GCSEs - is 8 enough?

When I did GCSEs it was standardly 8, and 9 if you were extra bright, 7 if you were struggling generally plus needed extra help in English (which meant you didn't do English literature).

Dd1 will have done 14 by the end of year 11. (2 in year 9, 2 in year 10, 10 in year 11). That's way too many realistically.

I think any university will give as much credit to someone who gets 8 grade 8/9 (new grades) as to someone who gets 12 6/7/8 gradings.

Why the concern over meeting the the Ebacc criteria? With only 8 GCSEs I'd be focusing on choosing potential A levels, the Universities see Ebacc as a performance measure for the school, not the child..

Some courses at some universities want more. Medicine, Oxbridge come to mind.
Schools are ranked, inspected and their future decided on the number of children getting EBAcc used to be 5As-Cs with a floor level set by central government. If they do a wide spread the risk is fewer children getting the c and above in the 'right' subjects. Focusing on more reaching required grades is important for the school but not because they don't care about the children. Heads lose their jobs if exam performance is 'bad' even in schools serving very deprived communities where results have improved from previous years. MATs are not allowed to expand if some schools are 'underperforming' again, even if they serve the poorest of communities. They are compared to 'high achieving' trusts and schools who may be more selective or who have higher level of funding.
Could they do an extra subjects at home to boost results. There are good online tutors available.

That's the same as the AQA RS GCSE spec my dd is studying.

I don't think there is a beliefs & philosophy GCSE. There is religious studies & some syllabi have a philosophy & ethics bias.

BPE stands for Beliefs, philosophy and ethics.
This is what it says in the choices booklet:

What will you study?
Christianity A. Beliefs (Nature of God, Historical Jesus, Creation of the Universe, Resurrection, Heaven & Hell) B. Practices (Persecution, Evangelism, Festivals, Community, secularisation)
Islam A. Beliefs (Divisions in Islam, Allah, Prophets, Angels, Revelation of the Qu’ran, Life after Death) B. Practices (Five Pillars, Mosques, Shi’a Islam – struggles, Festivals)
Thematic studies: A. Relationships and Families (Gender, Marriage, Divorce, Sexuality, Relationships) B. Religion and Life(Origins of the universe & life, Environmental Ethics, Animal Rights, abortion, Euthanasia) C. Peace and Conflict (Peace and Justice, Protests, Use of Violence, War and Pacifism) D. Crime and Punishment (Capital Punishment, Suffering, Treatment of Criminals, Forgiveness)

I suspect it is a funding issue. Education is so badly underfunded these days that school are paring their offerings down to the barest minimum. DD's school has a TV production team in today because they are making a programme about education funding. It is one of the most underfunded schools in the country.

"Are they definitely counting English literature as two subjects as my Sons school just count English and English lit as one subject and the study the two elements together (but obviously have separate exams)"

GCSE English language and English literature are counted as two separate subjects everywhere. They are shown as two subjects on the certificate and are counted as two subjects for the purposes of getting into 6th form and university.

"BPE stands for Beliefs and philosophy - sorry I thought this is what it is commonly referred to everywhere."

I have never heard of it. What is it exactly? Citizenship/RE?

Same here Fredorika DS at very good independent & they do 9. Top set maths do 10 if they do Further Maths.

8 is absolutely fine as long as they are a good 8

9 is a bit safer

dd is at a very good independent school and they say 9

Sounds to me like the school are prioritising the needs of the many, by sabotaging the needs of the (academically very able) few. Understandable, but pretty unfair.

I really don't think 8 GCSEs is many at all, especially as your DD will be up against pupils with 11+.

At my DDs' grammar (also East Midlands) they all take 11 GCSEs (triple science and RE are mandatory), though DD2 will take 12 because she is top set for maths so has to take an additional Further Maths GCSE, too.

Thanks, Freddorika!
Yes, she has to do A levels in maths and science if she is going to pursue any of her current choices for future profession. You think there's no need for 9-10 GCSEs then?

Sorry if my questions are somewhat daft. As I am a product of a very different educational system, I am not always sure what's best for my child in this educational system despite all the research and reading.

if she already wants to do science and maths at A level then tell her to concentrate bloody hard on getting a high grade at Maths and Sciences GCSE

the jump is HUGE

it doesn't really matter what she does for the other two in that case.

My daughter wants to do French. In my not so humble opinion after 2,5 years of learning French in school and always be praised for it I still speak it better than her and I've never in my life learned the bloody language too :)
But in general I am fan of people learning at least one foreign language, so if she wants to do it I'll support her gladly.
I'm not sure Ebacc matters as much as they try to push it, judging from other discussions on MN re ebacc.

They gave us 9 choices at my son's school or 4 really after the compulsory 2 English, maths and 2 science.

Why are you so keen for the ebaac? Or is the school insisting? It was a ridiculous thing devised by Gove.

My son doesn't want to do mfl and would prefer geography and history and that's what he's doing. Universities don't judge on the ebaac - just the subjects and grades.

gleegeek you may be right. I know they had trouble with keeping their staff in English dept and also Maths, don't know about science, but there was no head of Drama for more than a year...

The school is under new management now and became part of a trust that helped other schools to become rated good; unfortunately until this happens, we have to manage with what we're given and I am not sure what is best for my child under the circumstances.

Costs about £350 plus entry fees for an online/correspondence type course.

Could it be your school is struggling to recruit well qualified staff and have had to pare down the offering to ensure good teaching? I know our school are desperately recruiting science and maths teachers but it's proving really difficult. Also the new gcses sound a big step up, I suspect your school are not alone in only offering 8...

Yes sorry, I should have specified - iGCSE as self-study subject. It is not offered by her school, but there is an examination centre an hour or so away, so in theory it could be done.
I'm not entirely sure how iGCSEs work for self-study though and whether it is worth the money and effort.

If her desires are science & maths then she has to realise she can't do everything & she has to start to specialise.

I do think she should be allowed one further option though.

Do you mean online self-study for an igcse? I guess that depends on how self motivated your dd is.

DD and I thought triple science would be better for her given her current wants for future profession. Not yet 100% what she wants to do (no wonder, given I'm 38 and I still haven't figured it all out!), but the path to all her current desires is basically science + maths. Both the career advisor and the science teacher advised the best route would be triple science. This doesn't mean if she chose double she wouldn't still achieve what she wants one day, it may be harder though.

If the school firmly refuses additional GCSE, is iGSCE something we should consider or is it going to be too hard to mix GCSEs with iGCSEs?

Don't bother with triple science.

Just a thought - as your dd seems very humanities inclined why doesn't she do double not triple science to give her an extra option?

My dd is taking English Lang, English Lit, Maths, Triple Science, French, RS & Music. It's a good mix for her though she would have liked to do Geography but ultimately chose triple science.

At ds's school they have to take English, maths, double or triple science, a language, & then one out of either history, geography, RS or classics. If they chose triple science they get 1 further option, if double 2 options.

I think that more than 9/10 is too and spreads them too thinly (the new maths & science GCSE's are really hard).

It figures that your dd's school is required improvement. Unfortunately your dd is bearing the brunt of this to the detriment of a broad education.