Film Studies
Which schools in England make Film Studies a big part of the curriculum, and where results are strongest. Entries and grades from the 2025 performance tables.
Film Studies GCSE was taken in 312 schools in England in 2025, with 5,418 entries — about 1% of the Year 11 cohort.
Nationally 20% of entries achieved grade 7 or above. The tables below show the schools where the largest share of pupils take the subject, and where grades are highest (schools with at least 20 entries).
At LeAF Studio (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole) 53% of the year group took Film Studies.
At A level, Film Studies was offered in 520 schools and colleges, with 6,577 entries — roughly 2% of A level students.
GCSE: schools with the highest share of grades 7–9
Schools with at least 20 entries. England: 20% of entries graded 7–9. High grades often reflect who is admitted (selective and independent schools) as much as teaching.
A level: schools and colleges where the largest share of students take Film Studies
Entries as a share of A level students (at least 30 A level students and 10 entries). England: 2% of A level students.
What pupils learn in Film Studies, stage by stage
England has no national year-by-year syllabus: exam boards and schools set the order within each stage. These are the statutory blocks from the Department for Education, so a parent can see what a child meets in Years 7–9, what every GCSE candidate must cover, and what waits in the sixth form.
What A level Film Studies teaches · Years 12–13
32 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Arts & Humanities (23), Social & Cultural Skills (6), Digital & ICT Skills (3). Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Breadth and depth of content2
- study a diverse range of critically recognised, culturally significant filmsYear 13 — film canon
- compare two films in relation to their context and meaningYear 13 — comparative film study
Cinematography4
- analyse how cinematography constructs meaning and generates responseYear 13 — cinematography
- analyse camera shots, angles and composition in a film sequenceYear 13 — camera shot, composition
- analyse three-point lighting and its effect on mood and characterYear 13 — lighting, mise-en-scene
- evaluate how cinematography aligns spectators with a film's ideologyYear 13 — ideology, spectator alignment
Narrative and genre1
- analyse how genre conventions structure a film's narrativeYear 13 — genre convention
Narrative construction4
- analyse how a screenplay shapes narrative construction in filmYear 13 — narrative construction, screenplay
- evaluate the ideological implications of narrative construction and representationYear 13 — ideology, narrative structure
- analyse narrational devices such as voiceover, flashback and framing narrativeYear 13 — narrational device
- evaluate non-linear and ambiguous narrative structuresYear 13 — ambiguity, non-linear narrative
Representation1
- analyse how film form represents cultures and societiesYear 13 — cultural representation
Performance2
- evaluate how performance, staging and direction generate meaningYear 13 — performance, staging
- analyse how performance style and casting contribute to meaningYear 13 — casting, performance style
Mise-en-scene2
- analyse how mise-en-scene components generate meaning and connotationYear 13 — connotation, mise-en-scene
- evaluate how mise-en-scene reflects an auteur approachYear 13 — auteur theory
Editing2
- analyse continuity editing and the Kuleshov effect in constructing meaningYear 13 — continuity editing, kuleshov effect
- evaluate montage editing and its ideological effectYear 13 — ideology, montage editing
Sound2
- analyse diegetic, non-diegetic and expressive uses of soundYear 13 — diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound
- evaluate how sound design aligns spectators with a film's meaningYear 13 — sound design, spectator alignment
Aesthetic dimension2
- evaluate the aesthetic dimension of mise-en-scene, cinematography and editingYear 13 — film aesthetics
- evaluate the relationship between film aesthetics and auteurismYear 13 — auteurism, film aesthetics
Spectatorship3
- analyse how spectators respond actively or passively to filmYear 13 — spectatorship
- evaluate preferred, negotiated, oppositional and aberrant readings of filmYear 13 — audience reading
- evaluate how social and cultural factors affect spectator responseYear 13 — spectator response
Contexts1
- analyse how social, cultural and historical context informs a filmYear 13 — cultural context, historical context
Critical approaches3
- apply film poetics and structuralist theories of narrativeYear 13 — film poetics, structuralist theory
- evaluate the validity of auteurism and ideology as critical approachesYear 13 — auteurism, ideology
- debate the significance of digital technology for contemporary cinemaYear 13 — digital cinema
Skills: production3
- produce a film extract or screenplay demonstrating narrative constructionYear 13 — film production, screenplay
- evaluate a film production against professionally produced films or screenplaysYear 13 — production evaluation
- produce a short film or screenplay demonstrating distinctive narrative formYear 13 — short film production
Source: DfE GCE AS and A level film studies subject content (2016), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.