Those joining in the Third Year study a core of subjects which comprise English, Maths, Science (taught separately as Biology, Chemistry, Physics), Humanities (History, Geography, Philosophy & Theology), Art, Product Design & Engineering, Computing and either French or German. In addition to this core, students choose two options from Latin, Ancient History, Ancient Greek, Drama, Music, French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin. PE, Sport, Career Guidance and PSHCE programmes run alongside these subjects. In the Fourth Year, students choose their GCSE options, usually in ten subjects, and follow the GCSE syllabus for two years, taking their public exams at the end of the Fifth Year. Part of each student’s development in the Middle School is to establish good habits, learning to work more independently and to improve organisational skills. However, we do not expect this to happen overnight and there is plenty of help along the way! Class sizes are capped at 24 students, except for the top set in maths, but numbers are often much smaller than this. We do have setting in some subjects but it is not widespread across the curriculum. Homework is an important part of the learning process at Abingdon and we have guidelines as to what we expect students to undertake. We keep the work expected outside of class to a manageable level. In the Third Year, students might expect to start with around 15 hours per fortnight, moving up to approximately 20 hours per fortnight in the Fifth Year. When a student joins Abingdon School in the Third Year (Year 9), they will be issued with a school-owned iPad Air with a keyboard case, Apple Pencil (engraved with their name) and a charger. This will be used to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom and will be on loan to them for the duration of their time at school. Teaching
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