Are remarks/review of marking just for the wealthy?

No I never said it was bad, I said Ofsted don't like it. You have misinterpreted my comments

Weren't you the one suggesting that kids taking more than 9 GCSEs is a bad thing which is why Ofsted feel the need to investigate it?

What a waste of time when they could be investigating real problems like why so many teachers are leaving.

Who said it was positive?
Take it up with the government

Kids only taking 8 or 9 GCSEs because they don't have enough teachers is a completely different thing, and not a positive one!

No idea and honestly I don't really care. Of course they have to investigate schools potentially gaming their position in league table. They investigate everything to do with impact on pupils

Yes that's 1 school.

The data clearly shows the majority do 8 or 9 GCSEs. Not sure how many more times I can cope with having to say it.

Some schools encourage 10 but majority don't

Why is it so hard to understand with teacher shortages, budgets slashed etc? There aren't the staff to teach 10 subjects! There are barely the teachers to teach 8 and many GCSE years are being taught by supply teachers or non-subject specialists

What happened 20+ years ago has zero bearing on what happens today in terms of number of GCSEs taken.

In my state school 10 was standard and everyone in the top set for maths had the opportunity to do statistics as an added extra. (I think we might have had classes after school once a week, or maybe at lunchtime). I also did German outside of school and took it in year 10.

So in my school it was 11 GCSEs for those who were good at maths and took statistics, 10 for everyone else. The only people who took fewer than 10 were the ones who were really struggling academically.

If someone told me they had 8 GCSEs I would assume they had some sort of academic difficulties and were advised to take a small number in the hope of passing more of them.

If someone told me they had 8 GCSEs which were all top grades I'd think it was weird that they hadn't done more and assume they'd have been more of a B student if they'd had to take 10 or 11 like most people do.

Well no because most kids don't do 13, at any stage. The majority of adults in UK have 8-9 GCSEs
Some may have more but the majority don't. Very very few do 13 GCSEs ever

I'm surprised Ofsted don't have better things to do with their time tbh.

What are the consequences if Ofsted decide they are unhappy that children are getting too many qualifications and the school is doing too well in the league tables?

Ofsted don't like the practice of sitting GCSEs early either. They will challenge and inspect the reasons behind the practice. The concern is that a school's primary motivation for early entry might be to boost its league table performance rather than for the pupil's benefit. So, whilst early entry is permitted for many students, Ofsted will question whether it truly serves the pupil's interests and learning

That's taken from Ofsted themselves so ask them

I don’t know a single private school that timetables more than 10. My child’s school offers at least 2 extra gcse but it is a lunchtime club twice a week for 2 years. I literally can’t fathom where there is a 3rd extra time in the timetable. 10 was hard enough.

I have no idea! The whole thing sounds batshit to me. It's being done to appeal to the parents who would rather their children went to independent school but can't afford it and is part of a general attempt to look different and ambitious, but I suspect in reality it's a mess.

The updated statistics for 2025 are here. However, they don’t cover the OP’s situation. Neither do the statistics mentioned by a pp. The 2025 statistics only cover those say in the summer 2025 series. Not GCSEs eat early. Therefore, while less than 0.1% of 16 year olds sit 12+ GCSEs in Y11, the boy in the OP wouldn’t be included in that statistics.

How on earth did they timetable that? Surely there is only the time for 10 in school hours? The only people I know with more than 10 did others out of school or they did extras in their lunch or after school. To timetable 13 for everyone seems crazy and I just can’t see how they do it.

But the very specific point I was making was that I disagreed with the local school that routinely starts all year 10 pupils on 13 GCSE courses. Nothing wider than that.

Well no because most kids don't do 13, at any stage. The majority of adults in UK have 8-9 GCSEs
Some may have more but the majority don't. Very very few do 13 GCSEs ever

Not 13 subjects though? That's what I disagree with.

They have to start in Yr 10, GCSEs are a KS 4 course

It would have helped if you hadn't started with 'no one takes 13 GSCEs' which felt like an attempt to discredit the OP, when in fact it's not no one. And the stats you're quoting are children taking all those GCSEs in 2024 rather than children who may have got their grades across years. Yes, it's rare to have 13 GCSEs, but not that rare. I did two in a year after my lower sixth - one in my spare time through a club (nothing to do with my school) and one as a complement to one of my A levels taught in a school club. Lots of schools, including state schools, offer these sorts of opportunities, and as I said one of our local state schools does enter some of its kids for this many subjects in year 11 having started the majority off on the courses in year 10 (which I think is a dreadful approach).

It would have helped if you hadn't started with 'no one takes 13 GSCEs' which felt like an attempt to discredit the OP, when in fact it's not no one. And the stats you're quoting are children taking all those GCSEs in 2024 rather than children who may have got their grades across years. Yes, it's rare to have 13 GCSEs, but not that rare. I did two in a year after my lower sixth - one in my spare time through a club (nothing to do with my school) and one as a complement to one of my A levels taught in a school club. Lots of schools, including state schools, offer these sorts of opportunities, and as I said one of our local state schools does enter some of its kids for this many subjects in year 11 having started the majority off on the courses in year 10 (which I think is a dreadful approach).