Outside of Curriculum

• Extracurricular activities are additional activities that are not part of the curriculum. They are generally not graded. Students participate in extracurricular activities on a voluntary basis; very few activities work toward a qualification, but some may, such as vocational qualifications within the workplace or certificates of participation in voluntary work. Extracurricular activities do not necessarily have to be performed on-campus; church community volunteering, event organizing, festival volunteering or other charity work are all examples of off-site extracurricular activities.
  
  

Outside of Normal Hours

• Activities are delivered outside of normal school, college or university hours. They do not disrupt normal teaching and are normally delivered after hours rather than in between lessons. By participating in extracurricular activities outside of school hours, students have the opportunity to express or practice any interests that are not delivered on the school curriculum; future colleges and employers may also prefer applicants who have participated in extracurricular activities on a voluntary basis, as students are showing an active interest in their own development.
  
  

Open to all Students

• Extracurricular activities must be available to all students, including home students, to be considered extracurricular. Certain schools may require specific grades before students are allowed to participate in extracurricular activities, but students cannot be rejected from an extracurricular activity if they express interest in the activity and meet requirements. Additional classes, or other prerequisites, can be requested from the student, such as taking music lessons and learning an instrument before participating in the school band. A school cannot elect policies that unreasonably exclude particular students from an extracurricular activity, though, if they meet all other criteria.
  
  

Types of Extracurricular Activities

• Extracurricular activities are broadly defined. Most activities focus on developing key skills, such as team work, time management, socialization or reinforcing learning. Extracurricular activities can be academic supplements (such as math clubs or creative writing clubs) or activities that interest a wide range of students that are not academic, such as sports clubs or school football teams.
  
  

Examples of Extracurricular Activities

• Extracurricular activities are at the discretion of the school or organization hosting those activities and vary significantly with each school. Some examples of academic extracurricular activities could be chess club, language club or supplementary activities to aid coursework. Most schools also involve students in media activities (school newspaper and yearbook, school radio talk shows, volunteering at local radio stations) sports activities, governance (student government, prom committee, or model United Nations), music clubs including school bands and performance, arts clubs including theater performances or dance, and community service/voluntary extracurricular activities, such as fundraising, community outreach, environmental causes, or hospital volunteer work. Some extracurricular activities are delivered solely on students' interests and hobbies, such as hiking or model building.