Courses Offered
Verulam offers a diverse range of A Level and BTEC courses which are organised into option blocks across the week. If you cannot study all your A Levels at Verulam itself, don’t worry, you will be able to study them at one of our partner schools in the BSV consortium.
A Level Courses
Most A Levels are assessed predominantly by external examinations. Coursework, which is internally assessed, is a component in some subjects. A Levels contain an element of synoptic assessment which tests your ability to make connections between different aspects of the subject. Specific subjects’ details can be found at https://www.beausandver.org
You will be required to complete ‘threshold’ exams at the end of Year 12 before continuing with the rest of the A Level programme. You will need to meet the required standard if you wish to continue with a subject into Year 13.
BTEC National Level 3 Courses
These courses are especially suitable for those students who prefer more vocational, practical subjects. They are also better for those students who prefer to be assessed on how they are performing throughout the whole two years of the course rather than on how they perform in terminal examinations. Assessment is mainly through coursework, including practical assessments and students are able to achieve the equivalent of two A Level passes at A* to E if they choose this option. Note that you are not able to follow this course by itself, you will have to follow at least one other course in addition to this in order to make up a full Sixth Form course. Alternatively, you may wish to follow two of these courses.
Sixth Form Subjects:
A-Levels
Art: Fine Art
Art: Photography
Art: Textiles – offered via the BSV consortium
Biology
Business Studies – offered via the BSV consortium
Chemistry
Computer Science – offered via the BSV consortium
DT: Product Design – offered via the BSV consortium
Dance – offered via the BSV consortium
Drama – offered via the BSV consortium
Economics
Economics and Business – offered via the BSV consortium
English Literature
French – offered via the BSV consortium
Geography
German – offered via the BSV consortium
Government & Politics– offered via the BSV consortium
History
Maths
Further Maths
Media Studies – offered via the BSV consortium
Music – offered via the BSV consortium
Music Technology – offered via the BSV consortium
PE – offered via the BSV consortium
Philosophy and Ethics
Physics
Psychology
Sociology
Spanish – offered via the BSV consortium
BTECs
Business
Applied ICT– offered via the BSV consortium
Creative Digital Media
Sport
Financial Studies LIBF – Level 3 Diploma
Some questions to consider when choosing courses
Enjoyment – Look at your level of interest in each subject: will it carry you through the length of the course?
Breadth – Are you choosing a mix of subjects that is so specialised that it leads in only one direction? If you are not yet certain of your career direction, it would be sensible to keep as many options open as possible.
Ability – Do you have the ability in the subject? Think how you have performed over the last two years, think about your predicted grades and ask the advice of your subject teachers: do they believe you can manage the more advanced work?
Further study – If you are going on to Higher Education, check the subject requirements, e.g. Medicine requires Chemistry and Engineering requires Maths.
Career – If you know your career direction, check out what you will need; but keep in mind that you may change your mind later, or find that you have been over or under ambitious for your level of ability.
Entry requirements – Will you meet the entry requirements for the courses that you are considering? The recommended progression for a Level 2 BTEC course is on to Level 3 BTEC Nationals.
University Destinations of BSV Consortium students – Over the last three years students, from our three schools have successfully applied for every one of the universities included in the Russell Group of Universities and others that are also recognised as being the top universities in the UK.
