Would you let your kids give up on some of their GCSEs?

All GCSEs do is move you into the next box. No one cares once you're there.

Better, I think, to do well on 6 or 7 than to stress over 9 or 10.

I actively encouraged my elder daughter to give up on a couple. The stress they were causing her was starting to threaten her success in those she was naturally good at.

I think the point is you can't possibly know at 15 what future life and employment will hold, hence the aim of a "broad and balanced" curriculum.

We got a letter from an ex student once (IB school, compulsory language in 6th form) to thank us for making her continue French. It was on CERN headed paper...

I should think so.

It’s the step after the next step that matters too - see the posts about uni admissions.if a course is over subscribed why would you give a place to someone with fewer passes at GCSE, everything else being equal?

Like it or not, it’s a competitive world. He has the opportunity to compete on a level playing field. He’s choosing not to.

@JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn what you said was that no one looks at GCSE grades ever again, but that really isn't true, and honestly I don't think it's helpful to say that. As I abd others say, unis, sixth forms, employers will or may look. Students are obliged to put all their GCSE grades on the UCAS form fir example.

We are not talking here as I and others have said, about a student who is struggling with SEN and will do amazingly to get 5 x 5. Thus sounds like a student who CBA with three choices and I don't think approving that is a great message.

A student should do the best they can. And who knows what the next steps will be?

I specifically said as long as they get what they need for the next step it's fine. Dropping a GCSE such as English or Maths wouldn't even be allowed.

GCSE subjects that have no relevance to future study or employment and require a huge amount of time and effort that could be better spent elsewhere, could, in my opinion, be dropped to ease the pressure on a stressed student.

Yes, there is a special section on UCAS to cover those kind of issues and situations.

"It's all too much effort, argh" is not one of those situations.

Sometimes I think about that girl they interviewed who survived Grenfell. She stood outside with her family all night studying a revision guide, because she had a GCSE exam the next day.

Also to add, 5 GCSEs from a mainstream setting, points towards a kid with either SEN or some other pretty significant reason as to why they couldn't do more.

8 GCSEs looks like "normal".
People WILL dig into it. And "5 because I couldn't be arsed to do more" isn't a good look.

Assuming no SEN or mental health issues, it sounds like pure laziness. To be honest, I'd probably rather have not bothered with French, RE or ICT, but I still did them, and tried my absolute best. Life is full of things we'd rather not do.

GCSE results absolutely do get looked at later down the line, and having 3 that clearly show "couldn't be arsed" doesn't give a good representation of his work ethic.

I'd kindly say that if he can't cope with 8 GCSEs, then honestly, 3 academic A-Levels are probably going to be beyond him.

I'd be digging into why he wants to drop them. If it's to have more free time, then ho ho ho, absolutely not. Any free time obtained by dropping the 3 subjects, you use that time to increase your study time of the other 5.

I think this can be covered on the personal statement.

That is different though. There is a story to talk about and valid reasons.

There's also a certain amount of resilience and drive required to work with those issues.

This is not that.

I think they will look at these factors and DC can highlight it in application and so can referee

Some schools (wrongly) still link staff pay reviews to their exam class results. Years ago I had a tiny class and one student who did really poorly despite many extra hours of my help, so brought the class grade average right down. I didn't get a pay rise that year.

If he's going to do this please send an email in to the teachers. If I'd had 'evidence' it wasn't my fault, then I'd have still got that pay rise.

Is it too late to formally withdraw from some of those subjects? Would be better for your son and the school's results. Talk to his head of year and go from there.

He is extremely unlikely to be allowed to officially drop anything at this stage. The entries have gone in (each one costs of course) and schools don't have capacity to supervise y11s who've suddenly got hours free in the week.

He should have a long hard think about why he chose options he wasn't sufficiently interested in. I understand the RS-type subject may not have been properly optional.

Computer Science is understandable - tough subject. But Business? Seriously OP - browse a revision guide. It's a cramming job for anyone with reasonable intelligence.

If he does go forward with what is essentially "quiet quitting" then please emphasise that he must not disrupt others in those classes, some of whom will be planning to go on to Business A level or BTEC, Computer Science A level etc. Also that he may well encounter those teachers again if he's staying on.

Obviously as teachers we know who these kids are!

The thing is about choices.

If there's a chance he wants to go to University then he needs at least 8, as many take the average best 8. So no need to slog your guts out for 11, but 6 or 7 will raise questions.

There are people who have less and are still accepted but they usually have a reason why. Health issues, adverse circumstances etc that can go on a personal statement or talked about at interview. 'Didn't see the point' is not going to go down well with employers or university admissions.

Those people who didn't get their GCSEs but eventually did well still had to put the effort in (often more so) eventually.

I wouldn’t be too happy. If he is predicted 6/7 he’s not lacking in ability. They have 3 months can he not just crack on with all of them? He could put more effort to the ones he likes/ needs? Writing 3 off seems extreme.

this is a worrying thread. Didn't know that unis look at GCSEs. What about students who only have 4/5/6 GCSEs because they couldn't attend mainstream? Many smaller specialist setting offer only limited GCSE options - even for highly academic students. will EHCPs/SENs taken into consideration?

Seriously, as someone senior who runs teams in tech and interviews a lot I never look past university qualifications.

Having stronger GCSEs provides better stepping stones to the next level though.

I think it makes sense to focus more on the subjects you need to do well in. However I wouldn’t encourage him to drop them entirely. I would also double check the requirements for A-level, In my kids school 5 5’s would not be enough to study 3 a-levels and most schools require a 6 in the proposed A-level.

He wouldn't put that he failed.

And if you screen for people that have only done 8 GCSEs then you disadvantage pupils that attend disadvantaged schools. Many schools only offer 8.

It actually disgusting if true, and I hope you are found out and disciplined for such an awful unofficial bias.

Yes we have dropped a couple so DD15 can focus on the core subjects to get the right grades for her next phase. As long as he gets his English and maths and then the other 5s he needs no one cares after that. Seriously, as someone senior who runs teams in tech and interviews a lot I never look past university qualifications.

When you said ok to “dropping” one you opened the gate.
pretty poor decision when he has no sen, and doesn’t seem overly steeesed. Maybe he should actually do some work. Maybe he should have been pushed a bit more for the last year so it wasn’t all about cramming now. He is seriously limiting his life choices by not working hard to achieve the best results he can.

If there are no other issues , no SEN, mental health issues, anxiety etc I would persuade him to at least try with the other subjects. Just doing the bare minimum when you are capable of doing more is never a good look.
I don't know if he wants to go to university but if so universities do look at GCSEs as they make offers before A level results are out. They give an indication if commitment and work effort.

So 25 years ago.

5, or even 6 or 7 GCSEs isn't standard though. It will be obvious he doesn't try very hard.

The idea of GCSEs is a well rounded range of subjects to the same standard. If he ends up with only core subjects to a decent pass level, employers and FE providers will wonder what was done with the extra time any why he isn't capable of anything else.

It shouldn't need two years of study for half a suite of GCSEs unless there are serious issues with learning. Entry requirements for the next step are the specifics. It's expected that there's a variety of other knowledge on offer to supplement, and some indication of work ethic.

It's extremely shortsighted to just give up at this point; even the word 'drop' being used implies complete apathy and inability to show any resilience.

PP are right that grades will still be reported and the statement and certificate will show up the fails.