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Subjects

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Academic excellence is achieved through a wide-ranging curriculum that uncovers and encourages a genuine love of learning, alongside inspirational teaching that challenges each pupil to strive for her or his personal best.

Teaching at Shrewsbury offers pupils a chance to expand their core knowledge, while lighting a spark in their educational journey by developing hidden potential. We want Salopians to learn to think for themselves and grow in independence as they prepare for university and beyond.   

The central curriculum is supported by a wide variety of academic and cultural activities. Lectures, debates and art exhibitions complement visits to concerts, plays and galleries. Competitions, essay prizes and academic societies stock the mind, stimulate interest and develop true learning.

Core Curriculum

Additional Courses

Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

The AQA Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is a 120-hour independent research project, similar to an undergraduate dissertation, undertaken in the Lower Sixth as part of our 3+ program, where pupils choose an additional qualification to sit alongside their A Levels. The EPQ is worth half an A Level (by UCAS points) and enables pupils to undertake academic research on a topic of their choice. It is a fantastic opportunity for pupils to develop project management and research skills on a topic they are passionate about and which might not fall within the core curriculum. While most choose the outcome of their research to be a 5000-word essay, pupils can alternatively choose to create an artefact, such as a painting or a dramatic production. In addition, each student completes a production log and presents their project to a small group of staff and students, after which they answer questions from the floor.

The EPQ is timetabled for 2 periods each week and each student is allocated a supervisor who guides them through the process. There are about 30 hours of taught content delivered by the supervisors and librarians, providing the essential skills to plan, research, write, review and present.

Here are some recent project titles:

  • To what extent can ecological constraints predict convergent evolution?
  • To what extent is Pyramid Song, taken from Amnesiac (2001), emblematic of a wider trend of Jazz influence within the music of Radiohead?
  • Designing, building and testing a hybrid rocket engine (engineering artefact)
  • Organising a mixed media soiree themed event on Shropshire nature (performance artefact)
  • Investigation into how nitrogenous pollution affects the populations of epiphytic bryophytes in urban churchyards
  • Designing and creating a bias-cut evening dress inspired by Christopher Kane and Quetsche's use of materials (textile artefact)
  • To what extent can prison abolition undo the carceral harms faced by Black Americans?
  • To what extent have classical ideals been challenged by Dadaism and Contemporary Art? (artefact)
Higher Project Qualification (HPQ)

Higher Project Qualification (HPQ)

The AQA Higher Project Qualification (HPQ) is a Level 2 independent research project which requires in total 60 guided learning hours and is equivalent to half a GCSE. Any Shrewsbury pupil can choose to undertake the HPQ at the start of the Fourth Form and they will complete it over the course of the academic year. While there are no academic lessons timetabled for the HPQ, there is a HPQ Society in Societies’ Hour which pupils are encouraged to sign up for. In these sessions pupils will be taught the essential skills for the HPQ and, for those who are unable to attend, information is disseminated afterwards.

The HPQ is an exciting and empowering qualification as students learn new study skills including research, project management, academic writing and referencing.

To complete the project, students must produce the following:

  1. A product: either a 2000-word essay OR an artefact accompanied by a 500-word research report
  2. A presentation: on their research to a non-specialist audience (including peers and adults)
  3. A production log: a record of their planning, decision making and evaluation of their project success

They are encouraged to pursue an area of research that is interesting personally to them and it may be inspired by something they have learned in school or go totally beyond the scope of the curriculum.  Some previous HPQ titles include:

  • Are Latin and Greek undervalued in modern Western education?
  • To what extent are the leaves the most important part of a good cup of tea? (artefact)
  • Industrial Design & Construction of a Baritone Guitar.​ (artefact)
  • To what extent did medieval and ancient studies shape organic Chemistry?
  • To what extent can philosophical and theological ethics influence decision-making in the finance sector?
  • How to be a healthy and ethical vegan.
  • Making a Dress using a Vintage Vogue Sewing Pattern.