Approach to the Sixth Form Curriculum

 St Michael’s Catholic College Sixth Form: Pathways to the Future

Our Sixth Form curriculum is shaped to offer students both academic and personal challenges, as well as the space to develop and pursue their own interests; preparing them for the competitive world of either work or university. As a Catholic College we ensure that our students have continued opportunities to develop and reflect on their own faith and we expect them to participate as members of the college in community acts of worship; beyond this, the sixth form students have a full part to play in the life of the college.

Transition to KS5 is also used to promote challenge and high expectations at KS4. To this end, scholarships and exhibitions are available subject to student performance at GCSE allowing access to differentiated support for university applications and appropriate enrichment opportunities. All students receive timetabled enrichment and study periods to enable them to study for an EPQ and work towards the Duke of Edinburgh qualification, as well as access to an extensive range of experiences from partners such as KPMG, NCS Challenge, PWC and King’s College.

The curriculum has three pathways.

The A Level Pathway

The A level Pathway is our traditional pathway which allows students to choose 3 A levels from a range of 20 subjects. This is coupled with a choice of Enrichment subjects (such as EPQ, Core Maths and Financial Studies), creating a bespoke curriculum for students tailored to each of their individual interests and talents.

Students on this pathway are also enrolled onto The Elephant Access Programme which offers summer internships, academic mentoring and university visits to help our students develop academically and pastorally. Year 12 students on the A Level pathway also have the opportunity to take part in self-organised work experience in July

The Technical Pathway

The Technical Pathway is a Level 3 vocational course which offers students the opportunity to study CTEC courses in Sport or Business in a more practical manner.

This course is perfect for students who thrive in coursework topics and prefer a 2-year non-linear course.

Business students also have access to Business Mentoring and Summer Internships through a variety of different organisations, as well as work experience through The Brokerage and Access Aspirations.

Sport students have access to coaching opportunities both internally and externally.

Year 12 students on the technical pathway also have the opportunity to take part in self-organised summer work in July as well as Enrichment subjects such as EPQ and Financial Studies.

The Honours Pathway

The Honours Pathway at St. Michael’s is designed to facilitate the progress of our most high achieving, intellectually ambitious students to elite Russell Group universities and apprenticeships.

The most able will contend for places at Oxford and Cambridge, LSE and Imperial. To earn a place students must achieve 4 or more level 8s at GCSE, though the majority of students on this pathway have more – often significantly more – top grades.

The Honours Pathway offers students the option to study four A levels and an extra A level in EPQ, early entry options, automatic entry into an access programme for elite universities, work experience and internship, extra tutoring and subject seminars.

There are also Oxbridge scholarships of up to £500 on offer each year in STEM, Humanities and Media Arts. Testing for these financial awards takes place as part of the selection process for the Sixth Form.