DD not being allowed to do Triple Science, really wants to, anything we can do?

There is some outrageous snobbery going on in this thread. Yes a 7 is equivalent to an a. I'm sorry if that upsets some people ( that their precious little darling 9-grade students really aren't as special as they think). It's pathetic. Triple science is not just for the elite. It's bog standard in our schools here.

I echo many other posters . Challenge why she can’t join. An A / grade 7 student is more than capable of studying triple science. If the class is full that might be more tricky but the reason you have been given doesn’t seem fair.

Could her old school / teachers write a reference on her expected grade at actual A level - I assume the 7 was given earlier in the year and low to encourage hard work.

That’s what triple science is.

Double is the same subjects (sometimes with separate teachers) but covering less content so you get 2 GCSEs. Sometimes triple is an option, sometimes it’s covered in the same sessions as double (which everyone does) but faster, hence needing a certain ability level.

Wish double had existed for me as I had to drop physics to do the other things I wanted to do (so I just took bio and chem) and I am very aware of my lack of basic knowledge.

I know it’s not the point of the thread but this whole triple science malarkey sounds like such a bizarre way to arrange things. I did Scottish standard grades and physics, biology and chemistry were three distinct subjects with different teachers and timetables the same as any other subjects.

Only the top 20 students in the end of year 9 science assessment were offered triple at my son's school.

My DS wasn’t allowed to do triple science.
He was gutted, he did double, then a BTEC now is studying Biomedical Science at university.

DS's school teaches triple science in the same timetable time as double. It's a selective option - they only take the top 20% of scientists (based on Y8/9 assessment) and those pupils also have yo be high scoring in English and Maths.

Could it be something like that?

You can take triple science at foundation level where the maximum possible grade is a 5. It should be for people who like science, not just the best kids.

I don't see that a predicted 7 is not particularly successful, it's only a prediction, that can easily be surpassed.

Advanced maths is a completely different situation, it's a lot more difficult than GCSE maths.

This is where schools differ.
Schools who cover the triple science syllabus in the same number of lessons as combined tend only to take the most able students.

Many schools cover triple in more lessons (and use an extra option block for timetabling purposes). in this case the extra content is covered in proportionally the same number of lessons.

Dc got 9,8,8 and his friend got 9,9 which is viewed as better. But dc had a lot more content to cover, in the same number of lessons. He is doing two A level science subjects so I’m hoping that the extra content at gcse has given him a good start.

Ofqual would beg to differ

https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/02/gcse-9-to-1-grades-a-brief-guide-for-parents/

My students can move between a 7 and a 9 (or vice versa) between the mocks in year 11 and the summer exams depending on how much revision they do and how well they cope with the exam period.

Not really. There isn't such a big difference. The child could have been still 13 when it was decided they were a '7'.

Its hardly a set in stone careful measurement of unchangeable scientific abilty that this '7' will have been based on either.

It could have just been on the basis of some random end of year 9 test that never even got marked properly.

I wouldn't die on this hill. I did double science and have three science degrees - the double has literally never been mentioned.

Triple science isn't harder.

It's only harder if teaching in the same time as allocated for double science. This would mean they would have to learn at an accelerated rate with more independent learning. Most schools offer triple as an option subject so they literally have more lessons of science compared to double. If that is the case, it is the same level of rigour/ difficulty, just more topics.

We prefer triple if going onto A levels, but double is fine to do A levels.

I haven’t seen a school require triple science for science A levels. Why not ficus on her absolutely nailing double…

What if there's already 35 students in the class though?

@avidhorizon some triple science schools cover a lot of the GCSE syllabus in year 9, which she's missed as she was at a different school. Is this the case perhaps?

A '7' student would struggle working in a triple class alongside '9' students.

But double and triple aren't treated the same when it comes to A-levels are they?

My DGC's school actually invites the children it thinks are suitable to do triple.

Shame they don't have enough teachers to teach them properly

Yeh it is, tho tbh I think its not helpful to compare numbers with letters now. But what is 7 if not?

Because triple science isn't just more work or harder work... it's faster paced, and more independent thinking is required. Maths needs to be excellent too.

No it's not

BTW grades:
9 A star
8 A star
7 A
6 B
5 C
4 low C