Triple science or 2 humanities?

I’d say there will be some bright students not choosing triple, but the majority will go the triple route.

OP has said only the top set are allowed to take triple science, so unless it's a very small school with very few sets, there are likely to be a good number of able scientists taking combined.

In DD's school they have nearly 50% taking triple science and they still have about 10% of the year taking higher level combined science (schools will have to set combined science at least from part way through Y11, due to the nature of there being foundation/higher papers).

I’d say there will be some bright students not choosing triple, but the majority will go the triple route. Whether it’s right or not, the triple has kudos and the children given it as an option usually like that fact and go for it. Sciences at A Level arena growing thing, as is Maths and people often (rightly or wrongly) think separate sciences will look better on their UCAS application and prepare more for A Levels. In some humanities, it is also possible to pick them up at A Level without having done GCSE.

So while I agree there will be some other bright students picking the humanities and going for double science, you’ll find the majority of the bright ones go for triple.

That doesn’t mean your DS can’t get top grades in double science. I’d ask tos eve the results from the last 4 years if they aren’t readily available. They are really important. See how students doing both double and triple perform...you’d expect the triple results to be better, but are students in double getting top grades too? Also useful to see the humanities results too,for interest.

It is a shame to have to take these things into consideration when choosing and to not just be able to go for your favourite. However, in most schools, some departments performs substantially better or worse than most, and it’s worth knowing.

There will be loads of bright kids who don’t do triple science - because they’d rather do humanities - if timetable is constructed in a way that doing both is impossible. One of mine did double science because she wanted to do two foreign languages, and that was the only way it was possible.

The reality is that double science will have a more mixed cohort. Lots of the able students will be going for the 3 separate sciences, which then distorts the groups doing double. Unless they set for double science (unlikely) then he will be doing science with a less able group than if doing 3 sciences.

Whether this is an issue depends on the school and your son. Presumably he learns most subjects now in a mixed environment and gets on okay. But do remember that the brighter kids largely won’t be in the classes if he goes for double.

But,putting up with that might be more beneficial if he gets to study she subjects he loves and might do for A Level. It’s a bit of Hobson choice as you lose out somewhere in this system when you’re not a scientist..either you have to learn with the less able or you sacrifice the chance to do more humanities.

The critical thinking skills used in science are fundamental to law. It probably won't matter if he does double or triple in principle, so long as it is taught well and he gets good grades. Sounds like he might be at risk of underperforming in the lower set.

Are you sure it's a choice between triple sci and double humanities? At our school it's perfectly possible to do both.

DD2 did triple science and 2 humanities, her other options were French and Drama. She would have done a Geography A level if it had been offered at our 6th form. But then our school allowed 10 GCSEs - not all schools do. Her lowest grades were 2 6s, everything else was higher.

I think he should do the humanities options. Double science is fine. My nephew was a good all-rounder but loved humanities, languages etc. He did double science instead of triple in order to fit more subjects in. Did a mix of science, maths and humanity subjects at A level, and is doing a science subject at a top university now.

My son was top set but hated science. His science teachers said that to do triple science, you have to love science because there is SO much science teaching.
He doesnt love it so he chose double and used the space for another language. He got 8,8 in double and is now applying to do languages at uni.

If you are worried that not being in the triple science group means he'll be in a mixed ability group, why don't you ask "if he does double science, will he be in a group with other people aiming for similar grades or will it be completely mixed ability?"
I suspect he will not be in a mixed ability group, but a group that is "set 2" only probably slightly better as there are bound to be a few of them who are good enough for set 1 but didn't want to do triple.

Actually what my daughter did was The 2/3 of the three subjects nonna. She did physics, biology and chemistry but received two, not three, GCSES.

@NotDonna That was how double science was done in 2016 when DD took her GCSEs. Basically the double science students sat papers one and two of all three sciences, and the triple science students sat papers one, two and three. So they did 9 science exams instead of 6. I'm pretty sure that this was the norm everywhere, even before then.

Actually what my daughter did was
The 2/3 of the three subjects nonna. She did physics, biology and chemistry but received two, not three, GCSES.

oneglass your DD started her GCSEs 8 years ago. ‘Some’ schools back then called taking 2 science subjects ‘double science’, but got Biology GCSE and Chemistry GCSE and covered no physics, for example. So a move to A levels in those 2 subjects is a little more straightforward. Now double science is all three sciences but 2/3rds of each one, still get two GCSEs. So the move to A level is more of a leap as there’s a third missing from each science gcse. Lots still do it but it obviously harder work. Triple sciences is 3/3rds of all 3.
For what it’s worth OP I don’t think your son will go too far wrong with choosing exactly what he wants to do. He sounds very capable and can justify his reasons.

