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Original poster

Number of GCSE’s

33 replies

mightyducks · 10/01/2024 15:43

DS is preparing for his mocks but is just becoming a bit overwhelmed with the amount of revision and content , he’s doing 11 GCSE’s, can’t help feeling it’s too many and 10 or 9 would be ample , is there a correct/ good amount?

OP posts:
Original poster
mightyducks · 10/01/2024 17:34

He is made to do RE as well! I’ve no idea why, there’s a huge amount of course content for it and I’m not sure what the point is of making them all do it

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Original poster
mightyducks · 10/01/2024 17:28

I do feel it’s too many , and I have no idea why the school even want them to do 11, I see no benefit to it

OP posts:
Lifeinlists · 10/01/2024 17:27

You don't need more than 9 and can get away with 8. As with many things, quality is more important than quantity, so aim for mainstream subjects and good grades. 11 is obviously too much of a load for your DS. Can he drop one?

Mediumred · 10/01/2024 17:26

Dd is a pretty standard north London comp and is doing 10, as are most kids, def those taking all the sciences. It does seem a lot but once you have english x2, maths, sciences x3 and RE (which school makes them take, Why??) it only leaves three options for them to choose. Not sure what the answer is (not doing RE would be a start!)

shearwater2 · 10/01/2024 17:22

It's a lot. DD1 only did nine in a superselective grammar.

Goldenretrievermum · 10/01/2024 17:18

DD went to a very prestigious grammar school (well known for getting big numbers into Oxbridge, medicine, law etc). Every pupil in her year group did 10 GCSEs, a small number did 9 if they’d dropped a subject due to extenuating circumstances. I can’t see any benefit in doing 11!

titchy · 10/01/2024 15:53

lifeturnsonadime · 10/01/2024 15:50

Schools like you to do loads, at least 9. In reality you only need to do the number you need for the next stage.

My son only did 6 as he was home educated due to SEN. It hasn't held him back, he has offers from Russell Group universities and had an interview at Oxford.

With all due respect a NT student at a UK school would be incredibly unlikely to get an Oxbridge offer with such a limited range of GCSEs unless there were very specific detriments that led to only taking 6.

lifeturnsonadime · 10/01/2024 15:50

Schools like you to do loads, at least 9. In reality you only need to do the number you need for the next stage.

My son only did 6 as he was home educated due to SEN. It hasn't held him back, he has offers from Russell Group universities and had an interview at Oxford.