Life at Hutchesons’

From the Rector Request a Prospectus Academic
Success Getting to Hutchesons’

Secondary

At S1, a traditional entry point for new pupils to Hutchesons', your child enters the secondary school and a completely new learning experience. It is a unique time, when the freshness and uninhibited enthusiasm of their childhood is channelled and strengthened, and many new subjects are introduced and explored.

In S1 and S2, all pupils take compulsory courses in mathematics and English, physics, chemistry, biology, Latin, two modern languages chosen from French, German and Spanish, technology, RE, geography, history and modern studies, art, drama, ICT, music, PE and games. The three sciences are taught as separate specialisms.

Such a wide range of subjects at this stage is increasingly rare, but we believe Hutchesons' pupils are more than able to cope, and that such breadth of exposure is an important cornerstone of their future
development.

Year tutors guide pupils in S3 and S4 by adapting their curriculum to better reflect their strengths and interests, narrowing to seven core subjects, although many opt to take a ‘twilight' course in one more subject, taught after school. In some subjects pupils are entered for
exams at Standard Grade or Intermediate 2 in S4, and in others pupils bypass them and move straight on to the Higher curriculum.

Staff guidance continues through S5 and S6 when all pupils sit Highers, their most important exams, followed by a combination of Advanced Highers and A levels. Most S5 pupils sit five Highers, and many sit six, another unique feature at Hutchesons'. At this stage 23 subjects are possible and the size of the year group, typically more than 200, means that most combinations of subjects are possible. Hutchesons' is proud to very often have the highest number of exam entries at Higher of any school in Scotland, and our results are all the more outstanding for that fact.

S6 at Hutchesons' also offers a uniquely broad and stimulating environment in which to spend the final year of school. Serious academic responsibility and opportunities for leadership combine to create a challenging and rewarding experience. Our S6 pupils have by now established sound independent academic self-discipline and a balanced perspective on broader aspects of learning. We offer more than 60 different courses, enabling pupils to plan their own academic programme and to make progress in a way unimaginable a generation ago.

Subjects such as psychology, philosophy, accounting and finance, media studies, further mathematics, politics and general studies appear along with a bewildering variety of short external and in-house courses. A weekly lecture series ‘Talking Points' and a sophisticated
and smooth-running Higher Education guidance programme to see all our pupils through to the university of their choice completes the picture.