GCSEs in England: which subjects / how many are compulsory? What can each school force kids to take?

I have never seen a school that doesn’t also make them do English lit alongside English language. So that is either 5 or 6 (depending on science option) before they have chosen their options. All of mine ended up with only 3 actual options of their choosing as one also had to do RE another had to pick a language and another had to do further maths (top maths set) also 1 of them had to choose triple science because of being in top set sciences. But they did an extra gcse because of that.

also 2 of the schools made them choose 1 from each of 3 boxes which reduced the choice down even further. Realistically I always think there is actually very little choice involved really.

A school can make a gcse compulsory.

a common example is that religious schools make RE gcse compulsory.

not all students sit GCSEs. I used to teach in a unit attached to a mainstream school for autistic students and some did not sit any GCSEs. This was usually due to severe disabilities. (England).

students who don’t do GCSEs usually do entry level qualifications or ASDAN.

home schooled students also do not need to do GCSEs although many will.

students in school who are capable of taking GCSEs the compulsory ones across all schools are English maths and some sort of science.

no maximum or minimum mandated by law

most schools when it gets to year 9 options time for choosing courses will give students a “pathway”.
this is basically them suggesting how many GCSEs are appropriate - so for example it is common for students who are struggling with maths and English to do one less gcse and have extra maths and English in that time.

equally, many schools will offer additional maths gcse or statistics gcse to students who are top set maths. Sometimes at lunchtime sometimes afterschool lessons sometimes they just cover the content in timetabled lessons.

Maintained schools (this means LA maintained schools - there aren't many of these at secondary level) in England must teach the national curriculum to pupils aged approximately 5 to 16 years old. The national curriculum is divided into four key stages. It includes different subjects at different stages, but maths, sciences, English, physical education and computing are included at all stages.
Academies and free schools don’t currently have to follow the national curriculum. They must, however, offer a broad and balanced curriculum that covers English, maths, sciences and RE.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06798/

These subjects dont have to lead to GCSEs (RE often doesn't). Nearly all secondaries will have compulsory GCSEs in English (lang & lit), science (at least combined worth 2, they may also offer separate that is 3) and maths. Most have further restrictions e. g. you must do one of mfl, history or geography. The school decides what the offer is and how many subjects. It may differ for higher & lower attaining students. Students get told what is compulsory and what choices they can make.
If you google 'school name gcse options' or similar you will probably get their current offer. However, it can change. The option structure at DD's school was not the same when she chose as when she she joined in year 7.
Attainment and progress metrics influence schools to restrict choices in particular ways. This is one of the reasons why many schools insist on an mfl or a humanity.

English (language), maths and science are the mandatory subjects, yes. English lit is not but most schools require it alongside Lang. RE in England is the subject of a specific law requiring it to be taught, but it doesn’t have to be a GCSE course. Many schools do make it a GCSE course though. Citizenship and PE also need to be taught although again they don’t need to be GCSE courses and schools don’t usually require them to be a GCSE course.

There may be some confusion around the Ebacc subjects. The ebacc is a measure that schools are judged on, and it’s just a representation of how many students study a width of subjects at gcse. To count towards the school’s ebacc score, students need to study and pass a humanity and a language as well as the English, Maths, Science core subjects. It’s not compulsory for students to do the ebacc subjects though.

Children are not required by law to sit the compulsory subject exams, many children with SEN or who are in non mainstream schools won’t be. Some may sit lower level qualifications instead. Some may sit just the core subjects and no others. There’s no requirement to insist that children sit 8 GCSEs or whatever number.

Yes, schools can decide which subjects are required at their school, although it’s usually more that they may require students to sit the ebacc range of subjects rather than specific individual subjects. Most schools will have the main cohort who do 8 to 10 GCSEs, then a small number of very academic children who might do a couple more, and a small number of children who do fewer as they face academic challenges.

Parents can withdraw their children from studying RE under the separate law that applies to that subject. Other subjects, well, they can have a conversation with the school and explain their reasoning and see what compromise can be arranged. Teachers usually try to find the route that’s most appropriate for each student, as much as they are able to. The process of choosing GCSE options is usually a bit flexible and aims to get everyone on subjects they’re satisfied with and that suit their academic ability.

Hey OP here is the KS3 & 4 summary for England - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-secondary-curriculum

It can be a bit muddled what is the schools decision versus what is legally required. Most schools decide to mandate more subjects than the Government as it is very bare bones.

Here's an extract from the PDF

1. yes, I believe you are right. Although English Lit is usually taught alongside language rather than split out totally. And science is either 2 or 3 GCSEs.

2. not that om aware of

3. yes, schools can require subjects - RS us a common one.

4. for our school, most do 9. Some strong STEM students do further maths. Some of the weakest students drop an option and have extra english & maths lessons. It is heavily guided by school but kids (&parents) do get some say.

We got general setting/ streaming info, but even in the 2 years between my 2 the structure has changed, so not saying may be because changes are being investigated and they dont know.

There are none obligatory by law per se but the normal aim is to achieve 5 passes including English Language, Maths, Science (which can be 2 or 3 gcses) to prgress to year 12/level 3 qualifications or apprenticeships. English and Maths are retaken until 18 if not passed by year 11 and are free to adult learners yet to achieve them

There is no specific legal maximum/minimum number, see above. Schools may restrict the choice of subjects according to timetabling and staff availability. Parents have no right to insist on dc being able to take specific choices and there may be a minimum level of interest to run a subject. Some schools make RS compulsory, humanity and a language at gcse(possibly a hangover from EBaccalaureate) . RS and PE are taught up to year 11 even if not taking gcse.

I can’t help because my children are not at GCSE stage yet.

But It’s interesting how you mention schools not being 100% open about gcse option restrictions. When looking at secondaries this is something that’s important to us, but we’re also hitting a barrier with getting answers.