Are we ready for a GCSE’s 2019 thread?

Sorry. None of the subjects my daughter did had AS's and I was told that was because they had phased them out.

There aren't any AS levels anymore so they might change that system.

That isn't true. DS's sixth form is one of a couple locally that do still do ASs in 4 subjects at the end of Y12 before usually going down to 3 subjects for A-levels.

The change is that the two are completely decoupled - the AS level result doesn't have any effect on the final A-level result, and all material learned for ASs will have to be re-revised for A-levels as the A-level tests it again. I think they've had to work a bit to make sure they have done AS levels whose content overlaps 100% with the A-level course, by choosing specific boards.

It's been really good for DS. The 3 he is carrying on are not the 3 he would originally have chosen, and working towards external exams kept Y12 focused.

Some other schools locally do start 4 but then students randomly drop 1 at the end of Y12 with nothing to show for it...

sour, it's tricky isn't it? As a parent I want to guide ds down a path that will keep his options open and give him the greatest number of potential opportunities, but equally (like flatmouse) I see no sense in pushing him to do stuff he doesn't want to do, because he'll just shut down and/or give up.

When I start overthinking all this exam/university/careers I just try to remember that life has many twists and turns and we rarely end up where we thought we would do at age 16!

Thanks sour I am coming round to the idea, mainly as I think why for e her down a route doing subjects she's not 100% on, as they are hard and she would struggle. Why not let her do her life's dream as she'll work much harder and likely achieve better results.

My only outstanding question would be, in the unlikely event that she changes her mind re specific degree, do universities who for courses don't have specific subject requirements for courses just a points total care what the BTEC was in? Bit of research outstanding!

There aren't any AS levels anymore so they might change that system. Three A levels are quite full on. My older DD worked really hard and still found 3 difficult.

cantkeep, thanks, yes I've had this conversation several times with him. As I say, I would prefer for him to do History for the very reason you mention. And not sure whether I should say this here but I'm also a university admissions tutor

However, since motivation has been a significant issue for ds for a good few years now I would prefer, on balance, that he pursues A-levels that he's genuinely interested in rather than ones he's been 'persuaded' into. He can still change his mind before now and next September, but for now, as I say, I'm picking my battles!

Dd is doing DT, German, History, Latin
For A-Level she wants to do maths, plus 2 more sciences or possibly further maths plus one science.
She is very laid back about school and does most of her work in the mornings because she gets into school early. However her school seem satisfied with her.

Soursprout, thank you, he managed to stay in all day - no call from the nurse - and he felt he did well in tests. Over weekend, however, has had stiff and very painful knees, hoping unrelated to his illness but do have a sinking feeling. Will book to see GP tmw.

MrsSteptoe we have been advised that revising should start now with 1-2 hours per week and revision time rises each month. DS was happy to start with 15-20 mins a day. So far so good!!

Unnecessary,

It is possibly worth your DS being aware that his preferred 3 A-levels only have 1 facilitating subject. Of course, if he decides not to go to university, that's not an issue. However, if he does decide to go, having 1 facilitating subject MAY limit the range of universities he can apply to, whereas the version with History would have 2 facilitating subjects and would mean he had a completely free choice.

Aside from core subjects and triple science my dd is doing art, digital media, history and religious studies. Still undecided of A levels apart from art but currently thinking of english lang, history or film studies.

Dd is doing (no choice) maths, English lit, English Lang, triple science, short course RE. Then history, geography, French, German and Food tech. It's such a lot of work
She's a good all rounder really and can't pin down her a-levels apart from definitely not English or history. This year has completely put her off 2 of her favourite subjects sadly. I suspect she might choose Biology, geography and German but who knows? She has a few years coming up in the next couple of weeks so the results of those might sway her a bit.

Hi. Ds is doing core of English x 2, triple science, RS (compulsory), maths. Options are Spanish, PE (gcse), and geography. He’s also apparently doing further maths (as I discovered only this week!!)

He ‘thinks’ for a level, he wants to do physics, English and philosophy. I’m going to persuade him to add maths to the mix as he has anjtural talent for it and it seems to balance out the choices. He can always drop one.

Being a good all rounder makes it tricky to specialise so I think having a broad choice is a good plan.

