GCSE options...how much do they really matter?

I'm not cross in the least, just a bit wearied at rubbish about minimum number of A* for Oxford being played over and over again.

yellowtip I can't quite understand why you are so cross with me. I am simply stating what we found to be true when looking for our dcs. It's very competitive and that is what we found. I am pleased they now say majority/ 70% rather than quote an exact number like Edinburgh did. For us it means ds probably won't get in and it's made dd13 think very hard about her choices.

Incidentally, dh who went to oxford in late 70 s is a bit shocked as he got low o level grades.

Besides which 'a high percentage of A and A grades at GCSE' is not in any way the same as 'a minimum of 8A is necessary to even get a look in'.

overthemill it's rubbish that you need 8A at Oxford to 'get a look in'. The average for Medicine is different. Other than that what you say is bunkum, with the caveat that those getting interview offers are likely to be clever kids who've achieved well. For a start pre-tests are used for a great many subjects and put into the mix with A and for another start it depends on the school at which at applicant sat GCSEs. It's not helpful to quote tiny bits of a website out of context.

Chopchopbusybusy, not trying to scaremonger!

cambridge DON'T specify anything about GCSEs at the moment, but when we looked for eldest dd 2 years ago it was a requirement and for ds in yr 12 now when he looked a year ago after GCSEs it was. They now say:

" a potential Oxford applicant has a GCSE profile which is strong overall (i.e. contains a large majority of A and A* grades)"

which I am really pleased about. To check, as you made me worry we had it wrong I randomly selected some Oxford courses and this what they say:

PPE:
"we could not be optimistic about your chances of gaining a place at Oxford if you do not have a high percentage for A* and A grades at GCSE"

Medicine:
"usually 70% of GCSE grades are A*"

ds hopes to do maths or engineering. dd13 hopes to do zoology

this is useful place to start

btw re Edinburgh - eldest dd went all the way to Edinburgh for an open day, was told by first tutor she met that she couldn't be offered a place as she didn't have 8 A and was astonished to learn that it wasn't on any of the open day material sent out by them - total waste of time and money. Her grandad who is a graduate and a donor was well p**d off! She is at a Russell Group Uni and really enjoying it.

Do you think universities are paying attention to Mr Gove's Ebacc?

Well it's not "'Mr Gove's Ebacc" as such, that you get to impress others. More it's the "broad education" that you hope a fairly academic child would get, for its own worth.
Long before the phrase EBacc came into existence, our local comp used to recommend:
Eng Eng Sci Sci Maths then
a humanity
a language
a tech and
an art

I don't think the Ebacc counts for very much at all wordfactory, but your ds may want to choose History anyway since it appeared on all but one of his lists and it might be a useful A level if he enjoys it. I suggest that History, RS and Latin would probably be the easiest and least risky set of the ones listed (like you I'm slightly sceptical of doing a language from scatch in 2 years, especially with 2 other languages already being studied - I'm sure it's possible, but the likelihood of getting a lower grade is greater).

After he's done all the core stuff (Eng x2, maths, science x3, MFL) there are only three choices left.

That's no longer 'core'. It would be an idea to include a humanity to cover the EBac

DS did IGCSEs and had extra exams for French and Science to cover parts which would have been done by a controlled assessment otherwise, so I think in UK schools there will normally be some element of coursework/controlled assessment in those subjects at least. But it is certainly minor in comparison with what some GCSEs have been like in the past few years.

DS was in UK but was an external candidate for the exams, as he was home educated / internet school at the time, so controlled assessment was not possible.

TiP I know, that's why I said old recent. Modular GCSEs didn't last very long at all.

gelo
The GCSE curriculum has changed. THe current year 10 cohort onwards will be predominantly exams at the end.

Oh yes iGCSEs are all linear but old recent GCSEs weren't (but very old ones were). I think for coursework there is always an alternative option for genuine foreigners in iGCSE, but I'm not sure that there are no teacher assessment alternatives at all. Some things just lend themselves to being done in school (science practicals, spoken english or mfl, geog fieldwork etc), but GCSE seems to have taken controlled assessment much further than the obvious bits - eg: written mfl and English essay based tasks.

The opportunity to take modules was a notable and distinguishing feature up until now gelo, is what I meant.

Interesting that you say RE is easy because there's no coursework :)

well the main difference yellow is the amount of coursework/controlled assessment - iGCSEs tend to be more exam based, but I'm not sure about languages which presumably still have spoken tasks that are teacher assessed at least.

I'd choose spanish over ancient greek, easier or not. As a widely spoken mfl it's going to be useful at some stage in his life to say hello, order breakfast and ask for directions in it. I'd say RE is an easier choice than any language for sure even though it's not soft (even if it is soft, one soft option is completely fine). It's good for written skills, reasoning and looking at the world from others viewpoints, it's easy because there's no coursework rather than anything else.

word there's going to be very little difference between the two types of GCSE any more.

What your DS opts for won't matter but how he does might, since he's clearly a high achiever with high aspirations. So he should just plump for whatever interests him most because that will take care of his grades, especially at a school like his.

Sorry, I missed out step 4, which is to add up the scores so each subject has a total score out of 30, but that's probably obvious.

DS1 is in Y8, so will have to make this choice next year. The following will be compulsory: Maths, English x2, Science x3, German.

Then he'll have to choose one out of History and Geography, and one other (which could be the other one out of History and Geography).

This is what I think I'll suggest he does:

1. Write a list of the subjects he can choose from and get him to rate how much he enjoys each one out of 10. It's important to do this step first so the answers aren't swayed by steps 2 or 3.
2. Write down how well he is likely to do in each subject, based on current NC level. His highest level would score 10, and work down from there.
3. Write down how useful each subject is likely to be in terms of giving him access to the A-levels that he wants to do. Most useful subject scores 10/10.

This is how I chose my GCSE options and it worked for me (until the school said they couldn't timetable both Latin and Music).

I don't agree that RS is necessarily a soft option. At DDs school it is compulsory, but only the half GCSE. The full GCSE is a perfectly respectable choice.
It's scaremongering to say that Oxford and Edinburgh require 8A* to even get a look in. It's not true.