As QES is a Cumbrian school, all parents wishing to apply for Free School Meals, regardless of what county you live in, should make the application through Westmorland & Furness Council.
Your child will get free school meals if you receive any of the following:
If your child is eligible for and has been registered to receive free school meals between 1 April 2018 and the end of the rollout of Universal Credits (currently expected to be March 2024), they will remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they are in at the end of Universal Credits rollout. This is regardless of any change to your circumstances.
Please click the button below for the application form.
Please use the links above for more details, such as key dates and full subject information.
The Early Options Indication Form is due by Wednesday 11th February 2026
The Confirmed Option Choices Form is due by Thursday 16th April 2026
If you have any questions at all please contact the Year 9 Pastoral Team.
It is very important that your parents and your subject teachers feel comfortable with your choices too. This leads us to some very important questions we are sure you and your parents will want to ask.
1) Identify possible links between subjects of study and access to future careers or Sixth Form/Further Education.
2) Remember, generally, you will do best at subjects which you enjoy and can easily do.
3) Be prepared to face the challenges of GCSE – you might surprise yourself.
4) Understand the nature of the new subjects on offer.
5) Choose the curriculum route that best suits you.
1) What your friends are doing.
2) A liking for a particular teacher’s way of working with you – you may be taught by someone else next year!
3) Looking for an easy two years and choosing courses which seem to put fewer demands on you.
4) Choice based upon hearsay, out-of-date careers information.
Possibly not. We will do all that we can to make things happen but some groups may be overcrowded or under-subscribed. We will support you through the process if you need to rethink your options.
We will always try to be flexible. If a course is unsuitable, change may be possible if spaces exist in other groups. However, changing courses becomes increasingly difficult within half a term of starting Year 10. Also we would hope that the time we are spending now should mean that the need to change should not arise.
We will post videos as well as basic presentations here to help students and parents explore our options process.
The Options Information Evening was held on Wednesday 7 January 2026. Please see below for the presentation from the evening and for the options information booklet given out.
Students in Year 9 have the chance to
pick the best of two worlds because we
now have two schools that share the
same site and the same Values – but offer
different styles of learning.
Please use the link below for updated
details on the QEStudio website.
Below are provisional details of the courses we hope to offer for September 2026. Please note that this information may be subject to change.
It is a very long list and we suggest you take your time looking through each document carefully for information in the course content and requirements.
When pupils start Year 10 they move from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4 of the National Curriculum. Young people are now required to stay in education or training until they are 18. It’s important to make sure that their curriculum prepares them to keep learning until then.
The purpose of the National Curriculum is to make sure that all pupils study a broad, balanced range of subjects and that all pupils have a variety of experiences and develop a wide range of skills.
There are still some subjects at Key Stage 4 that pupils must continue to study, because these are subjects that everyone needs to prepare them for future study and the adult world. We call these subjects the Core Curriculum. They are English, Maths and Science, which all lead to GCSE, together with Personal Development and Games.
To make sure that pupils have the right range of subjects to allow them to achieve the English Baccalaureate and to provide breadth and balance we also strongly recommend they take a humanity (Geography or History) and at least one Language. There are still free choices available to them beyond the Baccalaureate subjects thanks to our 4 option blocks.
We know that the Baccalaureate is not the right route for a small number of pupils though and as ever will work hard to ensure that the diet of courses is appropriate for everyone.
There are two key deadlines for both routes:
The Early Options Indication Form is due by Wednesday 11th February 2026. This is not the final options form, however it is an expression of interest in subjects and pathways. The Early Options Indication Form can be filled in from Friday 30th January 2026.
The Confirmed Options Choices Form is due by Thursday 16th April 2026.
Please click on the link below to complete the Early Indication Form. The form needs to be completed and submitted by Wednesday 11 February.
The link to the Year 9 Final Option Choices form will be sent to parents of Year 9 students ahead of it opening at 3.30pm on Monday 16 March 2026. The deadline for submission is Thursday 16 April 2026.
If you have any questions or queries, please speak to Mrs McGuinness or Mrs Pimblett.
Please check your email for the link to complete your final choices form. The form needs to be completed and submitted by Friday 24 March 2023.
Open Evening for Year 7 Entry for September 2027
We will be holding an Open Evening for Year 7 Entry for September 2027 on Tuesday 22 September 5pm – 8pm.
Please complete the form here to register
