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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Secondary education

AIBU to want my son to take 11 GCSEs?

247 replies

mamaliv · 30/05/2013 11:36

He's currently in year 9 and is having to finalise his GCSE choices. At his school it is normal/expected to have 10 or 11 GCSEs- the normal 7 plus either 3 or 4 electives. DS1 is very very bright and would definitely be able to cope with 11, but has always preferred to coast as much as possible and is insisting he only wants to take 3 electives (so a total of 10). I'm not worried about how this will look to universities etc (he's a bit young for that) but I do think it's not good for him always to take the easy way out! DH is "not going to interfere" which doesn't help...
AIBU?!

OP posts:

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LIZS · 30/05/2013 11:39

Could he start with 11 and have option to drop one if needs be ? What would be the 11th subject and what would that lesson time otherwise be ?

Hulababy · 30/05/2013 11:45

Why does he need 11?
TBH why does he need 10?

To do A levels you usually need 5-6 GCSEs at good grades. It's no different when it comes to university requirements either.

I do wonder sometimes why we make children do quite so many GCSEs exams rather than focusing a much more reduced number and just doing them well instead.

Picturesinthefirelight · 30/05/2013 11:48

At the school dd was going to they only take 9 or 10 at the very most.

Can't see why they need to do more.

LadyKooKoo · 30/05/2013 11:48

What do the school think?

forevergreek · 30/05/2013 11:49

I honestly don't think unis care about gcses, only a levels.

My school ( and now my sisters years later), insisted on 12 gcses min and 5 a levels. The unis are only interested in the a level results.
They would rather 3 A a levels than 5 a levels at b grade though. So if you don't think you can get top in 5 they would rather you did less and got better

Sister now gcse level year 11 and will have 13 at the end of September. However they now do it differently and she dis some in year 9 onwards. So 4 completed early and certificates last summer, so she is only completing the final 9 at the moment.

She also did French a level in year 8 as fluent

If your son hasn't had the option of doing some early I would say 10 is fine. Most need 7 passes to continue to a levels

forevergreek · 30/05/2013 11:50

I honestly don't think unis care about gcses, only a levels.

My school ( and now my sisters years later), insisted on 12 gcses min and 5 a levels. The unis are only interested in the a level results.
They would rather 3 A a levels than 5 a levels at b grade though. So if you don't think you can get top in 5 they would rather you did less and got better

Sister now gcse level year 11 and will have 13 at the end of September. However they now do it differently and she dis some in year 9 onwards. So 4 completed early and certificates last summer, so she is only completing the final 9 at the moment.

She also did French a level in year 8 as fluent

If your son hasn't had the option of doing some early I would say 10 is fine. Most need 7 passes to continue to a levels

hellsbells99 · 30/05/2013 11:51

He doesn't need 11. Far better to have 10 at top grades and not taking all the easy options if he is bright.
Both my DDs are only taking 9 proper GCSEs and then a couple of compulsory things like an OCR in ICT and a short gcse in PE. And then they do an extra maths exam after GCSE.
There is an awful lot of work for GCSEs depending on what subjects he is taking - a lot more than I ever did.
For example DD2 for English Lit did a 2 hour exam covering unseen poetry and Of Mice & Men; a controlled assessment for Romeo & Juliet and more poems; and a 2 hour exam covering Blood Brothers and Lord of The Flies.
The 3 separate sciences will be 3 exams each all to be taken at the end of year 11 now (thats 9 exams just for the sciences) etc.
Please think about how many final exams he will have.
Far better to encourage an extra curricular activity - music or STEM club etc if he needs stretching.
HTH

Forgetfulmog · 30/05/2013 11:52

Sorry but YABU. My "d" m was constantly pushing me in terms of education - I remember wanting to drop 1 a-level (I was doing 4 at the time & this was pre-Aslevel times) & she refused to let me.

He will need to get a C or above in maths & English to ensure employment, but other than that GCSEs are pretty useless & certainly if he goes onto A-Levels or Uni, he only needs 5-6 GCSEs anyway.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 30/05/2013 11:56

I think the subjects matter more than the amount. Better 10 solid academic subjects, if that's the path he's going to want to go down, than as many as possible for the sake of having lots.
If he does: English Lit, English Lang, Maths, 3 x science, History and Geography, an MFL or two, or an MFL and something else, that's 10 'good' subjects and perfectly fine IMO.

