Year 8 into 9 Preferences 2026

Welcome to Year 8 Preferences 2026

At The Hamble School, we are determined to offer each and every student a curriculum that suits their individual needs, while complying with national recommendations and guidelines. We are proud to offer a range of courses covering many subject areas.

In Autumn 2025, the government announced its intention to consult on new attainment and progress accountability measures for students currently in Year 8. We have designed our preference process (outlined below) to reflect the proposed model, whilst retaining as much student choice as possible.

In summary:

All students continue with their studies in English, Maths, Science, Core PE and PSHCRE.

All students will study either History or Geography (they may study both if they wish).

In addition, all students must choose one subject from:

• Either Creative Arts: Art, Music, Drama, Dance, Design Technology
• Or Languages: Spanish or French (whichever they currently study)

All students will then study a further four subjects, listed below.

At the end of Year 9, students will then choose 4 of these subjects to carry on at GCSE/BTEC level in Year 10 and 11. This must include either History or Geography and at least one subject from either the Creative Arts or Languages subjects outlined above.

At the end of Year 9, if students choose to continue to study Design Technology/Engineering, they will be able to select to specialise in Design Technology GCSE or Engineering GCSE (or both) in Year 10 and 11. Likewise, if students studied Art/Photography in Year 9 and choose to continue they may choose either Art, Photography, or both.

For some subjects, in Year 10 and 11 they will study either a GCSE or vocational qualification. Heads of Department will decide on the most appropriate qualification route in consultation with your son/daughter. These subjects include; Computer Science, Music and PE.

In terms of allocation of periods, students will follow the following model:

An email will be sent home on the 27 March which will include a Microsoft Form for your child to indicate their subject preferences.

Key Dates

Over the coming weeks your child and yourselves will have the opportunity to access the following in order to support decisions about preference choices:

It is important at this stage in their education, that students choose a broad and balanced curriculum which will keep many doors open for their future lives, careers and further education pathways.

When making their choices, we would encourage students to consider the following questions:

• What am I good at already?
• What do I want to be?
• Who do I want to be?
• What will motivate and excite me for three years?
• What will help me take the next steps in my life?

We always try our best to give students their first choices but if more pupils opt for a course than there are places available, if not enough pupils opt for a course and therefore we cannot afford to run it or if in our opinion, students have made an inappropriate or unwise choice then we will be unable to give them these choices. In this case, reserve choices will be used. If reserve choices are not available for any reason, students will be spoken to on an individual basis and support to make alternative choices will be provided.

Subjects to choose from

Take a look at the following videos to find out more about the subjects your child is interested in:​

MATHEMATICS
(Compulsory Subject)
Subject Overview

MODERN FOREIGN
LANGUAGES (MFL)
Subject Overview

GEOGRAPHY
Subject Overview

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING
Subject Overview

MEDIA STUDIES
Subject Overview

DANCE
Subject Overview

FOOD PREPARATION & NUTRITION
Subject Overview

ICT & COMPUTER SCIENCE
Subject Overview

How to make your choice