In most schools in Australia, students choose elective subjects. It is important to think carefully when making decisions about your school subjects. There are several factors to consider such as success, enjoyment, balance, career goals and self-awareness.
There are four main considerations when choosing elective school subjects.
Choosing subjects from a variety of learning areas is important because the school years are a time for learning, exploring and preparing for the future. By exploring a broad range of subject areas, you will be in a better position to make informed choices in preparation for your future.
Often the school subjects that students choose can influence the range of further education and training courses available immediately after leaving school. In turn, the further education and training courses that students complete influence their initial career options. Therefore, when choosing school subjects it is important to look ahead and think about the general career direction you may wish to follow.
The importance of choosing subjects with career goals in mind varies, depending on whether you are in the middle school years, the early years of secondary school or the senior years of secondary school.
Schools do not usually allow students in the middle years or early secondary school years to drop subjects that are frequently prerequisites (i.e., essential) or assumed knowledge to get into specific further education courses at university or TAFE. It is usually mandatory for all students in the middle and early secondary school years to study English, Science and Maths. These subjects are required for entry into many further education courses as well as for entry into apprenticeships. How well you perform in a subject can also influence the courses you may be eligible for immediately after finishing school. For example, a student who achieves a poor result in Year 10 Maths may struggle to pass the correct Maths subjects to get into a university course in Engineering.
For students who are interested in a career in visual or performing arts or design, or students who would like to gain an apprenticeship, there are some school subjects that may be beneficial.
For students who have an interest in studying visual or performing arts courses or design courses at TAFE or univeristy, studying related subjects throughout the middle and secondary school years may help build the skills to be considered for entry into creative courses at TAFE, university or private colleges. Entry into visual or performing arts and design courses is usually based on a combination of school results an one or more of:
To improve the chances of gaining an apprenticeship, it is important that students show commitment to the apprenticeship area of interest. One way to do this is to study school subjects related to the apprenticeship area that you wish to pursue.
For example:
Students going into the final years of secondary school can regard subject choice from several different perspectives:
When choosing school subjects, students you should keep in mind the requirements for the senior secondary school certificate in your state or territory. At the same time, you need to study and pass prerequisite subjects or assumed knowledge subjects and achieve the best ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) or OP you can to give you the best chance of getting into your preferred university course and meet any special requirements. You can find out prerequisite subjects, assumed knowledge subjects, indicative ATAR or OP scores and special requirements from sources such as course information on university websites, or tertiary admissions guides for each state or territory.