The ultimate aim of a head of sixth form is to find the perfect balance between strong intake numbers and positive progress. Unfortunately, one of these things usually comes at the expense of the other. So, how do you get the balance you need?

Much of it comes down to how your curriculum is designed. At post-16 level, you have the luxury of far more freedom in this area than you do at key stages 3 and 4.

However, this freedom can sometimes feel overwhelming, particularly when you consider that recruitment, progress, attainment, student experience and employability all depend on your making the right curriculum decisions.

Building an effective sixth-form curriculum

What, then, do you need to consider to build an effective post-16 curriculum?

1. Breadth of offer

The more subjects you can offer, the greater the chance that students will be able to select programmes of study that appeal to them and align with their individual strengths. This, in turn, will maximise retention and progress.

When thinking about the breadth of your offer, you should take into account not just the range of subjects - you need “core” academic options as well as creative subjects and subjects not traditionally studied at GCSE, such as photography or law - but also the need to offer more than one type of qualification. If you can offer vocational qualifications alongside A levels, you instantly increase the accessibility and inclusivity of your sixth form.

To work out which subjects to offer, make use of student voice activities, not only with Year 11 cohorts in feeder schools but also with lower year groups. This will help you to align your offer with aspirations and keep you up to date on changing trends in preference.

Contextual factors will affect your offering, too, particularly if you offer T levels, which have a significant work-placement component. The local job market, industries in the local area and any existing links with employers will all be important here.

2. Set appropriate entry criteria

Getting the right students on to the right courses is arguably the most important function of the sixth-form enrolment process. You need to ensure you get enough students on to each course to make them viable while also ensuring that courses are not so oversubscribed that teaching suffers.

Setting, and sticking to, entry criteria is absolutely critical: too high, and courses become elitist, numbers may suffer and it may be difficult to achieve strong progress owing to already high starting points; too low, and students may struggle to access subject content.

While it will be tempting to bend entry criteria when a student has their heart set on a particular course, allowing them on to that course when they are unlikely to be successful is of no benefit to anyone.

3. Financial considerations

When thinking about funding, there are a few key points to consider.

First, class sizes. Some sixth forms work on the basis that a subject needs a certain number of students to be viable - ie, to cover the costs of running those lessons.

However, subjects that are traditionally very popular and have large classes may offset and make up any shortfall from subjects with fewer students, allowing for a broader and more varied curriculum to be offered.

Sometimes, you can also make courses financially viable through creative timetabling. For example, you may choose to run concurrent Year 12 and 13 classes for practical-based subjects, such as art or textiles.

Another thing to consider is the amount of contact time. Students need a minimum of 540 guided learning hours per academic year to be eligible for band 5 funding but not all of these need to come from lessons taught by a subject specialist. Supervised independent study and other activities also count.

Once again, “balance” is the key word here. While more contact time with teachers is likely to improve progress, this comes at a greater financial cost.

Finally, don’t forget to keep shifting government priorities and Education and Skills Funding Agency regulations in mind. Key things to be aware of at the moment are the current focus on T levels and the defunding of other vocational courses, such as Btecs.

4. Supercurricular and enrichment activities

A comprehensive and purposeful post-16 curriculum should be so much more than just a programme of three or four qualifications. It should also facilitate holistic development, providing students with chances to develop a variety of skills that will support them in their applications for jobs and higher education.

An effective enrichment programme might include opportunities for students to develop academic credentials through the delivery of the extended project qualification; to study core maths to support their progress in subjects such as geography, economics, psychology and business studies; and to develop “soft” skills through taking part in programmes such as Young Enterprise and Sports Leaders.

Students should also be actively encouraged to take part in supercurricular activities (those that build on subject learning) in their study periods. This has now become so much more than just doing a bit of wider reading. It should encompass listening to podcasts and watching relevant documentaries, as well as reading textbooks, academic publications, non-fiction and fiction.

5. Blocking and pathways

When considering how subjects will be blocked and timetabled in relation to each other, ensure that students can study popular combinations of subjects (for example, science and maths), subjects that complement each other (for example, geography and economics) and subject combinations that build a variety of skill sets, such as academic subjects alongside more practical or creative subjects.

It’s important to make sure that lower-attaining students who only just meet entrance criteria have access to a suitable programme of study. In other words, don’t put all the subjects with lower entry criteria into one block. To plan ahead, use your knowledge of what typically happens on results days to block subjects in a way that offers maximum options for those students who may not meet entry criteria.

Getting timetabling right is no easy task. Options software can give you a good starting point to ensure as many students as possible get their first-choice combination of subjects but, inevitably, you will want to make tweaks and so human input will also always be crucial.

Kathryn Brindley-Edwards is a senior lead practitioner for post-16 for a national trust

This article originally appeared in the 24 September 2021 issue under the headline “A no-fuss post-16 curriculum recipe”