Options & Year 11 Pathways
At PACA all students follow a broad curriculum in Years 7 and 8.
This includes English, maths, science, art, PA, music, geography, history, languages, STEM, computing, PSHE and PE.
In Year 9 students, along with parents/carers and the academy are able to choose their GCSE options. All students must choose a humanities option.
We ensure that students and parents/carers are actively engaged in the process in order to match their ambitions with the recommendations of the academy.
Choosing your Options for Year 10 is very important as it sets you on a path to Sixth Form and beyond.
You can download our Options Booklet here. We encourage all parents and students to come along to our Year 9 Options Evening to speak to subject teachers and students currently studying the subjects you may be thinking of choosing.
Below is a message from Mrs Edge about choosing your Options:
Dear Parents and Carers,
This is a reminder that we have our Parents and Options evening this evening.
Here is a message from Mrs Edge, Head of Y9 about Options:
https://www.loom.com/share/d2ab85f1e5db4b369332f6f9a9acc93f
We attach the Options booklet again for your information.
We look forward to seeing you this evening,
Y9 Team
In Year 11 you will need to decide what pathway you want to follow after your GCSEs.
The document below shows a list of post-16 open events for 2024 entry. More detailed information about each provider can be found on their individual websites or here: What Next Sussex - Get Career Confident
post 16 colleges open evenings 2024.pdf
Most students at PACA decide to carry on with their studies on to sixth form. There are a number of sixth form colleges in Brighton and Hove, some attached to schools and some standalone, offering a range of different types of courses. We recommend that you go to the Open Evenings in the autumn term, have a look round the facilities, meet the teachers and decide with your Parents/Carers and the Academy which route is best going to meet your future ambitions. Our sister school, Brighton Aldridge Community Academy, continues to expand its sixth form offer, including the Aldridge Cricket and Football Academies, as well as the Construction Academy (link: https://www.baca-uk.org.uk/Construction-Academy/) and the digital media courses that many PACA students have joined in recent years.Some students decide they want to move into an apprenticeship or some other form of vocational training where you are partly in employment and partly still in education or training. The careers guidance team at the Academy will be able to help you apply for the right placement for you.
A few of our students are interested in setting up their own business or working as freelancers. We have business pods and some on-site support to help students get started, as well as a network of alumni and other contacts to help find an appropriate mentor.
