GCSE options - what bearing on A-Level (esp music)?

My DCs both did music GCSE. They got full marks on performance but one found composition a lot easier than the other and they ended up several grades apart. Therefore one can be a good performer but not find composition easy and I definitely wouldn't recommend starting the A level without the GCSE as your DD will probably find it hard to start composition from scratch at that stage when everyone else is already familiar with it.

Whereas sociology could easily be started from scratch at A level or university.

DS did theory grade 5 in year 5, and his first grade 8 in Y7. He is still finding GCSE music interesting and stimulating.

But if they aren't up for that I guess I'll have to find an external centre for her.

Sort out where she's going to sit the exam first - otherwise how will you know what exam board/syllabus to follow? Also, it's quite hard to find a space to sit as a external candidate so I really would nail this bit down first!

@lanthanum good question, thanks. Head of music didn't suggest that and I don't think they'll have trouble getting enough takers for a viable GCSE group in her year. He was quite anti her doing it early but, in fairness, he did say that was partly because he'd be keen to have her in the GCSE group. I totally understand his position but it would be a way for her to fit in other subjects that she's really keen on while also being able keep the door open for A-Level music. Once you factor in all the sciences, english, maths and the now compulsory theology there's v little room left!

If she decides to go ahead, I will ask if she can sit the exam at the school with the year 11s because that would obviously be easier but also it would mean the school could include it in their results which (hopefully!) would be a good thing for them though I guess it could go both ways! But if they aren't up for that I guess I'll have to find an external centre for her.

@Malbecfan totally see your point re music provision in schools. My DC do absolutely take part in the music life of the school and, as I say, DD1 is planning to do ALevel at the school (and probably at university / conservatoire). So she isn't abandoning it in favour of other subjects, but I get that it would be much better for the school if she just stuck with following the normal course. Just not sure how else she can manage the options available to her.

@minisnowballs you're right re Trinity L offering GCSE unfortunately that would clash with her normal Sat JD. I did find an online course yesterday but it was also $$$$ and as we're looking for just for support with the 40% appraisal, it's probably not quite what we're after.

@fifthtime
Right ok quite shocked about that and happy to be corrected

@Frazzled2207 there is now no way of avoiding composition for either GCSE or A level music - whatever exam board you use.

Composition is always worth 30% of the total GCSE mark and can be between 25-35% for A level.

The same is true of performance (but the two combined have to add up to 60%.)

My DD is just starting GCSE music, her syllabus is 30 per cent composing (2 pieces), 30 per cent performance (solo and ensemble) and 40 per cent is appraisal (that's the final exam). The school use a different board for A level but the percentages are the same.

I'm not sure if all exam boards require composition but dd's did and it was a substantial part of the course. They also had to do a performance. The written exam was a very small part really of the exam in the end but the composition took hours and hours (and hours!)

Regarding piano skills - I am a firm believer that once children get to a certain stage (not sure what!) on an instrument, it is useful for them to also learn some piano. And similarly, I feel that all pianists of sufficient standard should also learn a "social" instrument. So that they all become well rounded musicians able to enjoy maximum benefit from their learning, wherever life leads them.

But there are many ways to gain piano/keyboard skills. I do think that being able to use a keyboard effectively is immensely helpful to learning and understanding harmony (which in ABRSM grades at least really only comes in at grade 6+ but needs deep understanding at that point). My eldest has ended up approaching / at / beyond grade 8 standard on 3 instruments and singing, but stopped piano at grade 4 by mutual agreement. But what her teacher did with her in her last term or two of piano lessons was around harmony and accompanying skills, including being able to sing against simple chordal patterns. I've been a grade 8 + pianist and never learnt those skills.

Sociology GCSE is considered a very soft option. Much more academic gravitas gained from doing Music

[quote turndownthevolume]@minisnowballs - we're in a similar position but DD is in year 9. She's thinking of doing GCSE music outside of school this year because she's absolutely sure she wants to do it at a level but doesn't want to take up one of her few GCSE choices with it (there's a limit of 10 at her school and 7 are compulsory).

She's working towards her diploma on her first instrument so the instrumental component of the GSCE is covered and she can do composition at her Saturday conservatoire JD but I haven't yet looked into how she'll cover the listening curriculum or indeed where she'll do the exam itself. I was planning to look into it this week and can let you know if I find anything useful.

Also spoke to the head of music and he said the requirement at their sixth form for doing music A-level was to have music GCSE. It may differ at other schools though.[/quote]
Have you talked to the school about doing it outside school? If they only have a few takers for GCSE (perhaps not enough for a viable group), but others who would be interested but can't fit it in, then they might decide to run it as an extracurricular - I've come across that happening on a couple of occasions.

