Sixth Form: Entrance Criteria

Options – Advanced Level (Level 3)

Entrance Criteria

In Year 12 all students are required to study at least four subjects of which at least three will be carried forward into Year 13 to complete a full A level.

With five GCSE passes at grade C or above (or an equivalent) students are eligible to take a vocationally orientated double A level in either ICT or Media (with Film Studies). Students must take two subjects in addition to this to ensure they have a total of four.
 
It is expected that all Advanced Level students’ GCSE results will include passes at Grade C or above in Mathematics and English Language as a minimum. Students with at least five GCSE passes at grades A*, A or B will have a wider set of subjects to choose from.
 
There are specific entry requirements for some subjects and these are explained in the individual subject details.
 
Those students who achieve at least eight A or A* grades at GCSE have, by right, the choice of taking an additional AS level option in Year 12.
  
Course Choice

AS/A level subjects are arranged into five provisional timetabling pools: V, W, X, Y and Z. These are shown here. Only one subject can be chosen from each pool.

In Pool V: English Language, Film Studies, Mathematics with Statistics, Media Studies and Psychology will not be available in that pool in Year 13. This means students who chose one of these subjects in Year 13 will have to do so in one of the other pools. This will replace whichever subject they previously had studied in that pool in Year 12.

Any non-core subject can be studied at Advanced level even if it has not been studied at GCSE, apart from Modern Languages and Art.  For example, students who have not studied subjects such as Business Studies or Geography for GCSE can still take the subject at A level. Though an exception might be made for Art if a student’s art portfolio demonstrates that the applicant has the required skill and aptitude for success at Advanced level.

The Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) is offered as an alternative to a fourth Advanced level subject. Please click here for further information.

Options – Intermediate Level (Level 2)

The one year Intermediate level (2) ICT course is for those students wishing to progress to an A level course in September 2013, but who will not have achieved the entry requirements for an A level course in September 2012, together with those students who wish to spend a further year studying in the Sixth Form before taking up employment.

Students who pass this Intermediate level (2) course are awarded three GCSE passes at grades ranging from A to C.

For those students studying Intermediate level (2) ICT, who have not secured at least a C grade in either GCSE Mathematics, English Language or both, retakes in these GCSE subjects are also offered.