My daughter only did double and then only two sciences at A level.

She’s now a 4th-year medic who has done very well in her exams.

DD was torn as she wants to go into veterinary medicine or other animal science related topics.

The school made it very clear that double science does not hinder her doing Biology and Chemistry A-level and no university will ask for it. She plans to do sixth form there so no real need to check other school’s requirements.

We found it more beneficial to have a more rounded GCSE with another non-science subject than going purely with science at that age.

She will do drama, history and sociology along the mandatory science, .English, maths and MLF ones.

I teach 11-18 maths and have seen plenty of students through university applications.

It won't matter for his a-levels; he can do science at a level either way.

If he wants to do law at university it will be of benefit for him to have the highest grades possible at both GCSE and A-level.

So he needs to decide whether he thinks he would do better with his friends (who can help him and maybe be more motivated) or whether he'd do better with less content (less to learn) but in a crappy class. Friends shouldn't matter but in reality they do.

I would let him do the two humanities, given what you say about him.

Biology/science teacher here. Hopefully I can shed some light on the course if that helps.

The difference between separates and combined science is obviously an increase in content however some schools run the triple class in the same option blocks as they would double. They do this for top set so the top set get the triple award in the same time everyone else does the double. A lot of the triple only content is an extension of the topics they already cover. This is worth considering if it is a toss up between adding in extra science or starting a whole new subject. If he is looking at grade 7 for science then I would say he is likely to be a good candidate. If he really works hard for his end of topic tests and does well he may well be bumped up sets as this is the data normally used.

Why would doing double science put him in a lower set? Doesn't doing triple science take up one option? Not all pupils want to follow a science route, and loads of pupils at DD's school who got all As and A*s (old GCSEs in 2016) only took double science, but they used their extra option to take another art or humanities subject instead.

What does he enjoy, and what subjects is he most likely to get the best grades in? What A levels would he be interested in taking? If he is looking at Oxbridge the grades are more important than the subjects.

I don't think it's very often the case that the exact choice of GCSEs affects getting into university courses. I think you only need to worry about closing off any A-level options they might be interested in.

I know someone who wanted to go into musical theatre, and so chose drama, music and graphic design for GCSE, meaning she did not do enough subjects for the EBacc. She changed her mind somewhere along the line, and got into Cambridge to read Law.

Hi @ithavebroke!

We can't have everything at every stage. So, History or Law degree and a career in Law? Children also change a lot up to the age of 22 or 23, so it's worth keeping a few options open.

I would think about Maths A Level and work back from there. It's good for all subjects. (A lot of Cambridge Historians and Lawyers in my daughter's cohort have it, for example.) Apart from that, I would do the maximum GCSE subjects I enjoyed, irrespective of anything else.

The vast majority of kids at our (private) school, unless they were going into a career like medicine or some other that required a lot of scince, took dual science. If he would be in a lower set than his friends anyway why would he want to do triple? My daughter is hoping to pursue a career in the creative arts but did choose triple as she just likes it (and is predicted 8s). In fact she is probably going to do biology A level as she just likes the subject.
If your son is humanities driven then by all means let him do subjects he enjoys. I can't see how doing dual science would disadvantage him.

He shouldn't pick a subject on the basis his friends might do it - is the school small enough that he can really guarantee they will be in the same class??

You seem to be making the assumption that combined science is easier than triple science, which is not the case - there's just less of it - so there is no particular reason to think he will get better grades if he takes it (unless your school teaches triple science in the same number of hours as combined science so covers a lot of extra content in the same time). Also - remember there will be other children like your DS who are good at science, but have just opted to focus on other things and are in the combined science group, so it won't just be the weaker scientists. If the school sets, there should be a "top" combined science set which will be working a good standard. Both combined and triple science have foundation and higher papers, so the school will most definitely be teaching the higher material to all students taking the higher paper regardless of whether combined/triple.

Difficult - we’ve had similar discussions here but not over Science and for Year 9 ‘trial options’. DH & DD believing that she should select an option she enjoys but doesn’t excel in (Drama) over a second MFL (Spanish) she finds very easy and according to the Teacher has a talent for.

As others has said, if he is unlikely to be doing Science A’s then not doing the Triple is unlikely to impact him. I would be steering him towards Geography (the Physical side is interesting). If he ends up doing Law (and honestly, what 13 year old really knows what they want to do, DD2 currently wants to be an Archaeologist during the day and world famous singer in the evening -I’m certainly not looking at university prospectuses at this point :-)!) then from what I understand, many Lawyers have done Humanities degrees, particularly History.