Options booklets (Curriculum Documents - part 6)
5 observations from successful departments
Hello Curriculum Thinkers,
Last week, the excellent Louise Ferrier rummaged around in the Subject Success Research Team’s findings to look at the subject specific resources and documents successful departments are publishing to support their students’ progress and foster independent learning.
This week she takes a deep dive into a document that will help you sell and grow your subject - the options booklet.
Missed parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5?
Read:
Written curriculum plans - 8 observations about examples from successful departments.
Visual maps and journeys - 8 observations from successful departments
Before Louise takes it away, an invitation for you…
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Options booklets: 5 observations from successful departments.
by Louise Ferrier.
Options booklets are like a department’s shop window. Behind the glass, each department has its display, carefully arranged to catch the eyes of browsing students and their parents. These booklets serve a crucial purpose—they introduce, promote, and ultimately help 'sell' GCSE subjects. Just like any window display, the most effective ones don’t merely inform; they inspire, invite curiosity, and leave a lasting impression. They increase uptake and boost your ability to make an impact through teaching your subject.
This week we’ll explore how successful departments turn their sections of these booklets into persuasive showcases. We’ll look at how their layout, language, and detail transform what could be simple list specification elements into a vibrant invitation to explore new passions.
Each of the departments explored were part of the research carried out by the Subject Success Research Team which produced rich and detailed directories for you to explore for yourself. You can find out more here.
Like the process of crafting a travel brochure, no one will want to visit a destination if they’re just given the facts: temperature averages, flight times, and population figures. Instead, people are drawn to descriptions of sandy beaches, bustling city markets, and rich cultural experiences.
Similarly, the most successful options booklets go beyond the basics of course content. They paint a picture of what it’s like to ‘be’ in that subject, to journey through it, and to emerge on the other side with new skills and knowledge.
Read on to explore the documents’:
Structure and layout
Language and audience
Level of Detail
CEIAG angles
Visual Elements
Where a specific school’s documents are featured in this section I have added the departments that were included in the research in brackets.
1. Structure and Layout
Imagine walking into a store where everything is cluttered and confusing. You’d likely walk right out. Clear, inviting layouts guide your eye, making it easy to find what you’re looking for while also tempting you with something you hadn’t considered.
The variety of structures found within the options documents is vast and varies from the rigidly corporate where every sub-heading is standardised across all subjects to structures that are governed by the subjects themselves and are creative opportunities
When it comes to the overarching document there are familiar elements and most include variations on the following:
Overviews for parents
Explanation of grading systems
Advice for students
CEIAG signposting
Subject specific detail
Process details
Less uniformly, some examples include quotations from older students offering their advice from their own experience. Parkside Community School (Art) provides all of the subjects assessment summaries including number and length of the papers on one page as an at-a-glance comparison of what will be expected of students:
Then finally, there is also the ordering of the subjects themselves. Whilst there were examples of simply listing subjects in alphabetical order, more common was to separate out core subjects first and then move into the option block subjects separately. Additionally there were also examples of the Ebacc governing the ordering of subjects such as at Campion School (Business, PE):
2. Language and audience
Whilst the obvious purpose of options documents is to inform, there was plenty of evidence of departments also aiming to inspire.
Many of the documents used a question and answer format. Whether the language referred to ‘options’, ‘guided choices’ or ‘pathways’ an explanation of the weight of these choices was always given clarity while the language and tone varied greatly.
