Curriculum

The Sixth Form offers challenge and opportunity to all and we believe that we can offer something that will suit your own interests, personality and support you to realise your individual potential. The number of students in our Sixth Form supports a broad curriculum that offers you flexibility and choice.

As a starting point, you can download more information from the prospectus insert and the Sixth Form Information Booklet insert about the course content for each subject, find out how it is taught and assessed and what future opportunities it may hold for you.

For their core curriculum, the majority of students will take 3 A Levels subjects in Year 12 and Year 13. Some students, who gain higher entry grades, will take 4 A Level subjects in Year 12 and will continue with 4 A Levels in Year 13. Students sit two examinations periods each year. Year 12s sit theirs in January and May, and year 13 will sit examinations in November and mock examinations in March.

Alongside of this, students can also opt to study one of our academic enrichment choices, such as Extended Project Qualification (EPQ); this involves studying a topic or subject of their choosing and interest. It is an independent research project, which gives a taste for university study and therefore, is highly regarded by many prestigious universities. We also offer Core Maths and AS-levels in modern foreign languages as academic enrichment choices.

Students will spend the majority of their time in lessons; in their remaining time students are challenged to use their self-directed time effectively, forging self-discipline with their time. Students are also given 8 or 9 hours per fortnight of supervised study time, when they work with a teacher in a study room to complete work set as well as using the time to research forthcoming lessons. Students also attend fortnightly Personal Development lessons which tackle financial management, health and wellbeing to name but a few.

Beyond the academic lessons, Sixth Form students benefit from a programme of enrichment including some super curriculum enrichment which includes talks from a wide range of visiting speakers, as well as trips organised by academic departments.

For more information on the individual subjects offered at Sixth Form, please visit our Information Booklet.  For information on the sixth form curriculum vision and programmes of study in Year 12 and 13 please visit our curriculum page. 

The school has made the decision to move our Business Studies exam board from AQA to Edexcel, with new year 12s being taught from September 2026.  

The upcoming reform of the AQA Business A-level qualification has relatively recently been released, and following review of the revised qualification we have decided that it would require significant changes to our existing schemes of work, assessments and teaching resources.  We have been considering a move to Edexcel for some time, but were waiting until we reviewed the new specification before making a final decision.  We believe that the Edexcel course offers a clearer exam structure and a greater alignment to our existing GCSE Business and A-level Economics courses, so this is a sensible time for the school to make this transition.  Those of you who attended the school's Open Day in November would have been informed that we were considering making this transition.

For the vast majority of students this change in exam board is unlikely to affect your decision to study this subject, however please do get in touch with us if you have any concerns or would like to change your option choice as a result.