GCSE options totally suck

[Windywuss]

My son is in y9. He's got ASC and had issues at school. Things seem to have settled a bit now and I've just started looking ahead to options.

I don't get it at all. He loves computer science and science. The school don't do GCSE computer science at all. Sciences are not single subject but a triple science option instead. The options look awful. There's loads of dance and PE and some Digital creative alternative qualification that isn't a GCSE and vocational subjects.

If his school doesn't do computer science then is he not going to be able to do this at A level? I just feel it's all geared to the less academic kids which make up the majority of the catchment.

It wasn't our first choice school..no chance of moving.

I would want him to go elsewhere for sixth form but I feel like he's already going to be behind, and possibly won't be able to do what he wants. I feel I've failed him (though I'm really tired and emotional tonight and I'm a single parent and just exhausted with everything).

Anyone else been stuck with poor choices for GCSEs?

They’re basically a stem school that call themselves a technical college. They take kids from y10 and are science/engineering focused. So no languages/re/history/geography.

It’s not for everyone. But it worked for my eldest. They have longer days (our local one is, assume others are but could be wrong!) and don’t do homework. It’s very marmite. Type in your location and ‘utc’ and it might show your nearest?

They're not aimed at high achievers - they'd be of no use to OP. Don't worry about the lack of CS. He won't need it for A level, and won't even need CS A level to do a degree in it! Maths is the important one.

@titchy really?
I know several teens who have gone to/are attending UTCs or Studio Schools and none of them are "low achievers".
Some UTCs are hard to get into.

There's very few of them around because the majority of them that opened closed within a few years because they were terrible.

Some of the remaining ones are good but it's definitely worth double-checking results before applying.

I don't think we have those in our area. I got a letter explaining about something like that and then laughed because it said we don't have any here! Seemed a very pointless letter from the county council education team.

The majority of UTCs yes. There may well be a few exceptions of course. I don't know anything about studio schools.

Cross posted with noble - glad to hear most have closed!

@noblegiraffe why are they terrible?
I think the idea is brilliant and the teens I know that have attended/are attending are all doing well.

We have a local ish UTC that offers a vocational route and a more academic route.

My children’s school makes them all do three separate sciences, except for the lowest achieving and they do combined science.

Apparently there's about 45 UTCs currently open in England.

Because in a lot of cases, kids who want to leave their school at 14 and transfer to a different school are kids who are not doing well at their current school. Successful kids tend to be happy at school and want to stay there.

So UTCs sometimes ended up as a sort of dumping ground for disaffected kids in the local area, possibly 'encouraged' by their current school to try something different.

They would then get bad results, and struggle to recruit further cohorts. They'd also struggle to attract teachers and there would be a downward spiral towards closure.

Some of the few remaining ones managed to avoid that and pupils make a positive choice to be there.

E.g. https://feweek.co.uk/twelfth-utc-closure-confirmed/

Look at college and 6th form admissions - it’s usually 5 GCSE’s above 4 or 5 including maths and English.

How difficult for you that does seem very limiting. Maybe you could look into doing these GCSE courses on line - like old style correspondence courses.

Where will the sixth form be? Ask the head of studies there what GCSEs he will need for his chosen subjects.

A good private day school would offer these subjects. It so wrong your son is being held back.

My son got a grade C maths, did double science, and then a BTEC in IT.

He's a software developer.

Don't worry about GCSE. Nail all the main subjects. Whilst it's a pity that schools don't offer Computer Science, I suspect its difficult to get teachers when you see what employees in the industry are earning in their 20s and 30s. They are unlikely to be attracted into teaching, sadly.

@noblegiraffe the thing is going by many many threads on Mumsnet including this one - many people have never heard of UTCs or Studio Schools.
No one is going to apply if they don't know they exist 😂
It's like they are a government secret for some bizarre reason. I don't understand why they aren't promoted.

We have a University Technical College in my local larger town. It does offer health and digital pathways. That’s all. It’s just been inspected and it’s RI yet again. All inspections have been RI since 2016. It’s part of the Merchant Taylor’s Trust. It has RI in every category and DC have poor attendance. Why it’s still open is a mystery. Probably more like a PRU!

GCSE computer science is a relatively boring subject, both Ds1 and Ds2 did it at GCSE, A level, Ds1 did for a degree and is now a software engineer. A lot of people think it is just coding but it is much more dry. If your son wants to look at it then Craig n Dave on Youtube cover both GCSE and A level content.

For high level unis CompSci degrees want applicants to have maths and hopefully further maths. You don't need to have done any previous computer science course.

The best way to tackle options at GCSE is to mark off what they don't want and see what is left. Ds1 did combined science so 2 grades for all 3 sciences and did a science A level, Ds2 did triple so the 3 individual science grades.

Schools are required to inform pupils about the options in the local area - that's why the OP got a letter about it!

I'm 36 and did double science (so taught as "science" and got two GCSEs for it). Triple science gives three GCSEs in physics, biology and chemistry. That's be the case for years and years. If you're in Wales though, it is changing, as the Welsh education system is poor and will downgrade it to just one science GCSE.

@noblegiraffe why have so few people seemed to have heard of them then?
But then again many parents in England believe the "school leaving age" is now 18. Which it isn't.

Our grammar (also NI) offered single award, double award and triple award science. Single is as its name suggests. Double you'd do all 3 sciences and get 2 GCSEs because it's less detailed. Triple is all three. Mine all did one apiece. None of them were scientists!

Our school also offers ICT GCSE and A level.

I was lucky back in olden times though. At the time, my grammar allowed us to drop all three! I did mostly languages, history and ancient history.

@CherryValley5 your school I think has the biggest range of choices in NI, because of its size?

@Windywuss I'd say quite a few kids wouldn't even have Comp Sci A level yet study it in uni. Have a think about where he might like to apply for uni, and see what their requirements are.

Because there are barely any!

I didn't know grammar schools were still a thing till I joined MN, I've never lived near one.

Yes well that's why two tier educational in this country also sucks. I cannot afford private school. All kids deserve good schools. But I don't want to set Mumsnet off on a private v state rant. There's been too much of that already lately.

I don't think my son would cope with online study due to his autism but thanks for the suggestion.

I am trying to work out where he can go for A Level if not staying on at this school. May be able to move to a different school sixth form. The two schools I would have preferred for him may be possible at sixth form but I've no idea if catchment is still a thing post 16 or how it works. They're both over subscribed in the lower years.

FE colleges are not for academic kids here. The next city has a good sixth form college but don't know how he'd get there. It's not in the city centre.

Windywuss
Oh really? It's all changed then . My friend's children are 18 and 20 and both did separate sciences.

I did my GCSEs in 1989 and did dual award science.