average number of GCSEs

[ucannotbserious]

Does anyone know how many GCSEs children achieve on average? I know you can see figures for percentage of 5 C and above etc but you then don't know if they have 5 or 10 (or more!).

[scaryteacher]

My ds is doing 11, a mix of GCSEs and IGCSEs.

English (counts as 2)
Maths
French
Dutch
Chemistry
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
History
Geography
RE (full course)

He takes the French this year and will do AS next. He will do one RE paper this year, and the other next.

[bruffin]

My DS is yr 10 and doing

English x2
Maths
German
Chemistry
Biology
Physics
History
ICT (btech counts as 4)
Electronics (counts as 4)
Photography (twilight course x4)
RE (counts as 1/2)
and I think he has already passed a PSHE type one which is also (1/2)

Theoretically he could have 21

[BrigitBigKnickers]

My DD has just started year 10 and is doing a mix of GCSE and iGCSEs

English (x2)
Maths
Triple science(x3)
Graphics
PE
RE
French
History
Dance (extra curricular)
=12

[webwiz]

I noticed when the GSCSE results were out this year that one of the local schools had cut back its number of GCSEs to 8. All the others are 10 or 11.

[pagwatch]

Op
I don't know where you can find that out tbh

You are going to have a stream of people telling you whattheir child is doing - which won't help at all, not least because few people will pick up this thread and post
'my DS is doing two' after all the 'my son is doing twenty seven whilst riding a unicycle' postings that are going to come

could your child school not help, or the LEA
Why do you want to know

[thelastresort]

Also you want quality over quantity :)

(Mine's doing 10 btw)

[rey]

friends going through this right now and her ds school does 10 and it's a very very good school.

[mumblechum]

DS is doing 12.

[DiscoDaisy]

DD is doing 11 plus a BTEC

[sue52]

DD is doing 11 and an AS, too many in my opinion.

[scaryteacher]

It will vary from child to child anyway. Some won't be academically capable of doing 10, so may do 8 with some time out for support lessons.

[roundthebend4]

it varys ds has done 2 already which were early in case needed to redo but is doing 9 now

[ucannotbserious]

Umm, what I actually asked was how many they achieve, not how many they are taking! I was hoping that someone might have general figures rather than a personal account. I want to know because I am curious to know what is average and how my child, who has completed his exams, will compare against his peers when he enters the big, wide world!

Pagwatch - I like your drift!

[abr1de]

Not all GcSEs are equal, frankly, so just listing numbers doesn't tell you much. If someone has nine at A or A* or B and they include, perhaps, Latin, two modern languages, three sciences and two Englishes, that, in my book, is more academically remarkable than someone who has eleven, but which include more non-academic subjects, or academic subjects at poor grades.

And retakes muddy the water further...

[lazymumofteenagesons]

I don't think the number of GCSEs a student gets is a sign of anything in particular. And what is your definition of an average child?

A highly academic school will have them taking 10 or 11 in one go in year 11 - all of which will be the traditional subjects with at least on MFL.

Some will come out of other schools with a string of GCSEs, 13-15, in a multitude of odd subjects taken between yr 9 and 11.

There is no comparison and different children fit into each of these scenarios.

I can't understand why kids are not allowed to study a subject but not take a GCSE in it.

[lazymumofteenagesons]

Sorry, just read that you refer to the average number, not the number the average child is getting.

It still won't help though. If your son has 7+ good solid GCSEs with A/B he should be ok. There again horses for courses those without are not going to fail in life (well they might, but it probably won't be down to their GCSE results).

[mnistooaddictive]

Most schools will do 9 or 10 for most children. What do you mean by pass? Different people have different definitions. Some mean A to C, some mean A to G.
An average student - ie not superbrainy but not learning difficulties will get maybe 7 A* to C and a couple of D grades. Is this the type of thing you want to know? I could give more estimates if this helps!

[Milliways]

Our local comp now publishes how many get 10 A* - C grades!

This is from their website - which I think is a very useful breakdown.

80% of the students in Year 11 gained 5 or more A-C grades. 65% achieved very highly gaining 9 or more of these higher pass grades. 54% gained 10 or more A-C grades.

At the top, results were equally impressive. 54% of the students gained 10 or more higher grades. 25% of the students achieved 5 or more of the very highest grades (A-A) and 15% gained 8 or more A-A.

67% of the year group gained 5 higher passes including both English and Mathematics.
100% of the year group gained 5 GCSE passes (A*-G).

[abr1de]

'67% of the year group gained 5 higher passes including both English and Mathematics. '


This is the most important point.

[DandyDan]

Children at our local school do a possible 13

My kids have done

English - 2
Maths
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Modern foreign language
Their chosen options - 3
RE - which can be taken optionally as a GCSE if you are in the higher stream
BACS - basic computer course, which also counts as a GCSE
Statistics (which is taught within maths but the exams count as a separate GCSE, taken in Year 10 usually)

Some courses count as "more than one" - eg. some art syllabuses. People who did this at our local school could get two A stars, even though it was really only one GCSE.

[GetOrfMoiLand]

DD is doing 12, and is predicted 12 x A*, A or B. She is far from being academically bright, and has problems in reading and writing (is dyslexic) but she is a good all rounder and a real trooper.

Just wanted to post that as a shameful boast as I am very proud of her for working so hard

[GetOrfMoiLand]

English Lang
English Lit
Triple Scienec (x 3)
History
Geography
Maths
IT
RE & Citizenship
Food Tech
Art

[sue52]

Just checked DDs schools figures for 2009. The pupils average score was 613 which is the equal to 10As per pupil. They all would have taken English, Maths, MFL, and triple science. Not sure if that helps you.