects) based on their interests, abilities and future studies/career aspirations.

Year 9 Curriculum Hours

The table below outlines the amount of hours that are allocated to each subject/option per fortnight:

Curriculum Personalisation Booklet 2024

Subject Leader Presentations

Please see the following presentations made by our subject leaders giving you a detailed overview about their subject to help you with this process:

Going into Year 10

A second selection process takes place during summer term of Year 9. Students will choose from the subjects they have been studying in Year 9, deciding which they wish to take forward into the last two years of study towards their final qualifications. Students will then be completing GCSEs, BTECs and Cambridge Nationals. GCSE are qualifications where the full range of grades (from 9 to 1) are achievable. 

Other courses are equivalent to GCSEs but are vocational courses and may have a different grading structure e.g. Pass, Merit, Distinction. This means they often have more of a skills/employment focus. These courses are likely to have internally assessed coursework (NEAs) with deadlines throughout Year 10 and Year 11.

Lead Staff

Mrs R Smith

Deputy Headteacher, Quality of Education