PE as a GCSE

[Orangeandgold]

Who did PE as a GCSE? Is it a decent qualification?

My DDs school has significantly cut down on the subjects they have for GCSE (No law, sociology, computer science) - they have the compulsory ones, languages and a few sporty options as they take pride in their sports facilities.

We are wondering if we should move schools or just select PE - but what is it like as a GCSE subject? What do you learn?

My AIBU is thinking that it’s not a “proper GCSE”.

Well music no, but i would imagine people do music who are actually good at music and may want a career in it. I hated it and was glad to give it up after year 9.

Drama yes a bit, sorry. I did it as an extra hobby. My school didn’t offer drama or PE as a GCSE though.

As I said, a lot of other subjects will never be used again so may as well do some subjects just for enjoyment.

The theory is quite detailed in the Physiology actually much more so than Biology.
It isn't an easy option nor does it provide the discipline in thinking that more conventional subjects do.
Some of the better Universities might prefer a higher grade in something else.

PE is a great GCSE if you like science. There is a lot of theory about the body, respiration etc as well as some practical but mainly theory. Lots of my students have done PE and Biology and gone to study physiotherapy.

you definitely have to do 3 sports. 1 team and 2 individual or 2 individual and 1 team. It's quite intensive and hard work. It's as "proper" as GCSE as all the others.

Just to add that where the sports sessions are assessed by the PE teacher, the PE teacher's gradings are also assessed by an outsider to ensure there's no favouritism - grandson's out-of-school rugby was assessed twice. His feedback from this year's exams is that if you aren't keen/any good at biology then PE GCSE is not for you!

The better universities do not care about the subjects beyond English and maths, only about the grades. This is the usual tosh that one GCSE is somehow superior to another.

Yeh I would also be interested in this question. Edit: I see you have answered that music is approved by you but not drama. Hey ho. Drama GCSE was a saviour for my DD who really loved her lessons. It was a welcome relief from the science and maths she had (rightly) to take.

PE GCSE is not silly, whatever you might mean by that. It is an interesting and useful GCSE to take, especially if you are interested in issues around sport, food and nutrition.

GCSE ICT no longer exists btw.

@Orangeandgold a few of us have asked - is that really all that your DD can choose from for two subjects - art, music, PE, dance and textiles? Because if everyone has to choose two of those that's a bit limiting - many students may not want to take art or music as they have no specific talent.

Or can she actually pick history and geography, or another MFL? or business, or resistant materials, food?

Drama GCSE was a saviour for my DD who really loved her lessons. It was a welcome relief from the science and maths she had (rightly) to take.

My dd is a total STEM nerd - she did CS, electronic products and FM alongside the standard EBacc set, but she did drama too as a welcome change of pace - its can be a good subject for some who might otherwise tend to shyness.

I was a very academic student at a grammar school and I did PE GCSE. It was academically speaking the easiest subject for me I think - but I loved being outside playing sport and improving my technique, and that was challenging and growing in itself. It was definitely one of my favourite gcses and only did positive things for me - although I did not pursue anything related to it (other than carry on playing my chosen sports socially).

For me these gcse subjects raise the question of what is the purpose of education. If you are looking at subjects that every student will find useful every day of their lives no matter what they do for work then cookery (proper cookery not designing pizza boxes and studying how food is produced in factories) abd Pe/nutrition/healthy lifestyles would be far more beneficial than Macbeth, the geography of volcanoes or any number of things they are forced to study.

Well music no, but i would imagine people do music who are actually good at music and may want a career in it.

So why wouldn't you apply the same criterion to PE? Lots of people might want a career in sport too…

They do have drama. She’s not keen on any of the arts ones though. I’m not sure why.

They have media studies (which I enjoyed at a levels when I was younger) and computer science.

She has 2 more years to decide. Reading through the responses it seems that her school aligns with other schools - I didn’t realise the skills shortage was that bad.

