How many GCSEs and A levels do your dcs have to do in their secondary schools?

Older 3 at 3 different selective grammars. Maximum 10 at GCSE no early entry.
At 2 there are no AS courses, if child gets more than 7 A* they can apply to take 4 to A Level. Haven't looked at the other school's criteria - ds is only yr7 :)

Ds did 9 GCSEs, dd will do 11. At the moment 4 a/as levels in l6 and 3/4 in u6.

DD's school does 10 GCSEs or 11 if you do one of the subjects that is taught as a twilight option.

A few years ago, I looked at our local (OFSTED Outstanding, challenging intake) comp's stats and their high achiever group were doing 17 (seventeen!) "GCSE equivalents" which is fucking nuts and clearly gaming the system by picking overvalued BTECs for children who were entirely capable of taking a standard academic route. There in a nutshell is why Gove went for the EBAC backlash.

Lateral stretching is fine Eastpoint. Taking 2 early from 10 still leaves your 8 and relieves some revision stress. It does no harm at all.

But where did you get the notion that now it is "8 at the same time" from anyway? Which universities state this? I just looked the four unis where I have worked, and been involved at various times in admissions:

Cambridge: GCSE requirements. Apart from Med and Vet there are none, though they say that 4/5 As or A*s is the norm. No restrictions on early entry.

Oxford: "We do not have any specific requirements for GCSE grades, though higher grades can help to make your application more competitive. Successful applicants typically have a high proportion of A and A* grades."

UCL: No comments on early entry.

King's London: Does comment, but only to the effect that a grade from a year early is treated in the same way as one take normally.

For A levels if you take one a year early then I know some Departments may ask for grades on 3 more to ensure workload management OK, e.g Imperial Physics, but at GCSE there's no evidence among the top group that they care much about GCSE timings. It's also of note that they are more interested in a good handful of top grades at GCSE than doing 12 or 14.

The prejudice against early entry I think comes from schools' obsession with performance tables, where only the first entry counts. Schools who have kids who are judged to be capable of achieving A* a year or more early should allow them to do it if they want to and get it out of the way.

Roguedad Although universities might have been impressed in the past they aren't now and prefer at least 8 exams taken at the same time to show breadth and ability to study a range of different subjects at the same time. Doing French, maths & English early (as I did in the 80s) is no longer considered to be of benefit. Dcs go to schools with very high outcomes and don't take any subjects early. Students can be stretched laterally rather than just doing exams early.

I have to disagree with TalkinPeace on early entry. I got maths and music out of the way in year 4 and it was rather less of a burden revising for 8 rather than 10 in fifth form. Universities, contrary to some views, are actually impressed to see GCSEs taken at an earlier age. The mistake is when kids who are not ready are put in. I'd look much less favourably on a school that did not allow it, or indeed on one who positively stopped kids doing more than three A levels.

Mine do 10 GCSEs and start off with 5 A-levels.

DD's only Yr7 so no direct experience yet, but the notable results at GCSE for last year (some of which are for beating targets, btw, not all just for loads of A*s) all have 10 GCSEs. A-levels are three or four, dropping one at the end of Yr12 is the norm, but some keep up all four.

Very high achieving, including high value-added, state comp.

Some of these numbers are bonkers. DH has a princely 7 GCSEs, from a grammar school, and a first class degree. 13/14/15 GCSEs seems crazy.

10 or 11: maths,2 English , 2or 3 science, RE, 1 MFL, 3 other options. DS wants to do history, geography and PE

Probably 3 a levels but not researched this thoroughly yet.

my kids are at a comp
no early entry
DD took the whole 13 in one linear session
DS will do the same with his 11

early entry does not benefit kids

Too many!

MFL in Y9
Statistics and RE Y10
11 GCSEs on Y11 plus some do FM and an AS MFL

Selective Grammar. Half the cohort get 15 GCSEs. My DS would be much better off focusing on 10.

DD did 13 GCSE

DS doing 11
DD did 5 AS and is doing 3 A2 plus EPQ
DS will do 4 AS and 3 A2

remember that in Private schools they can afford to do non examined subject slots.
State schools do not have the reources for such

I also have a DS in Y8, in the same school as his siblings. It was different for both if them, so not thinking about it until I know what school are doing.

For the record though. DS1 did 12.5 GCSEs and DD is doing 11.

DS1 is doing 4 a levels Inc FM. He did 5 AS and refused to do General Studies as well.

DD has just chosen 4 A levels, and has the option to add FM.

School adds in General Studies later on. Assuming it will still exist.

2 in year 9, 2 in year 10, 9/10/11 in year 11. Ridiculous numbers.

My ds is doing 13 GCSE's in total but that's because he's in mostly too sets so is doing four options instead of two and he's also found triple science instead of double. I think when I was a at school we did 8 or 9 so it's a lot now a days.

Why is that a shame , my ds school makes the good point that there are so many worthwhile activities in school and outside that do not include exams. Why do an extra subject as a GCSE when you could expand your mind and experience laterally by doing things which are not as narrow, and develop you as a whole person and not just a set of exam results

Music activities , learning a conversational language , doing more sport, volonteering , leadership activities,music , orchestra ,drama etc etc .I don't think any future career or degree will need more than 10 good GCSEs in a spread of subjects , the eleventh is just a waste of time .

It their A level booklet they actually say this explicitly , that when considering whether to do a fourth you should take into account the impact this would have on your extra curricular life and whether it is worth it .

As an aside I was listening to a lecture recently by the head of admissions at UCL law dept and she said that they absolutely value those with a broad range of extra curricular activities because they want people who really participate in the life of the dept both academically and socially .I was quite surprised at how emphatic she was .

Comp - 11 GCSEs (for those doing triple science), then three A levels and one subject as an AS. From September, it'll be 10 GCSEs which is a shame for those who are capable.

I agree with pp - let it rest until year 9 comes round, you really don't have to start preparing now. She will know herself better by then anyway.

You asked how you know or how your DC know what to pick.

DD's school laid on an open evening for all subjects, online video presentations, a separate teacher consultation evening, loads of links and advice about career choices (although not so much about planning for university entrance), plus a personal interview for every student. The kids have to fill out a form explaining their ambitions and their strengths and weaknesses, and justifying their choices.

Then DD made her choice based largely on which teachers she likes and what her friends are doing, just like teenagers have done for decades.

(plus I got some good advice on MN and steered DD a bit with the benefit of that).

Current year 10 are doing 10 GCSE but this will drop to 9 for the current year 9s. This is to allow sufficient teaching time for the new exam format. They are expected to do EBacc, which restricts options to a humanity, a MFL and a free choice or triple science.

I really can't see the point in doing 12 or even 14 GCSE's.

Balletgirl

I read the Ofsted report and it is so brilliantly correct.
I know she's at the right place. Doesn't make it any easier though, for those who are so anti boarding, it could be them one day.

DS is doing 12 GSCE's at his comp but is an outlier the standard is 10 or 8 + 2 Btec's (which my dd is doing) - standard local comp.

DS's 6th form choice is 3 pathways either 4 alevels, Btec diploma + 2 alevels or extended Btec diploma + 1 alevel, all with epq in addition - new UTC.
If he stays at his current school for 6th form 4 alevels.