Year 9 Pathways

We understand that making a decision about which subjects to specialise in during Year 10 and Year 11 can be difficult. Try asking your teachers if they knew they wanted to be a teacher when they were in Year 9. Some might have ‘just known’, but many will have had no idea.

So when making decisions about the right specialist subject pathways for you, there are some key questions to ask:

Which subjects do you enjoy?

If you are going to spend another two years studying them, it helps if you like them. Bear in mind that what you learn in Year 10 and Year 11 will be different to what you’ve done so far. Read the pages in this booklet carefully to get an idea about the topics you will be studying. Then talk to your teacher if you still aren’t sure.

How do your subject pathways balance each other?

You might love doing PE, but if you choose to specialise in too many similar subjects, it doesn’t give you as many options post 16. Usually, choosing a balanced mix of subjects is the best way. We help out with some of this by having core subjects, which everyone does, and then specialist subject pathways where we try to give you a good range of choices in each pathway.

What kind of careers do these subjects lead to?

Again, remember that there are different routes to the same destination, but some subject specialisms are often linked to particular careers.