AIBU to worry Business Studies GCSE may affect future university choices?

Having just used AI to search for entry requirements (or not allowed requirements) at GCSE for all russell group universities it can't find any reference to business studies. It does however show all of them need maths and the specific grades each requires.

Don’t worry BS is perfectly fine as a GCSE. OP has got it, and a few other things, wrong!

I am actually really surprised that Business studies isn't considered a qualification by some RG universities!

To be totally honest @Ragdoll77 I am too. In fact I await with interest someone showing me a screenshot of a university website where the statement that GCSE business is not accepted is backed up. A level not enthused over for certain degree choices, at certain unis, yes.

Wow, this thread has shocked me! I am actually really surprised that Business studies isn't considered a qualification by some RG universities!
I personally think all children should study Business studies as its so relevant to working life.
My DS is at a very highly regarded Russell Group uni studying Politics, whilst its not entirely relevant to his degree, the sound knowledge he has from his Business studies GCSE will always be valuable to him.

My son only did 6 GCSEs, one of them was business studies and he was interviewed at Oxford and is currently at UCL.

Most universities only specify minimum grades in maths and english for GCSE. They don't look any further than that.

Ah @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff I see, but does it say on your website "we prefer students not to have business GCSE"? As I say, I am familiar with the A level subject strictures (and yes, econ is having such a moment that the top unis can certainly be picky) but I have never seen business excluded as a GCSE.

Tho tbh neither of my uni DC were interested in econ so it's not something they looked at, and I have not studied uni requirements in detail (I have looked, on behalf of friends). Pretty sure this is a question only for a very few uni subjects. As I say Ds is on a STEM masters course with PE A level, and his mate did very well in Bath maths with the PE A level too.

So Warwick asks for a 6 in Eng lang and a strong set of GCSE grades including the majority at 7-9 (or A-A). Your GCSE (or equivalent) English Language and Mathematics grades should be no lower than 6 (or B). We also consider your overall GCSE subject profile.* the uni doesn't say what it means by that last sentence but it doesn't exclude any subjects there or in the general requirements so it would be duplicitous of it to say business GCSE was no accepted.

Econ at Bristol needs "No specific subjects" and GCSE English Language grade C or 4 I presume (it doesn't say otherwise).

Bath says it considers top eight GCSE grades inc Eng and maths but does not specify subjects beyond that. "The strongest candidates will have mostly grade 9s" (even tho only about 1,000 students got all 9s in 2024 and I bet they didn't all apply for econ at Bath!). Bath is another that suggests A level subjects and these don't include business or PE it's true. You can stil study at Bath with PE A level tho (perhaps not econ) as I know someone who did. That was maths tho.

Ds is doing economics at university and has a business studies gcse i have never heard of it being excluded. It maybe depends on the university, but still I’ve never heard of it. Although when choosing his GCSEs he wasn’t going to do an economics degree he only decided in upper sixth

@clary we are quite old skool where I am. We use language similar to what you say, something like "preferred" or "like to see" but it means the admissions tutors discount it IRL. Up until very recently, we could fill our Econ course several times over and they are accordingly picky.

(I don't in soc sci, by the way, but I am on my institution's admissions group.)

OP the other thing to bear in mind is that many places are subtly relaxing criteria. We have a big review of our GCSE policy coming up and I know some senior people would like to do away with subject exclusions altogether and accept maths at grade 6, which is nosebleed territory for lots of folk!

When completing UCAS applications for my DD recently, some of her uni choices stated they didn't accept some subjects - things like Business Studies, Media Studies

Which universities said that? And were they actually talking about GCSE?

LSE is not keen on some subjects at A level and that can include business (not studies btw). But as long as you have other subjects on its list it's all good. And it is talking about A level not GCSE. The same is true of Cambridge which does publish a list of recommended subjects for specific degrees. But even Cambs says business is "less helpful" – not that it doesn't accept it.

The only A levels not accepted as a rule are critical thinking and general studies, which very few sixth forms offer anyway.

Uni applications look at the average of your top 8 GCSE grades – again not all unis by any means, really only a few or if you are applying for certain subjects like medicine.

Your DS is fine to take GCSE business, and I cannot imagine it will exclude him from any universities. Subjects that interest you are the ones that you are likely to do well in. MFL is my subject and yet I recognise it is not for everyone. Forcing him to doSpanish is likely to end badly. My DS took PE GCSE (and PE A level shock horror) and despite this got offers from four RG unis and the fabulous non RG one he ended up at.

<reads thread> I see others say the same as me. @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff really? I guess you don't want to say which uni but I am really surprised to read that.

It doesn’t matter and it isn’t your place. Empower him to make his decision.

Hi OP I will look tomorrow!

I wouldn't worry that much though. A level subjects are where genuinely hard and fast choices are made. Business Studs GCSE will be okay as long as he achieves in other subjs.

The maths is key though. We recently lowered the GCSE maths requirement and it was a proper stand up argument 😬 quite a lot of our social sciences folk would genuinely like to specify GCSE 9 as a must have. Not realistic though!

Like I said they just wouldn't count it.

I realise it can be, but not particularly for going on to study economics or architecture?

I guess I'm thinking if OP is concerned about business studies being excluded, surely a uni that excludes that subject would also exclude PE?

Surely art gcse wouldn't be excluded for an architecture degree?

@AstonScrapingsNameChange
PE is a useful subject

Has he got any uni courses in mind?

Have you checked with them specifically?

I don't think (I'm not a careers advisor) that all uni courses depend on your top 8 GCSE grades - Im pretty sure this is only for certain very competitive courses at top universities. Im sure that only certain courses would discount business studies gcse, that's not a given across the board.

Does he have to do PE? If you're worried about business studies could he do that but then do something more useful than PE instead?

How is he coping generally academically? If he got ADHD it's especially important to focus on subjects he likes and will do well in. I think you're right to bin Spanish if he's not keen (my ds has ADHD school pushed him to do a language and it was an utter slog for him).

You're right to discourage him from comport science if he's not keen - it will be a slog if he hasn't got that kind of super logical brain. Its like maths in that if you're good at it, it's relatively easy to do well, but if you're not then it's a nightmare. There are no half measures.

Overall I know it's important to plan ahead, but he's got to get through his GCSEs and A levels first. Sticking to subjects he likes is going to give him the best chance of doing well in those, which in turn will give him better university choices.

Sorry to add to the negativity here but I would think long and hard before studying architecture. It’s not an AI-proof career and the degree is long and accordingly expensive.

Excluded means little in practice - what happens to a kid with eight, nine, ten good GCSE grades one of which happens to be Business Studies?

Sorry to be really clear - some places like mine will specify "x many" GCSEs and wouldn't count bus studs towards that. So it is not that if you have done bus studs you cannot get in, just, they don't look at it.

But as others have said it would often be a no-no at A level.