Questions that parents and carers often ask

Year 9

Q. What courses does my son or daughter have to do?

A. In Years 10 and 11 your son or daughter has to study maths, English, science, information technology, physical education (PE), religious education (RE), citizenship, sex education, work related learning and careers education.

Q.Do all courses lead to a GCSE qualification?

A. No there is a range of qualifications your child could study. It will depend on the courses they would like to do and the way they like to learn.

Q. Will doing a vocational course limit my child's options later?

A. No. On a vocational course your child will learn skills for one job but they will also learn general skills that would be useful in any career. Job specific skills can usually be transferred to other work. The general skills they would learn include:

• working safely
• working as part of a team
• planning work
• completing tasks to a standard
• using equipment
• solving problems, and
• applying English and maths in new ways.

Q. Do all organisations offer the same courses?

A. All schools will offer core GCSEs. Whether other courses are available will vary and your child may go to more than one place to make up their personal curriculum. For example, they may do core GCSEs at their own school and go to college one day a week for a vocational course.

Q. What does my child need to know to make a choice?

A. Your child will need to think about the following and decide which they prefer.

• How will the course be taught - through practical activity or the more traditional reading, writing and listening?
• How the course will be assessed - exams or coursework?
• If the course is offered on a different site - can they get there easily?
• If the course is new does it link to something they already do or does it link to their own particular skills?

At the end of Year 11 your child will also need to think about where they want to learn.

Q. How does my child decide between college or sixth form?

A. They’ll need to use Routes Ahead to find out who offers the course that interests them. Then they will need to compare other things such as location and travel arrangements, size, facilities, dress codes and so on. Visiting the school or college on an open day will also help them to make a decision. You can find details of open days on the problem buster page.

Q. When does my child have to make these decisions?

A. Your child’s school will let you know about the deadlines for applying and Routes Ahead is available any time for their research.

Q. Is there any funding available to help with things like travel costs and books?

A. There are three types of funding — the Education Maintenance Allowance, the Learner Support Fund and the Adult Learning Grant.

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