GCSEs - is 8 enough?

I thought the Universities now had expressed a preferrence for all exams to be taken in one sitting.

Good post as well GreenGinger-you're not wrong!

Fantastic post tiggytape - absolutely word for word bang on.

So many Parents at my recent Options Evening (am a teacher) were shocked at the new structure (rightly so) in my Grammar in Kent, that gave them so little to choose from now the GCSEs numbers have been scaled down.

Teachers said this was going to happen with Gove's policies but we were shot down constantly by parents wanting more rigour. This is the legacy from Gove and current students are the Guinea Pigs. So sad.

I thought that was the whole point of the new GCSE. Strings of A* are pretty meaningless as so many have them.

I thought now it was expected from the powers that be that the brightest would get 8s with 1 or 2 9s in the areas they are G&T. Whatever wonderful predictions they are getting now at school I'm not paying much heed to them as it's such a new exam. Certainly not letting them count their chickens.

Again happy to be corrected otherwise.

I took O levels early.

The new GCSEs are different.

From what I've read so far it's expected very few will get a 9. I think it's far from a done deal to be honest. Happy to be corrected otherwise.

There can't be that many children guaranteed a 9 when they are in year 10 surely. That's the equivalent of A**

I just think that if the child is basically guaranteed a Level 9 (baring an Act of God) in GCSE Maths, taking it in Yr 10, then it's just sensible for them to get it out of the way early.

DH took O level Maths a year ear;ly, all his grammar top set did as a matter of course. They all got As.

Our grammar has cut back to 9.

Hmm I have a top maths set grammar child too and I'm not sure I want him doing maths early.

Maths is crucial and I'd rather he waited and had a better chance of a 9. The new exams are so much harder and weightier. A 9 in maths would be far more valuable than an add on Geology.

Also don't they only get one chance now.

I think the maths example is slightly different if it's children who will get the equivalent of A* in the maths AND the further maths.

However doing a random GCSE at the end of year 9/10 and kids coming away with a grade B/C whereas if they'd done it at the end of y11 when more mature and exam savvy is where the issues lie and why many schools have scrapped doing GCSEs (not maths in above situation) early, especially with the new curriculums and end of course exam system.

Whilst the Oxbridge prospectus might say there are no formal requirements/grades required for Medicine, does anyone know of any medical undergraduate who didn't score a long string of As at O Level/GCSE and A Level???

We have quite a few friends who are doctors, and they all got impressive O Levels and A Levels. Friends DCs who are looking to take/are taking Medicine all have impressive GCSEs (at least 10) and are predicted/gained top A Level grades.

|Medicine is so over subscribed that medical schools can (and do) totally cherry pick their students.

" Likewise, doing a GCSE early isn't really advised either anymore"

I disagree with this. DD2 is in the top set for Maths at her grammar - all the girls in her set got high scoring Level 6s in Maths in Yr 6, and they'll all take Maths & Further Maths GCSE. Frankly, they could all easily take Maths GCSE at least a year early (probably two), which would free them up to take another GCSE (which they might really fancy), or just take the pressure off the rest of their GCSEs.

There are no requirement at Oxbridge, even for medicine, to have done 10+ GCSEs

Medicine at Oxford:

There are no formal GCSE requirements for Medicine. However, in order to be adequately equipped for the BMAT (see www.bmat.org.uk) and for the academic demands of the course, and if Biology, Physics or Mathematics have not been taken to A-level (or equivalent), applicants will need to have received a basic education in those subjects (for example at least a grade C at GCSE, Intermediate 2 or Standard grade (Credit) or equivalent; the GCSE Dual Award Combined Sciences is also appropriate).

Cambridge

There are no GCSE requirements for entry to Cambridge. Applicants have generally achieved high grades in subjects relevant to their chosen course, and most students who apply have at least four or five As or A*s at GCSE. However, there are always exceptions and one of the strengths of the Cambridge admissions system is its ability to assess all applicants individually.

Our research shows that post-16 examination performance is a much better predictor of degree success at Cambridge. While GCSE results are looked at as a performance indicator, this is within the context of the school/college performance and strong performance in Years 12 and 13 can make up for a less stellar performance at GCSE.

I find this amazing. DD did 5 (maths, English, Spanish, geography and admin) at the equivalent national 5 level in Scotland. Does this mean our Scottish kids will be trailing their whole lives?

DD's school allows girls to do 9 GCSEs, under the new GCSE curriculum. It used to be 10/11 before that.

Now everyone does 9, and some can choose to do an after school class to study one other - Geology or a different language (which is limited mainly to those who already speak that language as an additional language at home.)

10+ are no longer recommended as a general guide. The new GCSEs are more rigorous and almost all have end of course examinations and limited, if any, coursework element. Likewise, doing a GCSE early isn't really advised either anymore.

Way back when, my grammar school-turning-comp only allowed us to do 8 O-levels. Because I wanted to do all 3 sciences that left ridiculously little choice - the same as the OP's dd with geog for the humanity. I was really pissed off simply because I wanted to carry on being taught more subjects.

Sure, there's a happy medium, but with 8, you may not even be able to do all the 'academic' subjects you want (and are capable) of doing, let alone the others. I'm so glad DD escaped these changes so was able to add drama, comp sci and electronics to the mix - the latter of which turned out to be formatively important to her.

Do ignore any 'recommendation' to do the EBacc (unless its the subjects she wants anyway) - it is completely irrelevant for the student.

Sticking with 11 or 12 for top set kids at dd's school
I also think it's too many

I can't believe some schools are still doing so many of the new GCSEs. It's just ridiculous. It makes me so happy they are sticking with 9 at mys ins school. They used to to do 11 or 12 of the old style ones.

So if they say 9 A's is the minimum what they really mean is they would normally expect several A*'s (old grading system)

Crumbs please tell me which universities want 9 as a minimum for medicine considering many of the top private schools have only ever offered 9.

What I think you might find they mean in terms of minimum is the grades achieved.

tiggytape is spot on with her answer.

The change to GCSE's is the reason that there is a drop in numbers - the kids just won't be able to do the GCSE's justice if they continue to do high numbers. DD's school (highly selective) has dropped to 9 GCSE's and that's completely fine with me - better to get 8/9 good GCSE's rather than 10/11 average GCSE's.

DD's school (she's also in year 9) also told us to not expect grade 9's across the board which again, is very realistic.

Both Cambridge and Oxford (when asked) only want 5 GCSE's at A/A* (7/8 under new grades) and 3 A levels.

Apologies some criteria changed since we needed to know. Nine As at GCSE is highest 'minimum' required for U.K. undergraduate medicine now. Some do say that this is minimum though and students with minimum requirements are unlikely to be called to interview.

Some courses at some universities want more. Medicine, Oxbridge come to mind.

No they don't.

If she wants to do science and maths based courses then 8 will be fine PROVIDING they are great grades in these subjects. It's when a child wants to do more humanity or creative degrees that doing 8 GCSEs becomes restrictive especially where schools insist on EBac. Universities including Oxbridge & those offering medicine cannot discriminate against children who went to a school that only offered 8 GCSEs - their words not mine - read the oxbridge info, 8 is fine. What will matter is predicted A level grades, personal statement and her personal interest in the subject she wishes to read. She'll probably be better doing triple science rather than double if that's where her A level choices will be as it's a jump from gcse to A anyway but having only studied 2 thirds of a science at gcse could mean a jump too far.

DS2 is in Year 9 now. He will do 13, it is standard at his (bog standard comprehensive) school to do a minimum of 12.

8 doesn't seem many, but 13 sounds too many to me.