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Original poster

GCSE options - should school's individual subject results be taken into account?

32 replies

Oinkyoinky · 08/03/2016 11:43

DC is about to take her GCSE options. Overall her comprehensive gets pretty good results - in 2015 around 70% got 5 GCSEs A-C including English & Maths.

However looking just at A & A grades for individual subjects, some get great grades - ie individual Triple Science subjects around 65%, but some subjects much lower ie Geography 25%, Computer Science 9%, Product Design 8%. DC is very able and we have been told she is in theory able to get all A & A grades (in old money - but hopefully 8s & possibly 9s in the new system).

So should she avoid subjects where there is historically & statistically less percentage of students get a high grade, or should it not matter?

OP posts:
RhodaBull · 08/03/2016 13:06

RS is not one of the English Baccalaureate subjects, but it is not a soft subject by any means.

As others have said, pupils roughly sort themselves at GCSE with the more able ones doing Triple Science, MFL and possibly History, and the less able ones leaning towards Graphics, PE etc and, just from personal observation, Geography. So it's self-explanatory why the results may be higher in some subjects.

In some subjects there is a bit of a mix, though, eg Music which when ds took it had some very able pupils (two in ds's class have Oxbridge offers now) and some who really struggled so there was a wide spread of GCSE results in this subject.

Original poster
Oinkyoinky · 08/03/2016 12:52

Thanks for the replies. Yes she is also planning on taking French, so Spanish should be fairly easy for her, but equally may be unnecessary.
She is unsure as to which direction she will go in post GCSEs / for A levels - as equally able & keen in Sciences, Art & languages.

Only "missing" option on GCSEs is History or Geography - but she does not want to do either and I'm not sure I can force her. However they are forced to do RS, which is a humanity, but is, from what I hear, seen as a soft option.

Product Design probably not that sensible an option as sure there are plenty of product designers out there who don't have it for GCSE!?
Just a shame about computer science - odds don't look that great at the moment and again I'm not sure how useful it is at GCSE if not considering a career in programming or IT?

OP posts:
Gruach · 08/03/2016 12:25

The differences seem fairly stark.

In addition to the very sensible points above it might be worth bearing in mind that if other parents are making the same comparisons it may be that all the children who can take other subjects will be encouraged to avoid the less successful subjects. So, if your DD decides to take Product Design for example (at this school) it's possible that the participating cohort may be largely made up of children who for one reason or another were not encouraged to take other subjects.

senua · 08/03/2016 12:24

What's the plan for sixth form and after - does that have any bearing?

Is she already taking a MFL? If not, then Spanish all the way.

Original poster
Oinkyoinky · 08/03/2016 12:14

Thanks tiggytape & senue - results are a bit up & down year on year but generally fairly consistent. Agree re triple science - they do have great teachers & they restrict who can take it to having to get a high level at the end of year 9.

DC can't decide between 3 subjects for her last option - product design, computer science or Spanish.

Product Design had a low uptake of less than 20 students, and there were no A*s, 1 A , 1 B and the rest Cs and Ds. In previous years the results have been fairly similar. But other design options get much better results, so think it's maybe just a product design department thing which is a shame as my dc is really keen and it's not the kind of subject you could easily supplement with a tutor.

Computer Science is a new subject I think, (the school didn't offer it last year) & I would have though it would attract the more able students. But out of 25 students only a couple for As and Bs and the rest Cs and Ds. Maybe as a new subject they are finding their feet, but not sure I want to experiment with my dc!?

Spanish is more of a dead cert I think - only 18 entries but 50% got A / A*. Again I suppose if you're good at mfl then Spanish is perhaps a fairly easy option.

Have parents evening in a couple of weeks so will discuss in more detail then I hope.

OP posts:
senua · 08/03/2016 11:57

If she was dead keen on a subject then perhaps you could risk it and supplement with tutoring.
If it's a case of deciding on the 8th/9th/10th subject, then why risk it?

Are the GCSE results consistent over years or are we talking a one-year blip?

tiggytape · 08/03/2016 11:56

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