view mode

Australian Informed Choices

Choose your school subjects wisely,
and make an informed decision today!

Choose foundational subjects to help build a solid future.
Scroll down to learn more.
A Pisa tower.

What are foundational subjects?

These are the subjects that will help you succeed in any career that you choose:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Languages other than English
  • Core sciences (Chemistry, Biology and Physics)

They’ll give you a strong foundation in problem-solving, communication, and research, which will help you learn almost anything in your future education and career.

English and maths, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history and languages.
A person playing the harp in a forest while several animals watch.

There are so many subjects to choose from. How do I decide which ones to do?

You can learn about almost anything at university. Don’t know what you want to do yet? It’s still good to keep your options open by choosing the highest level of English and mathematics that you can.

These are some of the different subject areas that you can study at university and how to best prepare for them while at high school:

Use your heart but also use your head to choose foundational subjects.

Why are foundational subjects important?

Despite any assumptions you or anyone else may have, virtually any job you have will use the skills you learn in those four foundational subjects – even if the connection doesn’t seem obvious.

For example:

  • Marketing jobs require the data and analytical skills (mathematics).
  • Owning your own business requires good business writing (English) and accounting skills (mathematics).
  • Design jobs require problem-solving and testing skills (core science subjects).
  • Psychology and health jobs need skills in mathematics and statistics (mathematics).
  • Legal and law enforcement jobs need good literacy skills (English).
  • Early childhood education jobs need clear communication with lots of different people (English, languages other than English).
Foundational subjects help broaden your choices.

But some of these subjects look hard! Won't they affect my results?

To calculate your ATAR you will find that your senior subjects are ‘scaled’- this is so that your marks in a particular course can be compared to marks in a different course. Some students may consider some courses to be ‘harder’ than others and often foundational subjects such as Mathematics or English can get a bad rap!

The reality is that a high mark in any subject can always be scaled down just as a low mark in any subject can always be scaled up; really all that you can control is your own performance in a subject.

Mark scaling.