Student Life
Subject Selection
Learning in the Senior School
From Years 7–11, students at Guildford Grammar School are encouraged to explore widely while also building a strong academic foundation. This stage of learning provides both structure and choice, helping each student grow in confidence, discover their interests and prepare for future pathways.
A Broad Foundation
In the early Senior years, students engage with core areas that underpin lifelong learning. English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS), and Religious, Philosophical and Ethical Studies (RPE) form the backbone of the curriculum, ensuring that every student develops essential skills in literacy, numeracy, critical thinking and ethical inquiry. Health and Physical Education further supports wellbeing and resilience, while Language studies extend cultural understanding and global awareness.
Opportunities for Choice
As students progress, opportunities open up to personalise their program through specialist subjects. They may pursue creative passions in the Arts — from drama, dance and media to music and visual arts — or choose from a wide range of Design and Technologies courses, including engineering, food, and materials-based design. Outdoor Learning adds another dimension, challenging students to build teamwork, independence and Guildford Grit in authentic settings.
Pathways Towards the Future
By Year 10, subject selection begins to take on a future focus. Students start to consider the pathways available in Years 11 and 12, whether that be university entry through ATAR courses, practical learning through General and VET programs, or industry experience through Workplace Learning (WPL).
Throughout this process, students are guided by presentations from Heads of Learning, Careers Expos, and individual course counselling sessions. This structured support ensures that subject choices align with personal strengths, meet SCSA requirements, and open doors to a wide range of post-school opportunities.
Year 7 Courses
Year 7 is a key transition point for all of our students. Some will be continuing their journey from our Preparatory School, while others will be joining our school for the first time. For all students, this year marks a key moment in their personal journeys.
Adjusting to the learning environment of Year 7 is an exciting process for students making the transition with the gradual increase in personal responsibility that accompanies their growth in maturity.
In Year 7, students will be studying from a range of courses with the opportunity to personalise elements of their curriculum to meet their own interests and passions.
Year 8 Courses
This year is a consolidation of the developmental progress of our students following their transition from primary years education to secondary learning.
In Year 8, students take an increasing amount of responsibility for their learning and begin to find deepening interests in various aspects of their educational experience.
In Year 8, students will be studying from a range of courses with the opportunity to personalise elements of their curriculum to meet their own interests and passions.
Year 9 Courses
Year 9 is a key year in the development of each student as they move from early to middle adolescence.
In Year 9, students’ sense of self becomes a defining feature of their development and this plays a key role in their thought processes around their future pathways. Young people become even more aware of the wider world around them and begin to evaluate their own place within it, especially as they begin to make more concrete choices about their future pathways.
In Year 9, students are able to personalise their curriculum further as the compulsory components of the curriculum give way to more choice for students.
Year 10 Courses
In Year 10 students will study six core subjects which are compulsory as part of the Western Australian Curriculum, followed by their choice of four elective courses. Elective courses are a semester in length apart from French or Music, which must be taken for the entire year.
Students may choose subjects because they plan to study them in Years 11 and 12 or for interest. Provisional placement in core subject classes is determined by performance in these subjects during Year 9.
Year 11 Courses
Guildford Grammar School is a community of excellence where each student is guided throughout their learning journey at school and beyond. The Year 10 course selection process for Year 11 is a key event in the lives of our students. It is where they have the greatest input in their learning journey, following 10 years of compulsory education across their range of subjects. By now, our students have a greater sense of themselves and where their interests lie.
The Go Forward Senior Pathways Framework is a starting point for the conversation between parents and their children. The framework is designed to broaden the conversation about pathway choice. Many of our young people are not sure of their career pathways but can start by considering whether they would like to pursue university, TAFE, work or a combination of these as their next step.
Discover Student Life
Subject selection is just one part of the Senior School experience. Beyond the classroom, our students discover passions, build friendships and grow through sport, the arts, service and outdoor learning.
Discover Student Life