Reproduced below are the contents of the Headmaster’s letter to parents of boys in the Under School dated 30th November 2007 followed by a list of Charterhouse courses being offered in 2008.
I would like you to know that from 2008 we will be making some changes to our Sixth Form curriculum. In order to take advantage of the best available subject syllabuses a number of our departments will be offering the new Cambridge Pre-U courses.
Charterhouse, along with several other leading schools, has been involved from the start in developing these courses. They are designed to be academically rigorous and appealing to universities. They will be better preparation for university studies and will enable applicants from Charterhouse to stand out in an increasingly crowded field.
One of the many attractions of these Pre-U courses is that they do not involve public examinations at the end of the Lower Sixth year, as is usually the case with A level courses (i.e. AS levels). From 2008 we will be taking this opportunity to adopt a policy of terminal assessment for all our Sixth Form courses, including those subjects for which an A level remains the best available course. This will have considerable academic benefits and will restore valuable teaching time to pupils in the Lower Sixth.
We will be giving you full details of our new curriculum when we ask pupils for subject choices in the new year. In the meantime, further information on the Pre-U may be found at the following address:
Please note that we will be offering the subject courses rather than the full diploma.
With all good wishes,
The Revd John Witheridge
MA FRSA
Pre-U
Mathematics and Further Mathematics will follow a common course in the first year. The decision on whether to take Pre-U or A level examinations will then be taken (a year in advance of the final examinations).
A level
* There are Pre-U courses available in these subjects but they are not considered to be as attractive as the best A level course.
+ There are no Pre-U courses in these subjects. Pre-U Classical Heritage is not considered a genuine, or attractive, alternative to A level Classical Civilisation.