Private GCSE - wtf have I got myself into

[DoggerDidIt]

DD year 10. We were talking about GCSE's etc and how difficult they are compared to when I was at school.

I ended up googling with DD if you can do private GCSE's and it looks like you can. So DD bet me I couldn't get a 7 or above, I said i'd do it if she did it with me and now I've agreed to do a private Psychology GCSE with her next year.

She's well up for it but i'm wondering wtf i've got myself into. Can she do a GCSE privately at the end of year 10? Are her teachers going to be pissed off with me? I looking at the books etc we need to order and planning how we're going to study it all.

Any tips gratefully received!

I did the first year of GCSEs so could identify with my daughter doing the first year of reformed GCSEs. All the shtick about are they easier or harder.

There are two different things happening - is the couse content harder, and is it harder to get a particular grade.

In 1988, 8.4% of GCSE grades were an A
In 2019, 20.6% of GCSE grades were a 7, 8 or 9
That is why people think they have got easier. But maybe they get taught better now, or work harder?

Anyhow OP, don’t do a GCSE. Study along with your daughter if you like, she might find that helpful.

English and science, I suppose you can count as 2 each

English - in English Lit and English Lang - and double science award have been around over 20+ years and have always been two GCSE - I know as I took them no option for triple at my secondary.

Where I am Maths is now split in two as well and it's been mentioned by the school at GCSE option assemblies several times.

I think this is a bad idea because you aren't going to be aware of the work load yet from her school GCSEs.

Terrible idea. I'm a secondary teacher.

I’m always amazed when aware, articulate, literate parents know absolutely nothing about their child’s school life....

Just no, OP. There's having a laugh with your DC but this is silly and a total waste of time (and money). She needs to focus on the workload she has which will be very heavy, not be faffing around in the dark to beat her mother in a childish competition about something irrelevant.

If you want to do one legitimately for interest or careers sake do one, otherwise why not just do an old test paper online for an existing subject if you are that desperate to outdo a child or prove them wrong. At the end of the day most of us would fail because we aren't in full time study of the subject as the DC are. They lack the foresight to understand that there are other markers of intelligence or that they too will forget GCSE level drills in 20 years and likely be more intelligent despite it. GCSE's are hardly proof of much in the respect of our adult lives, or used for much BUT she needs them to go to college so put the effort into that and not this.

Just let her have it, bail out, do a test paper online and divert her back to her planned studies instead of diverting concentration.

So what are you going to do, OP?

Not being funny but if she wasn't invited to do triple science, and she wasn't invited to do art music, dance or drama, is she up to doing a whole extra subject in addition to her school work? Psychology is sciences and maths, data, experiments....