To think my son should not be forced to do a full GCSE in religious education

[ReallyTired]

He would far rather do GCSE music. He had done RE since he was five. Surely an extra two years is not going to increase his knowledge of other religions that much.

Comp sci counts as a single science in the Ebacc, which is a bit weird.

'Take 3 sciences at GCSE and get an A* to C in at least 2 of them (the single sciences are biology, chemistry, computer science and physics)'

Any school where RE is dropped completely in year 9 is not fulfilling a statutory requirement. It must be taught to GCSE in some form or another- the exam is not compulsory- the lessons are.

But if it's a compulsory subject, then the school.is not able to say he can just swap. If he wants to study music by himself then I expect the school will happily put him in. I did two subjects on my own, but it's a lot of work.

If the school is saying that the music is full and they've chosen your ds to not have his picked subjects, then you have a case to fight, but you can't just say he's not doing a compulsory subject and expect then to sort out a music teacher to teach him during that time instead.

Dd1's school has RE as a compulsory subject, she does it in year 10 and really, most of it is much more moral issues than anything else. I don't think religion gets much mention at all.

The group work component makes it hard for a child to do GCSE music or drama as a private candidate.

It's a bit odd they can only choose 2. I did re as a half and still chose 4.

I was surprised how few "options" they got too. DS had to pick 6 in order of preference and got three (the top three in most cases)

He wanted to take Drama but by the time his drama teacher had finished telling him how different it would be to the drama he'd done in year 7/8/9, what an academic subject it really was and how it was really very similar to English Literature, he'd changed his mind.

Does the school insist on Ebacc options. DS did choose his options with that in mind but it wasn't compulsory. TBH for an "average" child I'm not convinced it matters and he might have been better going for some slightly softer subjects.

It's possible to get a GCSE equivilent in music by doing grade 5 in an instrument and music theory with the ABRSM - the same things are covered, that might be an option. Also it looks good on uni applications. Grade 8 in practical and theory is considered an A-level equivalent.

The number of lessons that would be required to do a GCSE in RE exceed the statutory requirement to be taught RE.

If you are going to do the full science load, a couple of languages, a practical subject, geography, history, English and maths you are going to struggle to fit in RE as well.

ABRSM - associated board of the royal schools of music.

I'll see if I can find an online copy of the syllabus which confirms the equivalence - it's in the paper copy so must be on the website somewhere. It does need to be ABRSM exams though, the other exam boards aren't equivilent.

When I was in school (GCSE's were 13 years ago), RE classes were mixed ability. There were two exam options, the short course or the full GCSE.

The more academic pupils were selected to do the full GCSE - but there were no extra lessons. Is that not the same now?

the regulations don't specify how much or how often RE has to be taught, so there is no requirement to have even a weekly half hour of RE (although you would have to explain what you were doing instead).

Summer, think it's different in every school, we only had the half option.

GCSE RE will fit into his mandatory lesson and he'll come out of it with another qualification.

DD1 was able to do GCSE Drama outside of school, and DD2 is currently doing GCSE Music outside of school.

Is this something you could look into?

FWIW, RS was also compulsory for DD1. They did the Philosophy and Ethics course, and she loved it.

IMO, the EBAC is a farce. History counts as a humanities subject, but Classical Civilisation doesn't? Is it compulsory at your DS's school? Commiserations, if so.

Summer I fear so. Having looked into it I do see RE has changed, dramatically, for the better. I remember confirmation classes and the fantastic response from all three of my mentors, first in lower forth class room, I asked too many questions and was excused, second teacher in the sixth form held group meeting in his (school chaplain's) house with tea and cake from his wife and third was college dean at university where I got madeira and seed cake and a chance to argue with theology students. I could and would fully accept an established church but struggle with (even) what was then offered this side of the pond.

DS1 did a duet with his instrument teacher for the group element of his music GCSE.

I'm sure that when I was at school that I dropped a subject for GCSE, it was either Languages or RE. I finished Sixth Form in 2004 so the rules have probably changed.

There are two separate issues here if I am reading this right. Even if you took him out of religion he couldn't add on an additional subject. He can only take two options so has to choose like everyone else. When I went to school we also had to choose and biology and history were on the same timetable slot so I was unable to take biology

You would have been able to drop languages at that point John. RE has always been compulsory.

To the pp who said their child could drop out completely in y9 - it could be that they either over-loaded the tt in y7 and y8 to be able to do this, or they collapse the tt for 2 days or so per year to discuss RE issues and do it that way. Neither are ideal at all. It could also be the school is breaking the law.

GCSE music has no group component, unlike Drama.

Of course you has a choice of school. Your ds may have had to travel but you were not forced to choose that particular school.

LOL AndNow. Choice if you can afford it etc, but regardless when choosing a secondary school how many people would investigate whether a non-church school had RE as a compulsory GCSE or realise that they only got to choose 2 options? Even if you did, things change.

AndNowItsSeven If that comment were directed at me, no he had no choice (well continue home ed but he wanted to be in a real school)

"Of course you has a choice of school. Your ds may have had to travel but you were not forced to choose that particular school."

This is not true of state schools, where you can express a preference, but do not have choice in the normal sense of the word. And in densely populated parts of the country, it is possible to fall in to a black hole and receive none of your preferences.

"Of course you has a choice of school. Your ds may have had to travel but you were not forced to choose that particular school."

Bollocks.

Neither are ideal at all

If the school's aim is to make an option available where pupils comply with the minimum RE requirement so that they have more choice at GCSE, and they achieve that, what they are doing is ideal.