DewDr0p · 30/05/2013 11:57

Why do you want him to do 11 OP? I've got 9 and it's never held me back (went to a v well respected uni, worked for Big 6 consultancy)

It might be better for him to use the time to develop extra curricular stuff, would look good on his CV.

Picturepuncture · 30/05/2013 12:01

The subjects do not matter at GCSE. The important thing is top grades and breadth.

Don't believe me? Then google Russel Group and Oxbridhe admissions. There is no such thing as a 'soft' GCSE, just academic snobbery.

OP, also worth bearing in mind that top public schools generally encourage about 9 GCSEs, nobody needs 11 for anything.

mamaliv · 30/05/2013 12:01

Thanks for all your input. The thing is, I know he is perfectly capable of getting A*s and As, even with 11- it's just that a lot of his friends are doing 10 because they are frankly less bright than him. I would say the majority of boys at his school do take 11, and the school assures me this still leaves plenty of time for sport, free time etc. The extra lesson time if he took 10 would be prep periods. If I thought that the 11th subject would jeopardise his other grades in any way then I wouldn't encourage him to take it- but I am convinced it will serve him well to learn more (the subject in question, by the way, would probably be RS, which I think is important), as well as teach him the value of hard work. I am convinced it's the right thing to do, but I don't know how far I can push for it, because he is 14 after all and is capable of making his own decisions....

OP posts:

mamaliv · 30/05/2013 12:03

The subjects then would be English lit and lang, maths, triple science, French, History, Geography, Latin, and possibly RS as the 11th. All solidly academic- his school doesn't offer any of the softer subjects

OP posts:

Forgetfulmog · 30/05/2013 12:08

Why do you think RS is so important though? Btw I'm not trying to be anti-religious, but having a GCSE in it will not serve any purpose (AFAIK) - he can still have an interest in RS without having a GCSE in it.

I think with 10 subjects he is easily going to know how to do "hard work". I think you need to back off

ihearsounds · 30/05/2013 12:09

Why 11? It's not that he is looking for the easy way out, just that he probably knows from talking to older students that subjects have more than one exam. This year alone some are sitting 17 exams, and last year they also sat a load.

Lancelottie · 30/05/2013 12:10

No soft subjects? Is the absence of any arts subject there his own preference, or does his school consider art, music and drama to be 'soft'?

Lancelottie · 30/05/2013 12:12

Older DS did 9, by the way; younger DS is doing a standard 9 in school hours plus (gasp) one extra outside school hours, and might tack on a Statistics GCSE; but certainly his school sees 9 as standard.

Forgetfulmog · 30/05/2013 12:12

17 !! What possible purpose does that serve? I took about 9 I think, then 3 Alevels & 2 Aslevels (got all As & 1B) & then went onto UNI to get a 2:1. Having 9 GCSEs didn't hold me back at all.

BoundandRebound · 30/05/2013 12:12

You are being unreasonable 10 is enough and hardly coasting
Leave him be

hellsbells99 · 30/05/2013 12:13

If he is going to do an extra subject, then perhaps one that is more course based and shows breadth may be a better option - music, electronics etc.
Don't pile on any more pressure as lots of exams to do at the end!
Quality not quantity!

RussiansOnTheSpree · 30/05/2013 12:14

Nothing arty at all?

LIZS · 30/05/2013 12:15

I think ds (Yr 10) will do 10 in the end (plus the ICT Level 2 he's already got). The workload is reasonably heavy as it is.

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Abra1d · 30/05/2013 12:18

'Don't believe me? Then google Russel Group and Oxbridhe admissions. There is no such thing as a 'soft' GCSE, just academic snobbery.'

What I've heard from academics at Russell Group and Oxbridge leads me to believe that they do indeed regard Business Studies and Sociology as soft subjects. Neither academic (like Physics or Latin, for example) or artistic/musical.

ihearsounds · 30/05/2013 12:18

Forget, not sure the purpose. Triple science comes with 9 exams alone. Maths, drama, history, English, French another 2 each at least. Do those subjects and you already have 19 exams to sit.

Abra1d · 30/05/2013 12:19

French has four papers--aural, listening and two written.

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