How many GCSEs?

State - 12 including 3x science and further maths.

10 is normal at my dc's selective indie. The focus is definitely on doing well in a manageable number rather than doing loads. Dcs can select to take the HPQ as one option too which would take examined GCSEs down to 9.

On the flip side top set maths do gcse further maths and a small number do classical Greek off timetable. This means for example that while my ds did 10 GCSEs my dd will do 12. Unis won't care either way!

I did 10 in 1992 but the standard number in my school was 9 it was just that I took Latin in my lunchtimes. Normal comp for me.

The mean number taken per student is currently around 7.8 (this has fallen steadily from 8.1 in 2018).
Around half of kids take 8 or 9 (i.e. about a quarter each). 14% take 10 or more. 35% take 7 or fewer.
full statistics here

DD was at a top grammar school and did 10. Seems to be pretty typical but have heard of some schools doing 9

My kids school make you choose 9. They do have to take a language and a humanity though

Madness isn’t it, that we expect that they should know at 12? I am not sure I know now in my 40s.

Yes, broader definitely helps those who don't know aged 12 what they might want to do with their lives!

I like the approach of keeping breadth. My eldest hadn’t decided if he was an arts or science person when he chose his options and doing 11 GCSEs allowed him to keep his options open. The second child’s favourite GCSE subject was the one he would not have chosen had he been doing only 9 subjects and so his extra choices made him look at more subjects. As it turned out, they turned into favourites.

I think the trend in many schools is going back towards "more breadth", rather than narrowing the curriculum.

This is what my DC non selective state school does - they start in Y9 but don't drop as many subjects, so three years of slightly narrowed curriculum vs two years of more restricted curriculum.

They end up with a ridiculous amount of GCSEs though - everyone does 8 or 9 compulsory subjects depending on double or triple science. Then four options. Plus compulsory Welsh Bacc, a GCSE equivalent apparently. Top two maths sets also do additional maths. So mine ended up doing 15 in total.

I am a bit ambivalent about it - it seems a lot and I'm always told on here that it's ridiculous because "even Oxbridge" only look at 8 GCSE results. But if you think of education as something bigger than just getting the minimum required for the next step, it could be seen as a positive thing. I guess you are allowed to drop things if you are struggling, mine were ok with the workload though and wanted to carry on with all of them, either because they liked all their subjects (DD) or because they felt they had invested effort and wanted to get the qualification (DS).

Big disclaimer: we are in Wales where some GCSEs are still modular, so they take some bits and bobs in Y10 after two years, which reduces the pressure on Y11. I doubt this approach would be possible in England.

@Hamofthesea ds has ADHD and he did 8 in the end. Dd did 9 and she’s just going through the ADHD diagnosis process now too. 9 was the maximum she could cope with really. Both their schools (grammar and selective independent) were very supportive of them dropping one/two subjects so I’d push the school on it.

11 here plus the Welsh Bacc. English Lit and Numeracy are already out of the way though so down to a more manageable 9 for most of year 11.

@3littlebeans It really is. So much harder than when I was at school. It makes complete sense to me that she should focus on doing well in 9 than spread herself more thinly doing 10. If you’re the sort of person that has a great memory then 10 is doable but she’s not and it’s really overwhelming.

My daughter’s grammar does 10 but we are desperate for her to drop one. She has ADHD and was only recently diagnosed so has found the GCSEs years very hard. She’s overwhelmed by the amount of content that she has to learn. The school aren’t listening though and it is very frustrating!

Our grammar school has changed to making 11 the normal number (it was previously 10). Kids in the top set of maths (they are maths-whizzes as other sets get 7-9 grades at GCSE) also do further maths, meaning they do 12.

I think the trend in many schools is going back towards "more breadth", rather than narrowing the curriculum. This is often a good option for those with a wide range of interests who can then study e.g. An art, a DT, PE and a humanity (or whatever choice they want to make) at GCSE.

Just because grammars do things in a certain way, doesn't mean it's necessarily the best choice for everyone.

A state school is unlikely to let her drop to 9, unless it would be something like triple science to science, leaving no timetable gaps.

Good non-selective state schools (outside of grammar areas) also have high-achieving students who benefit from, and are capable of, doing a wide range of GCSEs, so ending up with 10 or 11 GCSEs.

I think it might be 10 because it’s a grammar school? High achieving, wanting to give students wide range?

DD at non-selective state. Her school has top sets doing triple science in same timetable as combined science so typically 10 GCSEs vs 9 if doing combined. She’s doing Btec creative media as one of her options so would have done 9 GCSEs and I Btec. But top set maths also now doing GCSE further maths so she’ll end up with 10 GCSEs and 1 Btec. Should achieve 8s/9s and distinction * for all.

DD, in Year 11, will end up with ten and a half (RE short course, triple science, and then the usual options etc). DD2 currently on course for 11.5 and a BTEC with one after school. They are at non-selective state. Both pretty academic and not predicted anything below a 7. However, DD2 considering a move to a specialist music school (so independent), where she'll take only 8 for more music focus. Having looked into it, I don't think it will disadvantage her...

My dcs went to/are at different schools. DS1 took 9 as standard at his school. DS2 is taking 10, again as standard. Both schools took the points from the best 8 for 6th form.