A-Level

Major changes to A Levels are to commence in the academic year beginning September 2015. All subject specifications will be changing, as will the way that exams are available during the two-year A Level period. There are also significant changes in the way that AS examinations are offered.

What makes these changes even more difficult and confusing is that not every subject is changing at the same time.

The subjects offered by Taunton School that are changing in September 2015 are:

Art
English Literature
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Computing
History
Psychology
Business Studies
Economics

The subjects offered by Taunton School that are due to change in September 2016 are:

Design & Technology
Drama
Geography
Modern Foreign Languages (French/Spanish/German)
Physical Education
Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
Ancient Languages (Latin & Classical Greek)
Music

Maths and Further Maths were due to change in September 2016, but have recently been moved back to 2017. From September 2017 there will be the first teaching of new A Levels and stand alone AS Levels in a range of further subjects. There is no detail at present regarding which subjects will change at this time.

What does this mean?

The most important decision is which subjects to study. It is our opinion that the pupils should not consider whether the subject is changing in September 2015 or not but should simply select the subject(s) they wish to study.

Taunton School will continue to offer four subjects in the Sixth Form. For those who wish to take Critical Thinking as a fifth A Level that option will also remain.
With regard to the subjects that are changing in September 2015 they should be aware of how each particular subject is examined. I hope that the information over the page will help explain this and other changes.

%u3000	Exam Board Chosen	AS Examination Available
Fine Art	Edexcel	No
Photography	Edexcel	No
English Literature	WJEC	No
Biology	OCR	Yes
Physics	AQA	Yes
Chemistry	OCR	Yes
History	OCR	Yes
Psychology	AQA	Yes
Business Studies	AQA	Yes
Economics	AQA	Yes
Computing	OCR	Yes

Please note that any AS examinations taken in the above subjects are stand alone qualifications and do not count towards the final A Level grade.

AS examinations taken in other subjects will continue to count towards the overall A Level final grade.

From September 2015 the following subjects will be offered. Students chose no more than one subject from each block. The majority of students will chose three or four subjects although some may chose Critical Thinking as a fifth subject.

Blocks	%u3000
A	Biology; BTEC Triple Award; Business Studies; Classical Civilisation; IELTS; ICT; Physics; Psychology; Spanish
B	Biology; BTEC Triple Award; Business Studies; Chemistry; Critical Thinking; Design & Technology; Economics; English; History (Early); IELTS; Maths; Music; Photography; RS (Philosophy & Ethics)
C	Biology; BTEC Triple Award; English; Further Maths; Geography; History (Late); Maths; PE; Physics
D	Art (Fine); Business Studies; Chemistry; Economics; English; Geography; Geology; History (Late); Leisure Studies; Physics
E	BTEC Triple Award; Chemistry; Critical Thinking; Design & Technology; French; Further Maths; Psychology; Theatre Studies

Fees