When I was in year 9 and we started choosing our GCSEs we got an option to choose dance if we could get a place and I did and I wish I didn't 😂😂

The good news is that she has decided she wants to do PE. Her reason for being so “unsure” was the fact that “she might be one of a few girls”. She is academic but also very sporty.

She enjoys dance outside school but doesn’t want to take it as a GCSE. What was wrong with dance @TurtleTackle ?

I told her although I was also academic but my favourite 2 GCSEs were drama and food tech - as I still used those skills beyond education. And they were fun.

Her interests have changed slightly so we will keep an eye on them and choose accordingly.

I did PE GCSE in 1994! Loved it. I was very academic but it was one of the most enjoyable subjects to learn and even today I’ve retained loads of the physiology knowledge. We also did a section on the history of the Olympics which was fascinating.
Plus I loved sport and this was a way of doing sport about 3-4 times a week (plus team games) whereas people who didn’t do it were down to maybe one lesson a week.

At the time my parents were a bit unsure about it and encouraged me to do Business Studies and ICT as well (which I did) but literally every single thing I learned in that subject was obsolete probably 6 years later with the advent of the internet!

I did GCSE PE. Lots of human biology.
I’m a Paramedic and clinical lecturer now.

Your OP said there was no computer science. Half of the posts on this thread are comments on that!

OK, so the offer is:

PE (BTEC or GCSE)
Dance
Drama
Textiles
Music
Art
Media
Computer Science

Honestly OP, I am curious to know what you expected. This is a very standard list of options for an English state school and honestly is pretty good. The only omissions that you might find elsewhere are business, a choice of DT subjects other than textiles, e.g. food, and perhaps some more vocational options, such as Health and Social Care or Catering.

Eek DD2 has chosen dance 😬

DD1 is academic and sporty. Results tbc but predicted 8s in most subjects. PE is in fairness the one she finds easiest, but she doesn't do any other arts or coursework subjects.

From talking to others people with a solid sports performanc, who got 6s in other subjects like science/biology came out with 8/9 in PE.

It was only just becoming a thing when I chose it.
It wasn't even set in stone it was we could pick it but there was no guarantee that we would get to do it.
I'm more of a coursework person that's why I went on to do a levels.
I chose dance as I thought it was a lesser of 2 evils.
The only saving grace is that my best friend was in my set.
I think it was also a confidence thing with me.

Sounds like your DD is only in year7 @Orangeandgold plenty of time for her to decide.

One of my DC will do PE as it’s their favourite subject - far better to do something they are interested in. Was slightly disappointed to hear that the exam board the school use means they don’t assess martial arts so it will have to be school based sports and the one team sport they play out of school. Teacher stressed they need to be competent at science & not to take it as a GCSE if playing sport is the only part you are interested in.

Was surprised by the comment up thread that they are assessed in relation to their peer group at school rather than on their own progress/development/achievements. There are some excellent sportspeople in DCs year so that puts them at a bit of a disadvantage as they are good but not exceptional.

My other DC or I wouldn’t have done PE- not that we don’t see the value in it but we enjoy reading & essay based subjects more. We wouldn’t have done well in GCSE PE but admire those that are good at it.

I used to struggle with science at school but did GCSE PE.

The theory helped me understand biology and chemistry as I could link it to reality such as how certain substances affect the body. It was like the penny dropped for me. Especially as I was essentially being taught the subject twice (in pe class and biology class) which reinforced learning.

I developed a love of science, became good at it and studied biology at university and have a good career in it. I credit GCSE PE for this.

RE is compulsory? Blimey. I see PE, given it’s heavily science and theory based, as far more of it “proper” GCSE than RE (and I’m taking into account that RE is actually about cultures etc than religion itself).

It’s not a proper GSCE, but does that really matter.
As long as you get good grades in the core subjects, you might as well do 1 or 2 that you enjoy.

Sounds like your DD is only in year7 @Orangeandgold plenty of time for her to decide.

It's also possible that by the time she gets to gcse years the options may have changed depending on staffing/funding. And the same goes for any other school you might move her to.