16-19 Study Programme

Harris Academy Ockendon's Sixth Form is proud to be fully compliant with the Department for Education's 16-19 Study Programme Guidance, offering a broad, balanced, and ambitious curriculum for all its students.

Qualification hours

Every HAOC student in the sixth form studies a minimum of 3 qualifications, which are either 3 full A-levels or a combination of 2 A-levels combined with one Applied General qualification equivalent to 1 A-level.  Each student is assigned a core learning aim, which is centred around their full-time study programme.

These are delivered over 5 periods per week of 56 minutes, which equates to a total of 5 hours and 25 minutes per week of face-to-face teaching.

Non-qualification hours

Every HAOC sixth form student has additional non-qualification activities included in their study programme. These include:

• Enrichment for one period or 65 minutes per week
• Academic reading and Citizenship & Religious Education for two mornings or 60 minutes per week
• Work experience, both virtual and physical. Virtual work experience takes place over one full school day and physical work experience takes place over one full school week

Impact of Covid-19

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to lost learning time for all students. Many of the students in the HAOC sixth form experienced this impact before joining the sixth form but this loss in learning time continues to have an impact. In response, all HAOC sixth form students are timetabled to three private study periods per week, equating to 3 hours and 15 minutes. In addition, the school receives funds as part of the Department for Education’s 16-19 catch up fund, which is used to pay for staff over-time to run intervention sessions as well as external tutoring in exceptional cases where students require more bespoke, additional support.

This uplift in the number of hours in each student’s study programme is designed to ensure they are able to be successful not only in their academic qualifications but develop the cultural capital and life skills they need to be successful and thrive either in higher education or the world of work.