Is it normal for GCSE's to be sat at the end of Year 9?

Well I not read all of this. Sorry for just jumping in. At our secondary some children do take GCSEs in year 9. It is only the top sets that get the chance to do this.

The top maths sets take GCSE Statistics

The top science sets take moduals in physics, chemistry & biology. This enables them to complete all 3 sciences at gcse but use up only 2 of there options. Others not in the top science sets can still do separate sciences but they will need to use up 3 options....hope this makes sense.

I think they do something similar in english. I've not had one in a top english set yet so I'm not sure what they actually take. DS5 is in the top set in year 8...so maybe next year!

Makes for a good picture in the local paper on results day.....well the parents of the beaming DC think so!

I can see the reasoning behind it - the first papers are easier and children generally get lower marks on the later papers which can often bring their overall result down (this only applies if they are doing seperate science GCSEs, not science and additional science). If they resit the earlier papers to get the highest score possible on those 'easy' points then that may boost their final grade or give them more scope for messing up their last paper and still doing OK. Schools do the same thing with resiting AS modules which are worth the same as A2 ones but are easier.

It really depends whether or not they 'need' a particular grade for their chosen career or not I think. Some schools do seem to recommend more resits than necessary though - to resit when you already have 48/50 seems likely to be a waste of time, but if you absolutely need an A* then maybe it's worth it?

Just as a thought - suppose a school has found that a child getting 48/50 on paper 1 will on average get 45/50 on paper 2 and 40/50 on paper 3 and assuming 45/50 for the ISA - that totals 178/200 = (180 = A; 160=A), which isn't an A, let alone the safe A* that you might assume. Is it not then worth resiting paper 1 to get those extra 2 points (especially if the child aspires to something difficult, like vet sci)? Also note that because the points are scaled, to get 50/50 UMS does not need anything like all the questions right on the paper - it's more like getting around 35/45 in raw marks, but varies from year to year & subject to subject.

What is wrong is where a school enters children for resits to boost its own league table results rather than looking at the individual child's circumstances.

My son has the same problem, he is resitting his Biology paper on Thursday as he only got an A. I could (perhaps) understand if he was going on to study science at A level, but he isn't!

dd1 took her first science modules last term. despite the fact that she got an A* the school are suggesting she resits the module to get a higher score - the advice they give to everyone who got less than 49/50. it all seems daft to me - i would have thought she would do better spending time on the rest of the syllabus but i'm not going to go against the school's advice.

they can retake certain modules?! WTF. Not in my day. Not sure I like that.

Oh and DS2 in Y7 has 2 people in his class who already have passed a GCSE while at primary school

Our (grammar) school doesn't do any early GCSEs at all.
They think 10 good academic GCSEs obtained in one sitting is better than 15 over 3 years !

I totally agree. I remember being absolutely flabberghasted when an English student teacher (as in subject, not nationality!) joked and thought it funny that she couldn't spell! She took real offence when I said I thought it was a pretty basic requisite to be able to spell, in order to teach children how to communicate. Apparently not - there's 'so much more to it than that'!

I do highlight and correct lots of spelling mistakes in my students' work (secondary science) - if they complain i say I'm happy not to do it, but it will reflect badly on them when they apply for jobs etc. They are usually quite grateful to be corrected. They are often amazed that I can spell and that I am bothered by it - but you're a science teacher, Miss!

It will be enough to drive me from the teaching profession.

Apologies for my typos - my keyboard has weirdly insensitive keys!

Also, actually, universities are having to be more like this now. the consumer society is having a massive impact on the level of university qualifications - as stuents have to pay so much nowadays, they 'expect' a certain level of degre, and are given far more opportunities to achieve it than we were given. These are obviously all my own opinions, and others will disagree, I am sure.

Sadly, all students are in the sausage machine. as a teacher, actually I think lots of students would be better of taking GCSEs in year 9 - hormones have not fully kicked in yet and many are still relatively keen and enthusiastic!
However, while the Government continues to use ridiculous league tables to judge schools, and as long as parents continue to judge schools by these standards, it will continue to happen - it will vastly increase the number of 'points' schools get if pupils come out with a string of GCSEs.
this is why it is so important (I think) for teenagers to be doing things outside of school as well - voluntary work, duke of Edinburgh, sports, anything really to make them stand out a little. It is sad, particularly as they may leave school with a string of qualifications, but still unable to spell correctly.

"The school says it ... allows more time for retakes."

This is so WRONG! Schools should not be teaching kids the mentality that it is OK to mess things up because you can always do a re-take.
Real life (universities, employers etc) is not so forgiving and, anyway, it is such a waste of their time. So much better to "do it once and do it right".

My DD has started GCSE science modules in year 9. The school says it's so they have more time to cover the curriculum and allows more time for retakes.

She struggles with science and needs more time to assimilate the basic knowledge that underpins GCSE science. Having skipped year 9 science doesn't help at all (I have actually bought her the year 9 science revision guide to help and there's so much she doesn't know as it hasn't been covered.)

I have no doubt that she will need to retake most of her Science modules from year 9. If she had followed a proper year 9 science course and started GCSE in year 10 that probably wouldn't be necessary.

I do wonder about the logic of this. When I was at school, in the Dark Ages, we took O Levels at teh end of Y11. They were taken once only (no re-sits) and all together (as a test of how many subjects could you hold in your brain at one time. anyone can get a gazillion GCSE if you take one-a-year for the next gazillion years). Thus they were a marker of how good your sixteen year old brain was.
Doesn't it devalue GCSE if schools say that they are capable of being paased (with a decent grade) by Y9 students?

At my Dd's school they will do a whole GCSE in Yr9.

Are they doing just a few modules or whole GCSE exams in Year 9?

My Dd's school have taken this route. Dd will study her core subjects of Triple Science,Maths&statistics, English&Lit, RE, ICT and PE over 3 years and will do an option subject every year. My worry is the maturity of DC's in yr9 to be able to handle the academic demands of a GCSE course and being able to organise themselves for revision etc. Dd will be taking an option plus Statistics next year. Dd will only just be 14 the day she collects her results slip. Personally I'd have gone with taking two options over two years and introduced the 3rd in yr11. Dd won't be taking any more GCSES then she would have been doing over the traditional two year KS4. The range of courses on offer however has improved from what was on offer last year and the young Scientist in residence came home raving about the fact Geology was on offer. Options evening is next months so I haven't got the full list of choices but DD has told me that you can change options in future years so at least the choices DD makes at 12 are not cast in stone.

I am not a huge fan of doing this, I would rather pupils studied widely rather than clocking up extra GCSEs.

It does happen though.