There is a risk with such a lot of information that these documents can end up looking like a brick wall of inaccessible text (how often have we in education been accused of not checking the reading ages of our own publications?!) Take a look at this example of professional clarity from the London Academy’s (English, Maths, PE) documentation which takes a standardised approach to each subject entry:
There was a straightforward approach to levelling the common errors many students make when choosing subjects for the wrong reasons. Many documents present them as ‘Do’ and ‘Don’t’ such as this example from Harris Academy Rainham (Business):
Dormer Wells High School (English, Maths, Science, History) aimed its options guide only at students using a personal supportive second person:
Interestingly, Dormer Wells High School also included a subject challenge for each subject to actively encourage students to get a feel for what the subject entails. For example, their History Team encouraged students to research famous graduates of the subject. Take a look at this example from the their English team:
3. Level of Detail
While some of the successful departments were satisfied with simply listing exam boards and key topics, others delved deeper. Examples of assessment details of the length of exams as well as in the example below from Dorothy Stringer School (Social Science-Psychology), comments from students already taking the course:
One interesting method used by Trinity Academy Halifax (DT) was to make subject promotional videos available to students via ‘Trinity TV’:
Heron Hall Academy (Computer Science and IT) provides a video narrative of a student, Joe and his mum navigating the options process to support families:
4. CEIAG angles
Most of the documents had at least a page relating to the general CEIAG support available but at a subject level there was regular evidence of departments connecting their subject to real-world applications, career prospects, and even personal growth, making the subject feel like a meaningful step toward something greater. They talk about how the skills students will develop in their subject will shape their future, not just for the next two years but for life beyond school.
Documents often publicised support for students on platforms such as:
Some of the above can be seen in this example from Enfield County School for Girls (English, Languages):
One particularly engaging example from Central Foundation Girls’ School (English) shared the university destinations of students over the last few years as a method of inspiration:
5. Visual Elements
While there were plenty of graphics, icons, and prospectus-ready action shots of staff and students, images of student work as evidence of the courses’ outcomes were particularly interesting as a means of attracting students. Take a look at how Wath Academy (Art) features student work in this example for the Art GCSE course:
The example below from Arden (Business, Design Technology) is representative of the whole document, not just the DT department, which contains beautifully choreographed images designed to bring a professionalism yet accessibility to each subject overview.
While Loxford School’s (English, Maths, Business) use of graphics had a different and more modern take on the ubiquitous signpost graphic we’re all so familiar with!
Remember to explore the directories created by the Subject Success Research Team for yourself and uncover some inspiration.
Find this useful?
Well whatever you do, don’t tell anyone about it. And definitely don’t press this button 👇😜
🔎 Compare options booklets in your subject across hundreds of departments
To help you learn how these departments do what they do, our team have been busy gathering everything they can including:
performance data
intent statements
exams boards
time allocation
Year 7-11 sequencing
subject specific curriculum features
planning and delivery resources
team structure
extracurricular activities and…
…more.
Here’s an example of the subject specific directories they’ve been building👇
Subject Success Directories are produced exclusively for members of our paid Curriculum Thinkers Community.
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🔎 What aspects of curriculum practice are we unpacking through our subject success research?
To help you get as much as possible out of our Subject Success Research, over the coming weeks we’ll bring you different slices of what we’ve found:
Subject-specific curriculum models used by successful departments
Making links between subjects: cross curricular observations
Curriculum documents (part 1) written curriculum plans: examples from successful departments.
Curriculum Documents Part 3: Subject-specific maps and journeys
Curriculum Documents Part 5: Subject Specific Student resources
Curriculum Documents Part 6: Options Booklets
Curriculum Documents Part 6: Options booklets - subject specific examples
Sequencing decisions by subject, year group and key stage
Resources like options booklets, curriculum maps, knowledge organisers, revision materials and…
…more
If you don’t want to miss out on all these…
Take it further
This work builds on previous We Are In Beta research to support community members to know and understand more about the brilliant practice happening in schools up and down the country. Including…
Top-performing state secondary schools with high Progress 8 for disadvantaged students 2023 (as well as 2022 here and 2019 here)
Schools that secured strong grades for students with lower prior attainment in 2019
Which subjects are most likely to be deep dived by Ofsted? & Every subject deep dive from 1200 Ofsted inspections under the new EIF
National KS4 Subject Database 2023 - all entries, in all subjects, in EVERY school
Sent with ❤️ from CurriculumThinkers Team at We Are In Beta