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Original poster

separate sciences or combined science

35 replies

DistrictCommissioner · 27/05/2021 22:17

DC is only in Y8 but options are coming up next year. She is in the top set for science at a large mixed comprehensive - predicted grade 7-8 I think, but I don't know how meaningful that is at this stage - and the school encourage the top set to take separate sciences.

DH is very keen for her to take separate sciences, in part because as like me he went to a selective school that considered combined science to be very inferior, and in part becuase he is in a scientific career (of sorts). I am ambivalent - I did 3 sciences, & it was utterly irrelvant to my future academic life, & they get so few options I can see it would be good to have another option free by taking combined science!

DC has no idea what she wants to do when she is older - drama, farming, archeology all get mentioned - so some sort of scientific career can't be ruled out, but is it really significant if she hasn't got the separate sciences at GCSE? I've been told that you can pick up the A level subjects without having done the separate sciences...

OP posts:
Original poster
DistrictCommissioner · 28/05/2021 07:50

One of DH’s worries is that if she takes combined but then wants to apply for medicine (or similar), will her GCSEs let her down?

OP posts:
Original poster
DistrictCommissioner · 28/05/2021 07:48

The understanding I’ve been given is that triple science is one of the options - & they only do 9, so if you do 3 science, 2 English, 1 maths, then you only have 3 options left to squeeze in everything else. Which seems like a big downside to me!

As to whether you have to be exceptional, DD’s science teacher said at parents evening that they encourage the top set to take the 3 sciences, & I got the impression the option was certainly open to her.

I don’t think DD is particularly interested in taking the separate sciences but she is a people pleaser, & she knows her teacher wants her set to do the 3, so that is concerning her!

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 28/05/2021 02:48

My DD despite being good at science did not want to do triple, I had to fight the school a little bit. But she did double science getting 9/9, but I honestly believe she would have got worse grades in triple as she would have not been happy.

paralysedbyinertia · 28/05/2021 00:50

DD was very conflicted by this as she had to use one of her option slots to do triple science and she had other subjects that she wanted to do as well.

What swung it for her eventually was her delightful science teacher saying that it wouldn't matter in the slightest if she did combined and then wanted to go on to A-level science (the science teacher herself had done combined before going on to do a chemistry degree) BUT she thought that dd might find the pace a bit slow in the combined group, whereas the triple (separate sciences) group would be more challenging. DD has a low boredom threshold when the work is too easy, so that decided it for her. She hasn't regretted it at all, whereas her friend who chose combined science did indeed find the lessons a bit slow-paced. This was about peer group as much as anything - there seems to be a culture in dd's school that,,if you're capable, you do triple.

As things turned out, dd was glad that she chose the separate sciences. She enjoyed covering new content (a lot of the combined content seemed to be a rehash of what they'd covered in year 9) and as she is going on to do science A-levels, she won't have to play catch up.

Ultimately, your dd won't be closing any doors if she picks combined, so really, it's about what she is going to enjoy more along the way.

WelcometoJam · 28/05/2021 00:21

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Wotsitsarecheesy · 28/05/2021 00:06

I had this conversation with DDs science teacher a couple of months ago. He told me that in double science, they cover a smaller curriculum in less depth than if you take 3 individual sciences. So if you want to go on to do science subjects at A level, there are a few sections you will have missed entirely, and what you did study won't have been as comprehensive as if you had studied 3 separate GCSEs. He did stress that it is perfectly possible to take science A levels after doing double science GCSE, but that it takes a little more work as you need to catch up on the parts you missed.

clary · 28/05/2021 00:03

I wonder what exceptional standard means? Ds2 got 9/8/7 in his science GCSEs, which we thought was pretty good and certainly worth doing. It's a GCSE not a doctorate. I don't think choosing to do triple is highly pressurised, especially not if it is an option subject, as the op implies. It just depends what is planned and what else has to give in that case.

bonfireheart · 27/05/2021 23:59

In DD school, the teacher decide who does separate science and they've already said its only for those who are reaching an exceptional standard.

DD13 wants to be a paramedic which sounds science based but none of the info I've read says she needs separate sciebces to study Paramedic Science at uni. I think it would be an unnecessary pressure.

clary · 27/05/2021 23:58

What I mean is, everyone has the same number of science lessons but those doing triple cover more content at speed. Option subjects are separate. Some schools do indeed have it as an option of course.

clary · 27/05/2021 23:56

Yes you can certainly do A level with double science GCSE. There will be extra content that you might need to catch up on over the summer.

Does taking triple science actually use up an option? in some schools it's taken by higher sets and content is gone through more quickly, that's what they do at my DCs' school. So if you do triple you get 10 GCSEs, double you get 9, but still four options (tho two are humanity and language for most).

If she may want science A levels I personally would suggest taking triple. What does your dd think? If it is an option, what would she do instead and is that a big passion?