GCSE ONE YEAR PROGRAMMEat Suffolk New College

We would hope that you already have one or two GCSEs at grade C or above, and that you’ll be looking to boost your other grades in order to progress on to a further education course. You may also want to take one or two new GCSE subjects.

What will I need to apply? On this one year course you will study English and Maths and choose additional subjects from Humanities, Science, History, Film Studies and Psychology. You’ll need at least 4 GCSEs at grade D or above, you will also be interviewed for the course and assessed for English and Maths. If you do not have a grade D in Maths, you’ll study Functional Skills at an appropriate level.

If you are going to succeed, you’ll need to be well organised and hard working, and be prepared to do all the homework and private study set by your tutors. We’ll support you all the way with weekly tutorials to help you achieve your goals.

After your course... At the end of your course you will be guaranteed a place on an appropriate A Level or other Level 3 course at Suffolk New College; providing you meet the entry requirements for that course. You could also consider progressing on to an Apprenticeship which the college can help you with.

Our one-year, full-time GCSE programme will help you bridge the gap between GCSEs and A Levels, or other Level 3 courses.

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GCSE EnglishCourse Length: One yearCourse Level: 2Course Code: TUF92F0

What you need to join the course:Standard full-time GCSE programme requirements.

Course content:The English GCSE (sometimes called GCSE English Language) combines many aspects of English in a single qualification. Students will study Shakespeare, a selection of poetry and a novel while constructing argumentative essays, pieces of fiction, reviews and biographies. They will also learn to analyse media texts and a range of non-fiction extracts. Written and oral controlled assessment will be from a variety of contexts and there are two exams – one in January and one in May.

GCSE Film StudiesCourse Length: One yearCourse Level: 2Course Code: TUF92F0

What you need to join the course:Standard full-time GCSE programme requirements.

Course content:This new GCSE specification is designed to take students’ everyday experience of film and to extend it into learning about the language and techniques that filmmakers use. It begins by looking at films the students will already be familiar with – Hollywood films – through study of a genre set by the examination board and then encourages students to perhaps watch films from outside Hollywood for the first time through the study of one set non-Hollywood film.

The course will be delivered through a mixture of traditional classroom teaching, combined with the hands-on study of a range of films which will be viewed in the class.

The course also allows students to undertake some basic production skills within the course assessment. This can include pitches, adverts, storyboards, posters, press packs or magazine articles.

GCSE ONE YEAR PROGRAMME

I needed to do my GCSEs because I didn’t get to do them in high school due to illness. I have really enjoyed my time at the college and I have made so many good lifetime friends. The teachers treated me like an adult, I felt like I fitted in, like I belonged. I would recommend the college and course to anyone, it has given me a lot of confidence and help to know were I am going next.

The learning environment is great. It doesn’t matter if there aren’t any library computers free, you can always ask the teacher if you can use a computer in the class rooms. They are always trying to give you as much help as they can and they are very supportive if they know you are taking the course seriously.

I am going on to do Health & Social Care (Sciences). This will help me get into university and become a midwife. I love Suffolk New College; it has completely changed my life for the better after being ill for so long. I will be deeply sad when I have to leave it permanently, I will miss all my fantastic teachers, they have helped me so much. But most of all I will miss the experience of being there because really there is nothing like having the college experience of a lifetime.

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GCSE ONE YEAR PROGRAMME

GCSE HistoryCourse Length: One yearCourse Level: 2Course Code: TUF92FO

What you need to join the course:Standard full-time GCSE programme requirements.

Course Content:GCSE History is a modular course. Students will study ‘Media Through Time’ which will enable them to gain an overview of the main changes and trends in the media, with a focus on Britain from early times to the present, Elizabethan England which concentrates on various aspects of the government, life and culture of the England of Elizabeth I and they will carry out an historical enquiry related to the Tower of London. There will be a compulsory trip to the Tower of London as part of this course.

Media Through Time and Elizabethan England will be assessed by means of an exam while the historical enquiry will be assessed by the new controlled assessment.

GCSE HumanitiesCourse Length: One yearCourse Level: 2Course Code: TUF92F0

What you need to join the course:Standard full-time GCSE programme requirements.

Course content:The Humanities course involves an exploration of some of the issues that challenge society and extends understanding of the wider world – locally, nationally and globally.

The core topics covered are culture and beliefs, conflict and co-operation, and environmental issues. As well as studying these, students will study two further topics.

The course blends together elements of other subjects such as citizenship, geography, history, religious studies and sociology.

GCSE MathematicsCourse Length: One yearCourse Level: 2Course Code: TUF92F0

What you need to join the course:Standard full-time GCSE programme requirements and GCSE Maths grade D.

Course content:This course aims to enable students to build on their previous experience of studying maths and to help them to develop their understanding and their confidence. The Maths GCSE that we offer is a modular course, which many students like as they can study topics, take the exam and move on to new topics. Modules are taken throughout the year sitting in March and June and build up gradually to reflect students’ growing skills and confidence.

Those students who do not have a grade D at GCSE Maths will follow a Functional Skills course at an appropriate level. It is an excellent preparation for a GCSE Maths course the following year, and some courses/professions accept it instead of GCSE Maths grade C.

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GCSE ONE YEAR PROGRAMME

GCSE PsychologyCourse Length: One yearCourse Level: 2Course Code: TUF92F0

What you need to join the course:Standard full-time GCSE programme requirements. GCSE Maths grade D preferred.

Course content:Psychology is the study of the mind and human behaviour. Questions that will be considered within GCSE Psychology are: “How do visual illusions work?” “How do we learn?” “Are first impressions important?” “Why are some people prejudiced?” “Why do we obey authority figures?” “Why do children form different types of attachments with different people?” “How does a child develop different skills?” “What are morals and how we acquire them?” “Why do people help others?” “What causes aggression?” and “How do we carry out psychological research?” All these questions and more will be addressed throughout the course. GCSE Science

(Single Award)Course Length: One yearCourse Level: 2Course Code: TUF92F0

What you need to join the course:Standard full-time GCSE programme requirements and GCSE grade D in a Science subject.

Course content:This is a new and exciting science course with emphasis on the application of science. The course consists of 3 teaching

units made up of the traditional subjects of biology, physics and chemistry. These are however taught from an applied science perspective. For example in biology a section looks at how to keep our bodies healthy, in chemistry a section looks at how plant oils may be used and in physics a section looks at changes in the universe. Your performance on this course is based on completion of a series of multiple-choice papers and an internally assessed research project.

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