Subject file
Click on the links below for more information, including career suggestions, for each subject. Remember to check with your school to find out which of the optional subjects they offer.
Information Select a type of subject to find out more about:
- Compulsory
- Optional
Art and design
What's involved?
- Using a range of materials to develop skills in art, craft and design, and ways to work with different mediums and materials.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level or GCSE general art and design, drawing and painting (fine art), graphic design, photography, textiles, 3D design, applied double GCSE art and design, critical and contextual studies, or Diploma in Creative and Media.
Career suggestions:
Animator, costume designer, fashion/clothing designer, fine artist, florist, jeweller, stage/set designer.
Business studies
What's involved?
- Learning about the ways companies are organised and run, national and international competition, and e-commerce.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level business studies, GCSE business studies, applied double GCSE business studies or Diploma in Information Technology.
Career suggestions:
Administrative assistant/administrator, business adviser, human resources officer/manager, management consultant, marketing manager, personal assistant (PA), sales manager.
Citizenship studies
What's involved?
- Learn about your role as a citizen in the different communities in which we live and work, locally, nationally and internationally.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level citizenship studies or short GCSE citizenship studies.
Career suggestions:
Civil Service executive officer, journalist, occupational psychologist, police officer, prison officer, social worker, solicitor, trade union official.
Design and technology
What's involved?
- Creative and practical skills, planning, designing, creating, evaluating, as well as using tools and a range of materials.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level, short GCSE or GCSE in eg electronic products, food technology, graphic products, industrial technology, product design, resistant materials, systems and control and textiles or Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment.
Career suggestions:
Blacksmith, carpenter/joiner, ceramic/pottery maker, landscape architect, model maker, product designer, shopfitter, special effects technician, textile designer.
Drama
What's involved?
- Everything to do with staging performances, including backstage, lighting, costume and set design, make-up.
- Developing an understanding of production techniques.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level drama, GCSE drama or Diploma in Creative and Media.
Career suggestions:
Actor, arts administrator, choreographer, dancer, lighting technician, stage manager, stagehand, theatre director, TV/film producer.
Engineering
What's involved?
- Understanding how products are made, design briefs, engineering systems and services.
What qualifications can I get?
Applied double GCSE engineering or Diploma in Engineering.
Career suggestions:
Engineering maintenance technician, materials technician, mechanical engineer, motor vehicle technician, production engineer.
Geography
What's involved?
- Geography is broken into physical, human and environmental geography. Physical geography includes natural features such as rivers and coastal landscapes.
- Human geography includes population, agriculture and industry.
- Environmental geography looks at how the natural environment shapes our lives and examines how human action impacts on the environment.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level geography or GCSE geography.
Career suggestions:
Ecologist, geologist, rural surveyor, solicitor, town planner, zoologist.
Health and social care
What's involved?
- Learning about health, early years (childcare) and social care.
- Researching what each area involves and looking into the available jobs.
What qualifications can I get?
Applied double GCSE health and social care or Diploma in Society, Health and Development.
Career suggestions:
Dental hygienist, health promotion/education specialist, healthcare assistant, mental health nurse, midwife, nurse, nursery worker, playworker, social worker.
History
What's involved?
- Develops a knowledge and understanding of the past, at a local, national and international level.
- Uses a range of sources including books, newspapers, artefacts and historical sites to investigate the past.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level history or GCSE history.
Career suggestions:
Archaeologist, archivist, information scientist, legal executive, museum assistant/technician, solicitor.
Leisure and tourism
What's involved?
- Learning about different areas of the leisure, tourism and travel industries.
- You will find out about customer service, marketing and solving real workplace problems.
What qualifications can I get?
Applied double GCSE leisure and tourism.
Career suggestions:
Air cabin crew, customer services assistant/manager, holiday representative, hotel receptionist, marketing manager, passenger check-in operator.
Manufacturing
What's involved?
- Learning about how products are designed and made, and the importance of materials.
What qualifications can I get?
Applied double GCSE manufacturing.
Career suggestions:
Electronics assembler, engineering operative, manufacturing production manager, materials technician, product designer, quality control inspector.
Modern foreign languages
What's involved?
- Reading, writing, speaking and listening in a foreign language, and developing an understanding of grammar and vocabulary.
- Languages usually offered in schools are French, German and Spanish, although there are some variations.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level or GCSE French, German and Spanish (others may be available).
Career suggestions:
Air traffic controller, EU official, hotel receptionist, importer/exporter, tourist guide, translator, travel agent.
Music
What's involved?
- Playing and listening to music, musical practice and theory.
- The course involves performing, composing and appreciation.
- You also develop skills as a singer or musician.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level music, GCSE music or Diploma in Creative and Media.
Career suggestions:
DJ, music composer, music teacher, music therapist, popular musician, recording industry producer.
Physical education
What's involved?
- Developing skills in four different sporting areas learning about rules and how the body moves.
- Assessing your own performance and that of others.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level physical education or GCSE physical education.
Career suggestions:
Health and fitness instructor, leisure centre assistant, physiotherapist, police officer, pool/beach lifeguard, Royal Navy/Marines officer, sports coach.
Religious studies
What's involved?
- Developing your knowledge and understanding of one or more of the major world religions.
- Looking at moral, philosophical and spiritual issues.
What qualifications can I get?
Entry Level religious studies or GCSE religious studies.
Career suggestions:
Barrister, community support worker, counsellor, prison officer, religious leader, social worker, teacher, youth and community worker.
Social sciences
What's involved?
- Social sciences such as economics, law, psychology and sociology can be studied individually.
What qualifications can I get?
GCSE economics, law, psychology and sociology.
Career suggestions:
Barrister, economist, legal executive, occupational psychologist, police officer, political researcher, prison officer, social worker, trade union official.
What Next?
Options and qualifications
Find out more about what options and qualifications are best for you.
