Dd in tears over gcse options.

Viva, DS did both art and graphics. He much preferred the graphics, but did better in art despite protesting that they kept wanting him to write about his feelings instead of just getting on with the drawing. In fact, art GCSE put him right off painting and drawing for quite some time afterwards, so it's not for everyone. Sounds like your DD has a real talent in the area.

DS did graphic design at A-level, and got both architecture and product design offers off the back of it, though he did have a good portfolio of 'external' artwork. (Then he decided he was going for a different course entirely, but hey ho.)

Does your DD's school actually offer both at A-level? If so, how well do they do in them, how many kids take each, and what are their entry requirements? Same goes for other 6th forms she might be considering -- you can usually get at the prospectus online.

I was heavily advised, many years ago, against doing physics A'level without Maths A'level. I ended up doing an extra a'level vs most of my pear group (maths and further maths combo being the exception), and the medics doing Bio, Phy, Chem A'levels did struggle with the maths component - but maybe thats because they were less mathmatically minded anyway??? Just another thing to think about regarding A'level choices - which are still a couple of years away.

Bath architure is one of the best in the country - look at some other places for other grade requirments before it is totally ruled out.

A lot can change over the GCSE years. My DD started worried she would fail Maths, she is now in line for an A*, and definitely doing A'level.

Schools can be pretty rubbish about the advice they offer. A friends dc wanted to do three sciences so she could be a vet. The school told her she didn't need physics and two would be ok. It was only when she showed them a letter from the head of admissions at the Vet school that the school relented. As others have said, it is a good idea to take advice from universities (more than one) about the courses of interest and work back to GCSE options. But also try and keep options open a bit as interests may still change.

Also, his teacher already asked him to do art, graphics and photography A level, to which he replied that his third subject needs to be an essay one so he can develop more empathy for illustrating/writing!

We're still waiting to hear, Viva, whether ds can do both art and graphics (wants to be an illustrator). I have reservations about him doing both, but its his passion, he is talented, and the way his timetable work, he will have several free periods a week, so the art teacher will have him in the art department, keeping up.

There's a moan on another thread about too many architecture graduates can't find jobs; I think there are more diverse sectors to choose from with graphics design under her belt.

She's a lucky girl, really, she has some immense talents already :).

The best architecture courses like maths, physics and art A level and possibly a humanity instead of art if skill in Art can be demonstrated elsewhere. 3D graphic design is also good. Not every course requires a portfolio. Art foundation courses are really tasters of a broad spectrum of Art to allow the student to decide if they wish to pursue fine art, photography, ceramics degrees etc. I would be inclined to research all possible degrees and work back to A levels required and GCSEs. I do think she is being done a great disservice by not being allowed to take graphic design and art. I would look at course requirements - University of Bath School of Architecture is a great place to start - and argue your case with the school based on fact.

Hugs & biscuits time, I think.
Either one will be fine, I'm sure. But doesn't solve her problem of which to choose from "drama, music, computer sciences, history or geography. " , does it?

Has she considered higher apprenticeships post A-level, instead of Uni? Some of them are very much graphic design.

Human geography gives excellent scope for interior or landscape design...

My son is just finishing bastard GCSE art. For each of his projects he has taken his own photos. I know it isn't the same, but there will at least be some element of photography. And she could teach herself photography skills via the internet over the summer if she is a self starter.

If there's any chance she'll want to do architecture rather than graphic design later, the physics would be a really good one to keep for A-level.

Photography, Graphics and and Art at A level will be total Murder!!! She may well rant, but she will really struggle to do all of this. My DD did Art and Photography at A level and went straight onto a degree course at UAL so it did side step the foundation year because she had two art A levels under her belt, but no-one does three! I cannot begin to tell you how much work is involved in doing two Art A levels, let alone three. My DD had to have her Photography portfolio ready for March, not June, and Art was not much later. These subjects are not exams in June. Your DD will also have to do a massive portfolio for university application and, guess what, no university wants the same thing so you have to keep tweaking it. Often they will want photos of it sent in - in January! Before she makes very silly choices, you and she need to know exactly what this means. Most schools would never allow this combination of A levels. Your DD needs to calm down and it would really be a good idea to talk through with her what is actually needed, instead of her imagining what is needed. Nearly every university that offers Graphic Design will tell you what the student should have in their portfolio and what skills they are looking for. Many students will produce work above and beyond the A level syllabus, so time for this needs to be factored in too.

Geography tends to be less essay based than History, so I would choose Geography to keep her GCSEs broad. Also, a good Graphic Design course will probably ask for high grade A levels and some of them may want to see a written subject in there too. No degree is just about practical work. A levels onwards are about writing up research, inspiration and about your work too.

I had similar.
Dd1 was sure she wanted to do geography and music.
The about a month before they had to hand options in she was approached by a history teacher who told her he thought (surprise) she should do history. He went through the syllabus with her, and she came back saying she was't sure.
She wasn't sure even up to the last day and put after a lot of tears and decisions history and music, wth geography and business as back ups.

Then they came back organised them in blocks and found that she couldn't do history and music. That irritated me somewhat as it would have been an easy decision before if they'd given us the blocks.

However now she had decided to do history she didn't want to change, so she's dropped the music* and is doing history and business.

As I said to her, it won't matter in the long run, and she can always do music GCSE alongside A-levels if she wants. But the heartache we had over the original decision would have been so much easier if we'd known this from the beginning.

*at the same time they announced that those who wanted to do Btech music had been put into the GCSE group. Now the issue there is a lot of the btech music are "wanna-be pop stars" so the music department to soften that blow said they would do a more popular music option than the usual classics (which dd1 likes), so she wasn't too upset at leaving music behind in that case.