Possible impact (or damage?) of only doing Combined Science

Congratulations to him Kutik
I remember you from the monthly music threads.

That's just wonderful! Huge congratulations to him! I know you had said he had set his heart on the idea, so he must be over the moon to see his dream come true. If it's the school I think it is, I believe it ranks very well in the exam league tables for that size of school, doesn't it?
My friend's daughter went for 6th form, leaving a couple of years ago. No idea what the academic side was like, as she is now on the performers course at one of the London colleges - she's a brilliant violinist, was leader of NYO etc. I wonder how many pupils stay for 6th form that don't plan a career in music?

Hi Kutik,
I'm assuming minikutik has got a place at one of the specialist music schools? ( I haven't been over to the other board in quite a while, so may have missed this news - congratulations to him!!). If so, I would guess that producing science buffs is not their main agenda, nor their pupils'.
Unfortunately, there is a degree of specialising early by going to such a school, so if you think your DC may want to follow an academic route later on, perhaps it's not the right school at this point in his life?

My DD is at an indie that puts great emphasis on STEM subjects, but they have tried to encourage all students to opt for the combined science GCSE course - they say it will not prevent anyone from going into to study sciences at A level, and they will teach the triple science course in only the same number of lessons as the combined, so only the most able students should opt for triple. This seems to change almost yearly, from what I can tell ( partly dependent on parents' requests), so who knows what the situation may be for your DC when he gets to options in year 9?

I expect they don't offer physics at a level as noone wants to take it. I wouldn't be happy with that if I had a scicencey child

CORRECTION: So they don't really have a qualified teacher with a degree in Chemistry and the one with the degree in Physics doesn't teach that subject!

A joint honours degree in Maths and Physics is perfectly OK so don't know why that's the one that confuses you.
Am a bit about Nutrition to be honest. So they don't really have either a qualified teacher with a degree in Chemistry.
Not that impressed to be honest - many state schools have better qualified teachers so what are you paying for at this school in terms of extra expertise?
With such a small number of teachers what would happen if one left and it may not be the one you would prefer?

Concern me not concentrate me, stupid phone!!

Doesn't sound like there is anyone teaching physics with an actual physics degree, does it?

I assume you have other very pressing reasons for choosing this school OP, ie its specialism, fair enough. The physics thibg would concentrate me tho.

That said, there are plenty of secondary schools out there without (sadly) physics graduates teaching physics :(

I'm a lab manager in a university- I only did double science, not done me any harm!

Agree with titchy s this is a fee paying school then it is reasonable to ask for the degree subject.
It is possible to teach Maths and Science after short conversion courses with appropriate A levels and what I am concerned about is that the reason for not offering Triple science GCSE or Physics A level is down to the teachers not having sufficient subject knowledge to teach rather than pupils ability.
In my teaching experience, the fact that many pupils come from abroad doesn't really affect performance in Science and Maths as much as English.
The BSc degrees may be in Biochemistry or Biology or Chemistry which would be OK. But you can also obtain BScs in Pyschology, Geography, Geology, Environmental science, forensic Science or even sports science.

That ONLY shows they have degrees and a teaching qualification. You need to know what subject their degree is in. Could be Business Studies for all you know!

.....you also mentioned taking GCSEs early. Lots of the top Unis are only interested in the exams that taken in one year because it indicates that you are capable of working under pressure with a high work load.

Several years ago DDs school (a selective Inde) did maths, English and their MFL in year 10. But they have completely stopped it now even for the genius DC - RG and Oxbridge Unis indicated (possibly off the record) they would consider the 9 or 10 that other DC did in year 11 far more favourably than 3 in year 10 and 7 in year 11.

So give that a bit of consideration if you are aiming for one of the top Unis later

Whilst double science is 'enough' to get into a Science A-level, I would worry more about the quality of the science provision at the school and be very worried if I had a science focused DC.

With no Physics A-level or top science sets doing the harder topics in Triple GCSE and some children only doing one science GCSE, the school might just have PE teachers teaching the subject. Such lack of priority in Science would scare me that DC wouldn't be able to achieve high levels in even the double option.

I hope someone can help me understand the system in science study in this country...

OP the trouble is that what this school (presumeably independent as state schools don't offer iGCSEs) isn't typical of other state schools in England and most independent schools would offer 3 separate Sciences at GCSE. The other issue is that the GCSE Science curriculum has changed in the past year to a new system - iGCSEs are being reformed too but are approx 1 year behind.
For ordinary GCSE it is no longer possible to take a 1 GCSE option, the minimum is now the 2 GCSE one. So your ds needs to take the 2 iGCSE option to be considered for A level Sciences. The single GCSE was really an option aimed at lower ability pupils.
The good news is that the gap between the 2 subject equivalent GCSE and A levels is smaller than it used to be as all the main topics are covered to some extent. It's just that there are a few extra bits for each topic for Triple. Provided that your ds moves to a sixth form where lots of other A level students haven't taken the Triple science, it shouldn't be a problem.
I agree with titchy about the missing Physics A level - why don't they offer this. Is this because they don't have a teacher with a Physics degree? What Physics qualifications do their Science teachers have - are there any with Physics A level or are they all Chemistry/Biology graduates who haven't studied Physics since GCSE (or equivalent)?

My son did combined science at GCSE. It was the only option at his comp in the 90s.
He read Natural Sciences at Cambridge.

I did double award science at gcse (so 3 sciences but across 2 gsces) and went on to do physics and biology a levels, then a science based degree. We still studied all 3 sciences separately, just had mixed exams. I don't feel it made things any more difficult for me at university than for the students who took 3 separate GCSEs.

Why are they saying NOW he can only do Combined (ONE GCSE - I think posters are confusing what you're calling Combined with what the standard state school Combined which gives 2 GCSEs and is fine to do A Level with). One iGCSE in Combined Science will absolutely NOT enable him to do Science A Levels. He needs to do what they call Co-ordinated Science at the very least, and be prepared to self study the topics he'd miss out on by them not offering triple.

It doesn't sound like Science is well taught or valued (no Physics A Level no triple. Why on earth have you chosen this school?

It does not preclude him doing Science A Levels in any way.

Our secondary school offers ONLY Double Science (2 GCSEs; in Core and Additional Science), and many kids go on to do Science subjects at A Level and university. Their reasoning is that doing this allows them to offers everyone a balanced curriculum, without having to do 10 or 11 GCSEs to cover everything.

But as others have said, it sounds like he should go for the Double GCSE option over the Single Science option if he thinks he's leaning towards Science in the future.