As December approaches and while people are starting to prepare for the new year and book their firework tickets, some students are worrying about their sixth form application deadlines. A vital part of completing your sixth form application is picking your subjects, B-TECs, A-levels, IB etc. Most year 11 students are now stuck in a sea of stress as they have just completed their first set of MOC exams and need to do their applications.
Jumping from GCSEs to sixth form can be overwhelming. Therefore, students should try and pick subjects that they enjoy based on their experience with that subject in GCSEs so that they are not struggling in their sixth form years. When it comes to picking the subjects you want to do in sixth form or narrowing down your options there are some questions to ask yourself:
- How many subjects do I need to pick?
- What subjects have I enjoyed throughout my GCSE years?
- What pathway am I interested in?
- Do I feel that I would be interested in learning more about these subjects in depth?
Sometimes, we might be pressured by others when it comes to picking anything in life. For example, if you are buying clothes and you can't decide on the colour, you might ask for the opinion of others to help you come to a decision. However, that does not necessarily mean that you will pick what they choose, because they might pick a colour that you do not like. The point is: YOU ASK FOR OPINIONS, AND THEN YOU CHOOSE WHAT FEELS RIGHT. Asking for people's opinion will help you think from other perspectives to allow you to come to a conclusion and perhaps enlighten your mind with a final decision.
If you have reached the stage of choosing your subject or having an idea of what you want to do, I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS! You have just passed 50% of the process. Now it is time to consider a couple more questions:
- What schools offer the subjects I want?
- What are the requirements for each subject at each school?
- When are the deadlines for the applications?
When answering the questions above, you will need to note dates and important information down. Creating a flow chart or a mind map of all the subjects and their requirements at each school can be a good idea to display all the options visually in front of you. Also, using your calendar and setting reminders is a very effective way to help your remember the deadlines for the applications. I would strongly suggest looking at the online prospectus on the each school's website and having a read through what you will be taught at each subject. This will help ensure that you have in depth-knowledge about each subject before actually deciding to pick it or not.
Most importantly, you need to remember that we all change our minds, these subjects in your application can be changed once the exam results are out in the summer. Don't forget! make the most out of this year and do your best to achieve your goal.
