GCSE's can you help me with this process?

DD does both Art and a DT subject (her school offers 3 DT options: they all have very similar structures, but obviously a different focus in the thing 'made') as well as history & 2 languages.

History is a mixture of question types at GCSE - but does need essays - and it is as well to enquire whether the time periods studied in your particular school match your child's interests.

DT is MUCH less time consuming than Art, and has a theory element that is extremely straightforward for an able child so some 'banked marks'.

dd took Product Design GCSE. She enjoyed it but you need to be aware that there are more marks for actually making the product than designing it. If your ds prefers making things then DT is the way to go and if he prefers designing then the best subject would be Art.
There is also a written exam for DT, but that is a lower percentage of the marks than the project.

Both Art and DT involve a lot of work in terms of the projects, but if you consistently set aside time each week to keep up with your art notebook then it isn't actually that bad. I don't think my dd has particularly struggled.

Also dd found the DT mock exams pretty straightforward.
And she has found both subjects quite enjoyable and a nice break from some of the other more academic subjects.

My DS was torn between history and geography, as he was interested in both, and went for geography as he tends to do better in the sciences and worse in essay writing. But there was a genuine interest there (also because the history that interests him is more classical - he would have loved classical civilisations if it had been offered at his school, and the school was doing more twentieth century, which interested him far less).
DD has never liked history (always complained that it was boring). I wish she did like it more, but given her attitude, think geography over history is a no brainer - she is genuinely interested in most things geographical. Even if one struggles with the essays, if he has a passion for history I would suggest he goes for it.

I would third, or fourth the warning about art. DS is just finishing off GCSEs, and Art has been a lot of pressure and a lot of time (especially now, when one is trying to revise for the others). DS is still glad he did it, and truth is, his art has come on an enormous amount, but definitely your child should only, only do it if they really, really want to, not because somebody thinks it is a good idea. DD is making her GCSE choices and she is avoiding it (despite being very talented), because she has seen how much stress it has caused DS

87 not 97 obviously.

Dd wants to do all 3 sciences, Spanish ( which she can already speak reasonably well anyway), history, Business and either Art or Music.
After reading this I might steer her more towards music !

It is clear which topic number will be covered in each paper so they can focus last minute revision.

The combined science has 6 papers, 2 for each science.
Scores are collated and a 'double' grade assigned
99, 98, 88, 97, 77, 76, 66, 65, 55, 54, 44, 43, 33, 32, 22, 21, 11

History and geography will be a lot of written work. We’re doing this now too (ds is only 12!) and he’s debating whether to history and sociology because of the amount of written work.

We have just had options evenign and many discussions with dd abotu options, and we spent some time talking to the school. They are a superselctive grammar, and they overwhelmingly said, try and let them choose things thy want to do, they are more likely to enjoy it and be successful.
(I should say that unless there is a particular reason for doing particular subjects ,eg they want to be a medic, so need sciences)
It was refreshing actually!

We have insisted on both ours doing a langague, but that is because of our family etc, not necessary for all

Have a look at which History GCSE the school offers. My son's has coursework which really helps break it up a bit. He is also doing Geography and RT so very essay heavy, but so far it has been fine. I think it is always nice for children to have one 'creative' subject but my ds didn't want to do one.

I think it's really important they do something they enjoy, much better to get an A in a 'lesser' course than a C in something the parent prefers!

Just to add, there was a lot of nail biting over Art as DS is very very good at it and school was kind of hinting they expected him to choose it . Luckily DS1 had already been down the ‘Art’ route and warned his brother about the workload.

DS is doing both History and Geography as well as Music. He loves all three but says music is a bit boring.

Ds did both history and geography. Both have a lot of content. geography didn't seem to involve quite so many essays as history - quite a lot of research though for case studies etc.

Ds also did DT (it was called resistant materials) This involved a lot of coursework that seemed to be never-ending. There was always something that had to be added to it. And then the actual piece to be built which involved extra time at school. But it was the majority of the mark and over and done with before Easter which did ease the pressure.

DD started DT (hers was art and design) and was a very different course - loads of artwork all the time. She swapped it for something else after the first half term and is much happier.

GSCEs are more important these days for uni offers as most schools no longer do AS levels the year after GCSEs but head straight for A levels after 2 years. Unis therefore only have GSCE results and predicted A level grades on which to base their offers.

DD did history & geography (G as a one year course). Her mate did Art as well. Mate was always copying homework from DD coz mate couldn't keep up with other subjects. DD reckons she dodged a bullet by not doing Art. Total TimeSuck.

Tonnes of memorising for H&G, and writing. G slightly better for kids who don't like writing or can't write fast.

I would have loved DC to do DT. It's not the timesuck Art is.

DS2 did DT and that seemed to involve less work than art. It still involved lunchtime /after school sessions in the run up to the exam to ensure everything was finished and well presented.

be aware that art GCSEs are a lot of work

This! DS1 did it and he had to go in at weekends in the run up to the exam/coursework submission.

Really do not underestimate the time commitment required for Art. Many schools require pupils to attend additional sessions at lunchtime/after school in addition to a significant amount of work at home. It takes a lot of motivation, which can be hard to come by if you only have a passing interest in the GCSE.

If you read some of the threads on this board (e.g. the current y11 and y10 threads) you will see that Art is regularly given as a subject that eats into time, especially if your DC has 'perfectionist' tendencies.

There are essays for both History & Geography. DD1 did History, DD2 is about to do Geography. I'd go for the one that is most interesting as they will be more motivated.

No knowledge on Design Tech.

There is a choosing options thread running at the moment if you want to join in.

History and Geography are both essay subjects. Together with English, there's no way to avoid essay writing so I'd pick History because he's naturally more interested in it. It's a good idea to check which period they study. My dd is doing the GCSE History this summer and she really enjoyed the 20th century bits but is much more meh about the Norman Conquest module.