Year 9

Welcome to the Year 9 Options page of our website. This page contains all the information you will need as a family to help make option choices for GCSE study.

This web page contains documents to download which will help students and parents when choosing options for next year.  All students will have a Year 9 Options Assembly on Wednesday 7th of January 2026 where we will go through the process with students.  All students study English, Mathematics and Science (Core Subjects). In addition, students will select and place in rank order six option subjects, four of these subjects they will study in Years 10 and 11. This will be completed using a Microsoft Form which will be sent via text to parents. 

The deadline for returning the form is the 30th of January.

In their six ranked options, students must select at least one subject from Geography, History, French, German and Spanish. 

The GCSE option subjects are listed below (any subject with a * has the same weighting as a GCSE subject, but is classed as a vocational course):

The option subjects:

• Art and Design 
• Art and Design Textiles 
• Business
• *Child Development 
• Computer Science 
• Design Tech. (Electronics)
• Design Tech. (Timber) 
• Design Tech. (Paper and Board) 
• French
• Drama 
• Food Preparation and Nutrition 
• *Health & Social Care
• Geography 
• German 
• Music
• History 
• *Information Technology 
• *Sports Studies
• Physical Education 
• Religious Studies/Philosophy and Ethics
• Spanish

We will also be holding an Options Information Evening for parents/carers only on Thursday 8th January 2026.   In the weeks following this evening each student will have an individual options meeting with a senior member of staff. At this meeting the student’s Personal Profile alongside previous Progress Check information will be discussed and their four options will be confirmed. 

The guiding principle of our process is finding the most appropriate route through Key Stage 4 for each child to give them the best chance of success at 16. Therefore, theoptions meeting will focus on the student’s interests, current level of effort in their subjects, long-term ideas about careers and the way they like to learn.

We welcome conversations with parents during the process and will do our best to answer queries quickly. However, with a largeyear group, we ask for your patience if some research is required before we can respond. At each stage in the process you will be kept informed.  Do not hesitate to contact Jonathan Okwe-Pearson, Head ofYear, with any queries.