Academic Prospectus

GCSE Prospectus

Explore our full range of GCSE subjects and find the right path for your future.

Welcome to Senior School!

I am delighted to welcome you to the next phase of your journey at Loughborough High School. You now have the flexibility to choose a range of subjects that play to your strengths, while maintaining a broad, balanced programme of study. There are opportunities for enrichment and independent study within the curriculum and our standard pattern of nine GCSEs reflects our genuine commitment to balancing academic study with student wellbeing.
We hope that you will enjoy choosing subjects that reflect your interests, aptitudes and any potential career pathways, and we understand that you will want to spend time discussing your options with family and friends. There are lots of staff at school, too, who can help and guide you including your form tutor, your subject teachers and Heads of Department, your Head of Year and our Head of Futures, Mrs Grainger.
Over the two years of the GCSE course, all subjects will make demands on your time and energy. Teachers will expect you to work more independently and to meet deadlines so it is important when making your choices to consider the content of the courses and the nature of any practical or coursework elements. Think about the variety within your curriculum as you select your subjects and try to arrive at a balance which matches your talents. Try to be realistic in your choices: commitments out of school are also important and should complement your academic choices and studies.
We are looking forward to seeing you progress into Year 10 and Year 11 and enjoying a range of opportunities, including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, Combined Cadet Force (CCF) and the Voluntary Service Unit (VSU), alongside your existing interests. I wish you all the very best for the coming year.

Learn more about the Key Stage 4 Curriculum

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GCSE Prospectus

Our Key Stage 4 Curriculum

Loughborough High School is committed to offering a Key Stage 4 (KS4) curriculum where pupils can choose to work with their strengths yet follow a broad and balanced scheme of study. Our pupils will study towards nine GCSEs in a curriculum that offers academic rigour and opportunities within subjects and enrichment to practise skills such as leadership, communication, teamwork, negotiating, problem-solving and organising. It is a curriculum that includes something for everyone to excel in.

In our KS4 curriculum, some subjects are compulsory. Pupils have a core curriculum of Mathematics, English Language, English Literature, two separate sciences and Physical Education (PE), all which feature as subjects on the timetable. In addition, pupils follow an age-appropriate PSHCE course and an enrichment programme that focuses on wellbeing and independent learning.

We ask pupils to choose four subjects and a reserve from a wide range of options, covering Modern Languages, Humanities, Sciences, Expressive and Performing Arts, Sport and Technology.

To ensure a broad and balanced curriculum, most pupils will choose a language, a humanity and a creative subject.

Core Curriculum – all pupils will study:

English LanguageScience 1 – choose from Biology, Chemistry or PhysicsPE (non-exam)
English LanguageScience 2 – choose from Biology, Chemistry or PhysicsPSHCE (non-exam)
English Language

Options – In addition, pupils will study four from:

GeographyFrenchBiologyArt
HistorySpanishChemistryDrama
Classical CivilisationGermanPhysicsMusic
Religious StudiesGreekComputer SciencePE
FoodLatin
  • Please speak to Mrs Lee if you are considering changing your first MFL
  • Pupils considering Oxbridge for a medical or veterinary application will have a much more competitive application if they apply with three sciences at GCSE.

Pupils will also have the opportunity to work on independent skills for three lessons a week; in doing so, they would be studying towards a Higher Project Qualification. Other Thursday afternoon options include Sports Leaders, Additional Maths, GCSE Music and CCF.

GCSE Prospectus

Frequently asked questions

  1. During November, you will attend the Options Evening. This is where you can find out more about the subjects available.
  2. During the Year 9 parents’ evening you will receive advice from your subject teachers.
  3. In January you will submit an options form.

Your subject choices are processed and lists of pupils wishing to take each subject are produced. We will produce a curriculum plan which allows as many pupils as possible to study their preferred subjects. However:

  • Some subjects may not be very popular and may not run. There needs to be a minimum of seven pupils for a subject to run.
  • Some subjects might be too popular and we may need to limit numbers.
  • Some combinations of subjects may not be possible.

If all of your choices cannot be satisfied then you will be asked to discuss this with Mrs Way and your form tutor who will help you make new choices. We wish you all the best in this exciting time of your educational career.

GCSEs and IGCSEs are essentially the same thing and certainly enjoy the same intellectual and currency value. Domestic GCSEs – referred to as GCSEs – were reformed in the last decade. For some subjects, this made little to no difference. For some subjects, the changes were both significant and detrimental, and many leading schools took the decision to move to international GCSEs, which were free from the government changes applied to domestic GCSEs. International GCSEs are run and administered by exam boards in the same way as domestic GCSEs, with the sole difference being that they are not regulated by Ofqual, the government regulator for assessments in England.

Our teachers choose the most appropriate qualification for their subjects to prepare the students for A Level study, but also make the choice to provide the best, most enjoyable and most stimulating experience in the GCSE years for Loughborough High pupils.

All GCSEs and IGCSEs are now graded on the 9 – 1 tariff. For ease, please see a comparison to alphabetical grades as below.

NumberAlphabetical equivalent
9A**
(even if A** does not exist as a grade)
8A*
7A
6B
5High C
4Low C
3D
2E
1F

The government considers a 4 a ‘standard pass’ and a 5 a ‘strong pass.’ These are the key metrics often used by employers as the base minimum for employment.

Some subjects offer non-exam assessment / coursework / irregular exam times as assessment routes in addition to the more traditional route of terminal exams in exam halls in May and June of Year 11. Please consult those subjects for further information and take this into account when
making your choices: some pupils might like the idea of these types of assessments, and others less so.
The below shows these major assessment points that sit outside of the traditional summer exam windows where most exams are taken.
Assessments marked * are externally assessed, all others are assessed internally

YearAutumn TermSpring TermSummer Term
10Drama
11FoodArt
Drama*
Food
HPQ
Music
PE		Art*

Dedicated options guidance for every student through our PSHCE programme

PSHE
20+

GCSE qualifications

Extensive enrichment opportunities

Co-curricular

Direct progression to A Levels and future pathways

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Loughborough High School, Burton Walks Loughborough, LE11 2DU
01509 212348
high.office@lsf.org
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