DD forced to do X number of GCSEs subjects?

I think you're being a little narrow minded about the usefulness of a D&T subject. Mine was one of the most useful I did wrt the real world, thinking about project management and specifications for products (be they wood, food or textile!).

She should do whatever is most attractor from that
crappy list and not turn up for the exam, she'll get a U and it literally will not exist.

It baffles me how many schools expect them to do now, took 8 GCSEs in 1989 and I'm a vet. There seems to be a continual one upmanship from schools to do more and more GCSEs, really wrong in my view.

Um, having looked at Med School entry requirements not every MED school will require all A/A* in all GCSEs. They just don't. Maybe those MED schools aren't acceptable to OP. Which means aiming for an extremely high bar or nothing, I guess.

DD (same age group) will be doing:

English
Maths
Science (*3)
RE
IT

Her optional choices were:
Geography
Resistant Materials

She also should have a language option but because she's top set is forced to do French GCSE in year 10 and then Spanish in year 11.

I'm not sure if English / Maths are dual award or single.

DD hates languages and is constantly astounded that she gets good grades and in all honesty she would have happily dropped at least one.

Choosing 3* Science meant she couldn't do certain other subjects (I think drama, PE and erm something else) due to timetable clashes.

morethanpotatoprints 6 GCSEs aren't really enough broadly speaking. Schools now get measured on 'best 8' (or something like that).

(Though of course for lots of things 5 A*-C is the minimum needed)

Thinking back a bit (1995)

I did
2 English
3 sciences
2 maths (but over two years, so did one in 94)
Geography
Music
History and appreciation of music
French

So eleven. Then three science A levels and AS maths, plus A level general studies.

Then medicine. Worked in surgery for a long time and now training as a GP. In retrospect, business would have been a good one, as very little time is available for the running a business side of being a modern GP (responsible for staff, tax, stock, buildings etc as well as the day job if a partner)

I remember thinking about doing GCSE PE in sixth form, as there was quite a lot of physiology on the syllabus, but it was no loss to leave it. Choose something fun that uses a different bit of brain, and be ready to use it in other things (one of my hist. App. Music essays got me an A in general studies two years later, and that A helped me into med school!)

I don't think you have any choice in the matter as the school decide.
I think that 6 are plenty but haven't found a school happy to do this yet.
I think 8 is the least I have come across yet and that's a specialist school so can do fewer here.
My ds did 10 or more, its ridiculous and only for the schools benefit, once again not the children's.

We did three separate sciences at our school (state) and were expected to do 13 subjects. no exceptions. Everyone managed it. What difference is it to her to do eleven not ten?

Absolutely 3littlefrogs - couldn't agree more. Luckily DD has kept up a sport that she has been doing since she was 5/6, but I agree that there's no wonder she is stressed as she has so many plates to spin

DS2 found ICT pretty easy and had achieved the equivalent of an A my March of year 11 and then used the time to revise for his other subjects.

15 GCSEs is just ridiculous.
IMO it is much more important to have time to do something interesting outside school - a sport or something musical for example. Looks much better on a CV than a string of GCSEs - especially if the grades are mixed.

Does the triple take up 3 timetable slots or is it squashed into 2?

We were in a similar situation.
I would just go with the flow in year 10, then drop one in year 11.
Don't they do ICT in one year anyway?
IME a lot of kids drop one subject at the end of year 10. It isn't such a battle at that stage.

I agree, 10 As are better than a mix of 11 As, As and a B.

Well, think yourself lucky. DD was doing 15 GCSE's until we said that she was dropping 2 near the end of Y10. So she is now doing 13

HappyHairDay, I think you are thinking that the double award is the same as triple science. For the double award they do study the 3 sciences but to a slightly lower level than for the triple.

FWIW, I did food tech (known as domestic science (cookery) back in the Dark Ages) and it was the hardest one!

Assume triple is three separate?

She's done very well for a non native speaker! I assume you're looking at private 6thbforms then - even the most competitive of grammars would be happy with 10 A or A* and a B especially with her background and attending a school with relatively poor results.

PE is the best option by far and med schools actually like it.

You could always say she'll pick another option if they can offer her a subject worth studying.

Pity there isn't drama DD1 enjoyed drama, although it was hard work.

I do agree the whole do something for fun, is a problem for would be medics who don't want 10 A/A* and a B on their applications.

History is a good solid, get an A if you like writting subject, but History and Geography is tedious to do. I did both, to avoid MFL (our French dept. were rubbish and I wanted a clean sweap of good grades for a science degree). I got distictly fed up revising them.

PE would be a good choice actually,as the pp says.