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Original poster

GCSE's taught over 3 years?

62 replies

Grumpysfirstwife · 15/06/2016 11:42

My friends school has decided they will now teach GCSE's over 3 years instead of 2. The letter from the school states this is now considered the most successful way to teach GCSE's as it gives them more opportunity to iron out any problems and that staff don't have to squash in bits of teaching, they can offer it in a calmer more detailed way instead.

Does anyone elses school do this? I'm curious to know if it improves grades or makes school less stressful for the students. It may suit my DD to do this due to a variety of reasons but I wouldn't like to consider moving her if it doesn't help the students achieve their potential.

OP posts:
BertrandRussell · 15/06/2016 13:40

Presumably that's a private school, trout?

troutsprout · 15/06/2016 13:14

Dd's school do GCSEs in 1 year (apart from the core and mfl) so heaven knows how they are going to cope with new GCSEs !Confused
They currently do 2 in year 9, 2 in year 10 and 2 more ( plus core) in year 11.

mummytime · 15/06/2016 12:51

My DD's school is doing this. There just isn't time to teach as broad a curriculum in 2 years. Different subjects are planning the 3 years in different way; for example one option is teaching a different qualification for the first year as a preparation for the GCSE. I don't think it is clear quite how it will all work, and they are keeping themselves flexible.
As they will be changing from 2 years GCSE to 3 this year, it means they will actually have two year groups starting GCSE courses at the same time. My DD is very lucky to be in the younger group so not the first cohort for all the exams (and will have just that bit extra time to prepare).

hedwig2001 · 15/06/2016 12:38

My son's school does this. Options made in Year 8, courses started Year 9. He is just coming to the end of Year 10. It seems to be good.

BossWitch · 15/06/2016 12:37

The new GCSEs are much harder and have more content all round I think - the new English Lit certainly does, and I know a lot of schools are starting in year 9 so that they will actually have enough time to read the texts. The tricky thing is that with it being 100% exam, they are being taught material in year 9 and then examined in it at the end of year 11. That's a long time to retain complex information. Also there is the question of whether they can be taught at a high enough level when they are still only in year 9.

I know of one school who are planning to do English Language in year 9 and 10, enter for the exam at the end of year 10, those that pass will then only study Lit in year 11, those that don't will not do Lit, just study and retake Language. Which sounds bloody awful. So I would just check with the school exactly how they are proposing to structure it all.

PurpleRibbons · 15/06/2016 12:31

Looking at our new GCSE spec I can't see how we are going to teach it all in 2 years, especially as Yr 11 is really only 2 terms. It's too late to do anything for current yr 9 who will start in Sept but I would certainly consider 3 yr GCSEs for current yr 8. Unfortunately the exam boards didn't get the new courses approved until just before Easter so we haven't had a lot of time to plan for it.

Goingtobeawesome · 15/06/2016 12:27

Thank you GFW.

Original poster
Grumpysfirstwife · 15/06/2016 12:14

Goingtobeawesome Years 12 & 13 are usually for A Levels but some schools offer other qualifications too. Some students can resit GCSE's in year 12 where they didn't achieve the grade they wanted on the first sitting.

OP posts:
Goingtobeawesome · 15/06/2016 12:07

My son is year ten and did four GCSEs last month. He will do more next year too but as I went to school elsewhere I don't know what year 12 is for.

BertrandRussell · 15/06/2016 12:03

Well a lot of schools- including ds's- have been doing 3 year GSCEs for a while. There are pros and cons- but I don't think any of them will apply after this year. The new GCSEs are apparently going to be much harder, so I really don't think there's any use comparing.

I suppose the thing to ask is- are you happy with the school? Do you trust it to do the right thing for the children?

Original poster
Grumpysfirstwife · 15/06/2016 11:58

I believe they've been looking at other schools who already follow this way of teaching so I'm hoping someone will have some experience. Confused

OP posts:
BertrandRussell · 15/06/2016 11:45

The problem is that nobody can say because we don't have any experience of the new GCSEs yet.