Is 12 GCSEs in one sitting madness?

Before your son did . I don't want to age myself

eastlondoner when did you take your GCSEs?

DS1 was my last DC to take twelve GCSE and did so in one sitting - no modules - in 2009 (when he was in Y10 - that was the school policy then, he wasn't special). He had to be incredibly organised and only did twelve because he didn't want to drop any of the subjects and although he did manage to get twelve A* he was a very, very calm and steady worker. The new GCSEs are different beasts and I think I'd dissuade him quite easily from attempting twelve in the new currency. The only possible justification for twelve is that the DC enjoys all the optional subjects and doesn't want to give them up just yet, or wants to pursue those optional subjects at A2.

I did 12 because I wanted to. It was fine. If she wants to do it let her get on with it I say.

My apologies about thinking she was going into year 9.

What is she taking, exactly? I am a bit confused because with 12, so many options don’t seem necessary. My DD is a MFL grad and didn’t do Latin. It is not necessary. However if she wants to do Classics then she should do the Latin and Greek. Perhaps now is the time to think about that. I believe few universities offer Mandarin so is this necessary? If she’s more a Maths/Science child, then languages are not a top priority and 4 seems too much (have I counted correctly? Was a standard MFL in the mix?)

Surely she would maintain her academic position in the school without doing certain subjects to please the school? I am surprised they think 12 is a good idea. As most people think, 10 is a good number and does not cut out a single university! Lower grades do though and exceptional pressure.

the risk is that she is fine through the course but then the actual exam period is far too intensive with a huge number of papers

Pretty much. Not necessarily a huge number of extra papers (Ad Maths was only one 2 hour paper) but just more to think about and focus on. Languages have recently changed too, more papers and orals within the exam period rather than assessment in advance.

You might find it helpful to look at this year's exam timetable when it becomes available - they seem to be fairly similar year on year.

DC1 did 11 plus Ad Maths, plus Ethics in yr10.
They're sitting next to me saying "Don't do Ad Maths unless you want to do maths A level." The grades overall are often not great.

Your DD is clearly a linguist like my DC1! We have French & German GCSE, Russian now in 6th form as part of the IB and doing Latin at evening class. If you're good at languages then adding extra ones isn't too onerous.

DC is sitting 11 in one go this year, not finding it to much of a burden and am sure he could have managed 12.

What are other pupils at her school doing?

For some schools 11 or 12 is the norm, so the school is geared up to that & provides an adequate level of support and timetabling.

I am wondering if she is at my DS's school as what you have described is quite usual for his school too. We too have stopped doing Maths a year early while the 9-1 grades bed in so they end up doing Maths and add maths in year 11 rather than one in yr 10 and the add maths in yr 11. They will have finished the regular curriculum for Maths by the end of year 10 but still make them take the gcse in year 11.

Greek/Latin is easily fitted into the timetable for the sessions for one and most pupils get A*s in both.

Mandarin/Italian and Russian is extracurricular and can be taken in either year 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13 depending on when the student is ready.

It is a super-selective and the students are very self motivated.

I would let her do them but on the proviso if the grades seem to be slipping that something will have to go.

Dd did similar but of those took one in the preceding summer, another in the January. We kind of got swept along and I wish in retrospect we had reconsidered. It would have been better to have slightly fewer more solid grades than a few borderline which took the shine off her achievement overall and has affected confidence. Having said that the extra maths ones have proved useful as she is taking A level but be aware that these tend to be the first and last exams , so she may well be having a longer exam timetable than her friends and it is difficult to sustain enthusiasm and revision techniques throughout. I definitely would not have agreed to her taking all in one sitting.

DS is yr9, and looking at options now, it seems 10 is the norm at his school plus extra/further maths if top set.

Why don't you seek to defer the Mandarin exam till next year?

What additional Maths qualification is she doing in addition to GCSE?

Twelve is far too many.
My dd is taking 10 and I think that this should be the maximum

DS did 11 in one go at his school and truth be told I think it was too much. He's bright but was quite lazy until Year 11. He found eleven subjects in one sitting overwhelming with the amount of revision required (not someone who can naturally ace exams), particularly as his subjects were all 'academic' (nothing creative to vary the workload or type of revision required). And it didn't help that he had 12/29 exams in the last week when he was beyond knackered. He definitely sacrificed (some) quality for quantity. He would have been better to 'sacrifice' one of his weaker subjects to the benefit of his stronger ones IME.

When I was at school even the really bright pupils (the top set Oxbridge types) didn't do that many in one go. They would do eleven in total, but having already got Eng. Lang. (we all did it at the end of Year 10) and Maths (they took it in November of Year 11) out of the way. And I think nine was standard for most pupils (and this was at a grammar school).

Is there really any 'added value' in getting eleven in one go other than to prove that you can?

I’m surprised school allows that many. Most seem to be sticking at 10 now

You need to speak to school, your daughter is only Year 9 so probably doesn't realise what's really involved and just wants to do everything she likes.

12 is not needed by anyone. 10 is normal. Top grades in 10 is better than dropping grades with 12. She’s obviously doing them over 3 years so I assume that’s why there are more. It’s silly though. Art subjects do not have to take up too much time and do show all round talent! Both of my DDs did drama and got high A*s. It has helped enormously with future careers and confidence too! Don’t dismiss creative subjects.