Super Curricular Activities

What is a ‘Super Curriculum’?

Super-curricular activities are those that allow students to expand their learning in their particular subject areas. These activities go beyond the ‘normal’ curriculum and allow students to learn a new topic in greater depth. Students can explore subjects in many ways; for example, by reading, as well as watching videos online, downloading lectures, visiting museums, completing online courses or MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) or entering academic competitions. Super curricular activities will have an impact and significance for all students, but especially those applying to highly competitive universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, UCL, St Andrews, Imperial, Kings and the other Russell Group Universities, as well as the Ivy League in the United States.

How do super curricular activities differ from extracurricular activities?

While extracurricular activities generally enhance a student’s scholastic experience, they are usually not directly linked to the subjects the student is studying. Extracurricular activities could include, for example, debating, the Student Council, chess club, yoga or any form of sporting activity. Super curricular activities are typically directly linked to the subjects that a student is studying or want to study at degree level or in terms of any career choice. The activities have an academic focus and stimulate the student’s intellectual curiosity. In this regard, students must take a broader view of a subject area and see how it can be applied and its value in terms of any, intellectual, social, economic or environmental impact/legacy.

What does the BSG super-curriculum look like?

Each subject will have its own resource bank that all students can access. A typical resource will contain the following:

1. A range of books, articles and online resources
2. Blogs, podcast
3. MOOCs
4. TED talks and YouTube resources
5. TV and radio resources
6. Periodical publication resources – including academic papers and reviews
7. NGO publications
8. Resources from academic and social institutions
9. PDF resources and seminal papers
10. White Papers