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Pathways corner

English Pathway

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Do you dream of studying English at university?

Our unique English Pathway is specially designed to help you achieve that goal and secure your place on an English-related degree such as English, English Language & English Literature, English Literature & History, English Literature & Philosophy, Classics & English and many more.

Each pathway provides bespoke, tailored guidance, high-quality teaching and a structured framework for progression towards higher education destinations and higher apprenticeships. Our goal is to ensure students are prepared to an exceptional standard for their next steps into university, higher apprenticeships and their future careers. 

Each ED6 pathway is supported by an array of academic, extracurricular and work experience opportunities to develop both subject-specific expertise and valuable transferable skills.

It all starts with building your Pathway - use the guide on this page to start building yours!

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Build your unique pathway

If you’re thinking about studying English at university, you’ll start your pathway by taking BOTH OF THE FOLLOWING MANDATORY A LEVELS:
English Language
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English Literature
Then choose ONE A Level from the following options:
Film Studies
History
Media Studies
Psychology
You MAY also select this additional qualification to broaden your knowledge even further:
Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) - In Year 2 Only

Weekly Academic Support Tutorials

The English Pathway includes sessions each week with your pathway progression coach to support your academic progress and pastoral care during your time with ED6.

Subject Specialists

Students have access to expert teaching from subject specialists in a broad range of career-centric subjects, ensuring they meet the rigorous standards required for competitive university admissions. 

Our A Level provision emphasises the development of crucial skills such as critical thinking, independence, and interdisciplinary learning, empowering students to excel under the pressure of formal examinations and in the wider world beyond college.

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Career Options

The English Pathway is specifically tailored for students aspiring to careers in areas such as:

  • Author
  • Copywriting
  • Education
  • Fraud detection
  • Journalism
  • Law
  • Marketing
  • Publishing
  • Sociolinguistics/Research
  • Speech & Language Therapy
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STRIVE Programme

To support our Pathways model, our elite STRIVE programme provides you with access to industry experts and Higher Education partners. 

Throughout this programme, you can access support in writing your UCAS personal statement, CV, completing application forms and rehearsing job and university interview skills. 

It’s all about developing valuable life skills, including resilience, self-confidence, responsibility and leadership. It’s also a great opportunity to make new friendships with like-minded students.

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Application Support For Competitive Degree Programmes

For those students wishing to apply to competitive degrees, you’ll be given scheduled sessions with our sixth form leaders to guide and prepare you through the whole process, including interviews and help applying for Summer Schools.

For those wishing to pursue courses with admissions aptitude tests, bespoke sessions will be made available to prepare you and support your application.

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Skills Development

No matter which ED6 Pathway option you chose, our skills development programmes are designed to give you highly authentic, highly beneficial, industry recognised skills development opportunities. 

These will enhance both your UCAS application and future sandwich degree placement and employment opportunities.

Placements in Education

We will be offering mini placements at the onsite nursery, delivering reading sessions at local a primary school, and mentoring GCSE English students. This gives those who are interested in pursuing a career in education/speech and language therapy hands-on, practical experience working with children whilst maintaining a focus on aspects of the A Level English curriculum.

ED6 Newspaper

Students will have the exciting opportunity to gain insight into the fast-paced, team-driven world of journalism and publishing by becoming part of the ED6 newspaper, working in partnership with the Media & Journalism Pathway. 

If students desire a career in the field of journalism or publishing, it is essential to gain experience and build a portfolio. They will populate the written aspect of the paper and carry out the relevant research to do so.

Social Media Management

Students will gain experience in social media/content creation, gaining experience in copywriting and marketing to help ED6 update their social media platforms.

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Enrichment

Here at ED6, we believe in nurturing well-rounded individuals, and our ambition is to create extracurricular and super-curricular offers reflecting this commitment.

Extracurricular Activities

Supporting the development of softer transferable skills which make a student a more well-rounded individual:

  • EDC Sports Academies
  • Volunteering Opportunities
  • College Societies

Super-Curricular Activities

Subject and career-focused activities demonstrate dedication, genuine commitment and interest in your future field of study.

  • Guest Lectures
  • The Guardian Newspaper Trip
  • The Globe Theatre’s Twelfth Night Workshops
  • Poetry by Heart Competition
  • The University of Edinburgh’s Linguistic Olympiad
  • Book Club
  • Creative Writing Club
  • Trip to Seven Stories
  • Linguistics Debate Club
  • ED6 Newspaper
  • BBC’s Young Writers’ Award
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Links with Employers

Our goal is to build strong relationships with local, regional, and national employers to provide students with unparalleled opportunities to gain insights into the professional world.

We are aiming to schedule regular career talks, industry visits, and mentorship schemes which allow students to network with professionals and learn about the demands of their chosen field. We are hoping that these links will yield valuable opportunities for internships and external work placements which will bridge the gap between academic study and practical application.

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Links with University

An additional goal of the ED6 Pathway Programme is to generate and maintain robust connections with leading universities across the UK; but primarily in the North-East of England. 

The intent is for students to benefit from tailored guidance on UCAS applications, personal statement workshops and mock interviews with university representatives. Students will also be able to take advantage of subject-specific taster days 

We are also looking for these partnerships to collaborate with us to tailor the development of our existing pathways to make them as robust as possible – including assistance with producing an academic calendar with events and lectures.

These experiences give students a clear understanding of university life and expectations, ensuring they are fully prepared for their transition to higher education.