Having said all that, he will have to knuckle down and revise / work hard cos whilst he is bright, his work ethic is similar to mine (bit lazy and reliant on deadlines!).

DD doing core (with triple science), geography, PE, Drama, short course RE (compulsory).
Post gcse, she plans on doing a very specialised BTEC related to what she'd like to do at university. College for that is approx 1hr away on public transport.
I'm not 100% convinced she should specialise so soon, and I'd rather she did broader studies - BTEC or A level, lots of options locally. Not sure what subjects she would do though.

Ds is doing:

History
Geography
Spanish
Theology & Philosophy

He wants to do Spanish, Politics & Govt and Media at A-level. I'm not totally thrilled about the choice of Media (think History would be a better choice) but have decided not to keep fighting that particular battle. I do think it's important that young people have a good understanding of how the media works and it will go quite well with Politics, I think, so probably not that big a deal.

He's wavering about university atm but would almost definitely do Spanish (maybe Spanish-with-something) if he does decide to go.

He said this morning that 'the penny has finally dropped, mum' about the need to settle down and crack on with work. Which is great as long as it continues! He's currently upstairs but working on 'an article on music and football' for a friend's online magazine, apparently, rather than revising for his Geog test. Still, I encourage this stuff because he likes to write and it's all good practice.

DD currently thinking of Maths, Physics, Art & either French or Chemistry.

She's one of those 'good at everything' people who has no specific reason to choose one thing rather than another, really, though Art is probably more 'certain' than the other options.

DD2 options in addition to core, with Triple Science are:
German
History
Classical Civilisation
Theatre Studies

For ALevel she has already chosen, no debate or discussion:
English Lit
History
Theatre Studies
Biology

She will probably drop Biology after first year. They also do a range of accredited certificates/exams/extra curricular in things like Finance, Business, Photography, Astronomy, Italian, first aid.... other random stuff.

soursprout
Thank you, DD did indeed avoid the dreaded roasting. Her older sister sent a load of links to on-line interviews with author of the book she was supposed to read, she wrote a synopsis in class and was commended for her detailed reading of the book Hey, whatever works right ?

Thanks vm, Soursprout.
I'm thinking if he does simultaneous flashcards for new material and tries to absorb the new stuff on a slightly deeper level as he goes along, rather than his usual "right, prep's done, I can totally forget that now" approach, that'll do for this term. His mocks are January, so I'm pretty certain the school will expect revision over the Xmas holidays.

Zoflorabore
Options
Mine's doing Maths, Eng Lane, Eng Lit, and Triple Science, all of which are compulsory, plus a compulsory MFL which in his case is Spanish; the three choices left to him, he's gone for History, Art, and RE.
AtiaoftheJulii
Thank you - that's honestly helpful to know. I haven't really got to know any of the parents at the school (often the case at secondary, I suspect) so a sense check on MN is invaluable.

DS2 is doing as his options: French, Art and Geography (that is in addition to the two he sat early last year). He is also doing triple science.
Geography is a worry because the teachers don't seem to have a clue about the new GCSE. French is a worry because he finds it very hard. We got him a tutor last year because he was feeling overwhelmed. It was not helped by a teacher whose technique it is to throw tonnes of material at them, rather than work a bit more incrementally. Eg giving them a week to learn 19 irregular verbs in the first couple of weeks.

English he enjoys, but somehow his articulate oral responses don't usually translate into articulate written responses - he goes off on tangents and is all over the place in his writing. It has been improving, but it is a struggle. I finally decided to get him a tutor in English this year, because I thought he really needs somebody who can sit down with him on a one to one basis and untangle his technique, which a teacher of 30 kids just can't do. It is not knowing the material, or understanding it that is the problem, it is structuring it in a written form and making sure he doesn't change his mind every paragraph when he thinks of something "better" to say so it comes out a complete mish mash.

Dd3 is doing triple science, her school have compulsory RS (full GCSE), she's dropped her MFL, and her other options are Art, Drama and history. Think that comes to 10?

MrsSteptoe that sounds like a lot to me! My most organised child started revising in February half term, the other two didn't start until Easter. #4 has had poor attendance, so is pretty good at consolidation as she goes along and catches up with stuff, but I would be concerned that she was being too hard on herself if she were doing half an hour of revision every day at this point.