@minisnowballs - I'd have a chat with Geoff Harnies about what they can offer. One of mine was at CYM and did the GCSE music support class (did GCSE music too) and said it was really good. Mine didn't do the composition class but I'd ask for that as well. Once you know what they can offer go and talk to the music department at school and see what they say. As she's a cellist you could have a chat with Gill to as she is the most amazingly helpful person ever.

This thread is making me rather sad. It's lovely that there are so many talented DC around. However, school music teaching in England has been decimated. The number of students taking A level Music has plummeted over recent years. Much of this is to do with the ludicrous omission of Arts subjects from the (frankly ridiculous) EBacc, meaning that lots of schools have quietly dropped it from their GCSE provision. In the nicest possible way, teaching the A level & GCSE groups is much more intellectually stimulating and rewarding than the constant grind of KS3, where you have mixed ability children, many of whom did next to nothing in their primary schools so are starting from a really low level. Why bother staying in a school as the lone music teacher if there is no exam work? It's also really disheartening having really good performers opting for other subjects (especially STEM) because they think they'll get a better job. To be honest, at GCSE it doesn't really matter. Another reason given is that "I already perform at a high level so I don't need the GCSE." Fine, but if you won't commit to school music, don't expect me to bend over backwards to showcase your talent.

A few years ago, a regional music group offered A level Music. I have no issue with that per se, as many secondary schools could not run it for just one student. However, they did not discriminate between schools and persuaded one of our students to do the exam with them, rather than through the school. That meant that our group size dropped below the minimum of 5 students, making it financially unviable. Luckily another person changed their option and filled the gap, but we might have disappointed 4 students for the sake of one. The regional group didn't give a stuff. However, Karma is great - ours got A*s, the student who defected only got A, plus ours all passed grade 8 Theory too.

@minisnowballs - we're in a similar position but DD is in year 9. She's thinking of doing GCSE music outside of school this year because she's absolutely sure she wants to do it at a level but doesn't want to take up one of her few GCSE choices with it (there's a limit of 10 at her school and 7 are compulsory).

She's working towards her diploma on her first instrument so the instrumental component of the GSCE is covered and she can do composition at her Saturday conservatoire JD but I haven't yet looked into how she'll cover the listening curriculum or indeed where she'll do the exam itself. I was planning to look into it this week and can let you know if I find anything useful.

Also spoke to the head of music and he said the requirement at their sixth form for doing music A-level was to have music GCSE. It may differ at other schools though.

@minisnowballs it's a reflection of the industry she is going into. Sixth form auditions were a whole day affair, but a midday a list was read out and you can go, second list at 3pm you can go.

As an alternative viewpoint - how wedded is she to actually doing music A-level?

I know a couple of people who were excellent musicians and wanted to study music, but didn't do A-level music. In one case, they didn't do GCSE music - they did a lot of music at Saturday school; were primarily interested in Western Classical tradition, but did also study broader music history to some extent. They did some composition as part of it but did not enjoy it, and did not want to spent that much time for GCSE on something they didn't enjoy and might well end up lowering their grade in a subject they were otherwise good at (and it might have had an impact on their confidence as well). In both cases, the A-level curriculum just didn't particularly suit their interests and they felt they would find it frustrating having to do things leading towards an exam, rather than what might suit them most musically at the time. I think one of them also didn't necessarily think she would go into music, but was keeping options open for things like medicine as well! Both were able to get into conservatoire training later on - this was a while ago though and I don't know how things are now; it might well also be different for an academic music degree rather than performance. But their Saturday music training, performance skills, theory, aural etc was what mattered for them going forward really. I suppose one issue might be a univeristy or convservatoire questioning the passion/commitment if a child had an option to take music A-level but chose not to. (I suspect at some schools, this isn't even a question as music isn't offered at A-level).

Might be worth looking at the A-level course, and seeing if it really does match her interests, and if not, if it's really required for what she wants to do afterwards, as I know lots of people assume that they ought to do A-level or that they have to do it.

I would be really wary about doing A level music without GCSE as the composition element is really quite challenging. My DD has a scholarship to RCM (not to boast but to put it in context that she is good at the performance side) but really struggled with this even having done GCSE music. Is the Saturday school CYM as you mentioned it was less expensive? If so although they don't offer GCSE music they do offer both composition and a weekly GCSE support class which would help bridge the gap.

Just a parent here but I would say it's much better to do music than sociology.
My child had grade 8 at the age of 13 and was a pretty talented performer but still felt really stretched by music GCSE (particularly the composition and different genres). The performance part was comparatively very easy but was only a small part of it. They haven't gone on to do A level though so I can't comment on that part.