Two combinations. Life sciences, with biology, chemistry and mathematics. Business, with accounting, business studies and economics. Groups run from eleven to sixteen students.
Teaching at this level is closer to a supervision than a lesson, and the skill we spend most time on is unfamiliar questions, because a paper at this level is written specifically to defeat a student who has only ever practised recognising question types.
The honest part, which we say to every grade ten family in the third term rather than letting anybody find out in grade eleven. This school does not offer physics at this level, does not offer humanities at this level, and cannot run a combination for three students. A student who wants physical sciences has to go to the larger school two atolls away, which means boarding, and we will help a family with that application and with the boat rather than quietly steering a child into life sciences because it is what we have.
About six students a year leave us for that reason and we think that is the right number rather than a failure.
What we do well here is small groups, teachers who have taught these students since they were nine, and a study room open until six with a teacher in it. The students who have done best from this school have almost all been students who used that room.