Most WA schools ask students to nominate Year 10 subject preferences during Year 9. The form looks straightforward: choose your electives, indicate priority. The decisions are not as low-stakes as they appear. Year 10 electives signal academic interest, build prerequisites for Year 11 ATAR subjects, and shape your child's confidence in different fields.
Here is a parent-focused framework for thinking about the choices.
What Year 10 subjects look like at most WA schools
Most WA secondary schools offer Year 10 students approximately 8 subjects per semester:
- Compulsory: English, Maths, Science (often split into Biology, Chemistry, Physics tasters).
- Required social science (HASS): Geography, History, or similar.
- Health and Physical Education.
- 2 to 4 elective slots, varying by school.
The electives are where the choices matter. Common Year 10 electives include: drama, art, music, design and technology, food technology, computer science, languages (LOTE), business, accounting, and various enrichment subjects.
The four-question parent test
Use these questions to evaluate any elective choice with your Year 9:
- Does this elective interest your child? If they will not actively engage, the elective fails.
- Does it open or close future subject pathways? A Year 10 LOTE elective is often required to take ATAR LOTE in Year 11. A Year 10 design tech elective is often required for Year 11 design technology.
- Does it align with their possible career pathways? A child considering medicine should be doing Year 10 Chemistry and Biology tasters. A child considering trades should be doing design tech.
- Does it complement their core subjects, or overload one area? Five electives in arts can stretch identity nicely; five electives in maths can burn the child out.
The "keep options open" rule
Year 10 is too early to lock in a career. The sensible approach for most families: keep both academic and creative pathways open.
This typically means:
- Choose at least one elective that opens an ATAR pathway (a science enrichment, a humanities deep dive, or a STEM elective).
- Choose at least one elective that develops a non-academic skill (an art, a sport, a language).
- Avoid choosing only electives that overlap heavily with the compulsory curriculum.
The Year 10 maths and English decisions
These two are not electives but they involve choices. Most WA schools offer a "regular" and an "advanced" Year 10 maths or English. The advanced track typically streams into Methods/Specialist or English ATAR/Literature in Year 11.
Choose the advanced track if your child:
- Consistently scored above 75% in Year 9.
- Self-identifies as enjoying the subject.
- Wants the option of a high-scaling Year 11 ATAR pathway.
If they choose the regular track, they can still pick up ATAR Methods or English in Year 11, but the catch-up workload is real.
The "drop" conversation in Term 4
Most schools allow Year 10 elective changes in Term 1. By Term 4, the choice is locked in. Have a frank conversation with your child in Term 1: which elective is dragging? Which is energising? Adjust then, before the year hardens.
This is also when some students realise they have over-committed to academic subjects and need a creative outlet. Switching one elective for music or drama is rarely a mistake.
What signals matter, what does not
| Matters | Does not matter |
|---|---|
| Whether your child can name what they learned this week | What grade is on the report card in October |
| Whether their confidence in the subject area grew | Whether other parents say it is a "good elective" |
| Whether the Year 11 prerequisites are met | Whether the elective is "easy" or "hard" |
| Whether your child learned a transferable skill (writing, drawing, coding, language) | Whether the elective is "useful" |
Common Year 9 parent mistakes
- Choosing electives based on what other families chose.
- Pushing the child into the "advanced" track when they are not ready.
- Filling all elective slots with academic subjects.
- Avoiding any "creative" subject because of perceived ATAR irrelevance (most creative subjects scale neutrally).
- Not asking the child to articulate why they want each elective.
What to actually do this week
- Sit with your Year 9 and ask them to name three things they would want to learn more about. Their answers reveal the elective shape.
- Read your school's Year 10 elective handbook. Note which electives have prerequisites for Year 11 ATAR subjects you might consider.
- Have one practice conversation with your child about advanced vs regular maths. Their reasoning is more useful to listen to than the answer.
If your family wants a 30-minute call to map out Year 10 to Year 12 subject choice planning, book a free consultation at our centres. Subject choice for Year 10 is one of the most common reasons Year 9 families come to us.