What you wish you knew about GSCEs

[PinkyAndTheBarnacle]

Hello,

my eldest will be sitting GSCEs next summer. Has mocks after Christmas.

can you please shed any light on what you wish you’d known before hand?

are GSCE grades counted towards UCAS?
is UCAS still a thing?!
do you put your GSCE grades on your Uni application form?
how important are GSCE grades beyond getting into A-level courses?

thank you!

If he doesn’t know what he wants to do when he’s older then my advice would be to do really well in all of his GCSE’s as he’ll never know what he will need for his future career.

If he does know what he wants to do then focus on the GCSE’s that matter. I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I left school and the only grades that mattered where English, Maths and Science. I did well in other subjects but those were the ones my job cared about.

It probably depends what your child wants to do. One of mine studied art at a local uni and they were more interested in his portfolio than any grades. The other wants to study medicine in a top uni which is really competitive so gcse grades are very important (or so we’ve been told).

are GSCE grades counted towards UCAS? No but most courses have minimum gcse grades in English and maths which must be met.

is UCAS still a thing?! Yes.

do you put your GSCE grades on your Uni application form? Yes

how important are GSCE grades beyond getting into A-level courses? Depends on the course. Selective universities and courses will put quite a bit of weight on gcse results.

Ok thanks! For some context: he’s a bit of an all rounder - sciences, languages, geography, history. Not sure what he wants to do - but definitely wants Uni. He’s fairly confident but is keeping himself to himself and doesn’t want my help or to discuss study plans, so I feel a bit….out of the loop. So trying to arm myself with info!

GCSE grades are important but only really for getting to the next stage (A levels) and possibly the one after (university) depending on competitiveness of the course and the university. Beyond university, A level and university grades carry much more weight.

However, I'm a great believer in keeping as many options open for as long as possible, in which case I'd always advise doing as well as you can in all subjects. I've heard many a students say on results day "I wish I'd worked a bit harder in xxx subject as I think I could have done better", but in 35 years of teaching, I've never heard a single student say "I wish I hadn't worked so hard in xxx subject"!

I wish that young people today knew how much of a character reference GCSE grades can be, and how much more competition there is nowadays compared to the times their uncle got a job without any GCSEs. The grades and the variety of courses are all part of that in a market which is open almost world-wide.

That's more for people who wish to go into apprenticeships or straight into work without further qualifications more than those who gain A-levels or degrees thereafter, of course.

I still have to put my GCSE grades into every application I write, but I am now old and experienced enough that I'm sure they have little bearing these days.

Former Home Educator. My children have all attained high grades at GCSE.

Past papers and working on timings is huge, split them into shorter sections.
Teach your child how to mark past papers to the mark scheme.
Key words, especially in sciences.
English lang/lit, how the writer intends to make the audience feel, some kids just don’t get it.

History, PEEL paragraphs, really important.
Controversial, but for me, in maths solidify the predicted grade before spending lots of time on very high grade work, unless your child is at that level.
Don’ get caught up in the all 9 grade hype, expect mixed grades.
Be flexible, don’t fixate on one plan, talk openly about changing the plan if the grades don’t materialise.

Do not use gel pens in exams, certain gel pens disappear when the exam papers are scanned, some don’t check.

Pens, get a good stock of them.
Have a backup calculator.
Good Luck.

Do some work in graduate recruitment.

Yes GCSEs matter. Some A Level courses you will struggle if you don't get Grade 8s and 9s (Maths and Physics).

GCSEs absolutely do matter, especially English and Maths. If you can get 10 GCSEs including English and maths in whatever subjects you like, you are pretty much set.

It doesn't necessarily matter what subjects you study, you aren't expected to have your life mapped out at that age. Exception is if you want to do medicine or something similar which would require at least biology and chemistry.

In theory you need certain GCSEs to be accepted onto A level courses, but there is usually a way around it if you show an interest. Example - I took a language at A level that I hadn't studied at gcse because the GCSE wasn't offered by my school.

Your A level choices are more important for university. However, you can change your mind about the direction you want to take even after A levels as most universities offer a foundation year for those who do not meet the criteria either because they have just missed out on grades or not taken key subjects at A level.

I got 9 A*s 4As at GCSE and 2 As at AS level in year 11. I also got 100% in my science GCSEs and a couple of others. My advice to anyone would be get hold of every mark scheme and learn them. Just learn the whole thing. Do every practice paper you can find.

Really helpful thank you! Nothing too major that I didn’t know, so you’re making me feel better! Thank you

Start revising early. It’s a long slog, they’re very tired by the end so early work counts for a lot.

Check the timetable that you get from school against the exam board website. Mistakes do happen.

plenty of pens. Clear pencil case

Make sure they understand what they need to do for each paper - how many questions they need to answer etc. It can vary a lot between subjects and papers. Attending any extra sessions offered by school is always a good idea.

Past papers are a great way of identifying any parts of the curriculum that they don’t fully understand.

drum into them to make sure their phone doesn’t go into the exam room with them - you’d be surprised how many forget despite reminders.

Go easy on them during their exams. As long as they’ve not iffy revision to the last minute they’ll be fine. Encourage them to carry on with out of school activities to give them a break.

I'm also HE-ing the GSCEs.

Good tip on the gel pens, thank you!

Can I ask how many subjects your child/ren took? We're in the Netherlands and most universities here consider 3 GCSEs and 3 A-Levels to be the equivalent of the local high-school diploma for entry applications.

Three subjects in a year is a very comfortable pace but it feels strange, as if the workload is too light or something. Not sure if doing another 3 next year would be overkill.

I'm assuming you're in the UK so entrance requirements would be a bit different, just curious how you approached it?

I will go against the majority and say nothing at 16! My dd left high school with 3. A local boys school took a chance on her for level 3 btecs and resists. She's now at uni thriving and has more GCSEs and fab level 3 results.
It's a memory test and some are better than others at 16

Don't pressure them, they'll get what they get.

My eldest did enough to get to the next phase which I struggled with as I am ultra competitive andcouldn't understand why he didn't want to do the best he possibly could. He knew he didn't want to take German any further for example so thought 4 was enough, I couldn't understand why he wouldn't just go for a 9. He got a 6 in the end and whilst I could have forced him to study more I think our relationship would have suffered if I had.

So my advice, which I will try and follow with my younger ones, is guide but don't force them and it will probably all work out in the end.

Most students in the U.K. take between 8 and 13 GCSEs. 10 is probably the most common number.

Bright students often do additional maths or statistics gcse as well as an additional language.

Was that to me? If so, that's helpful, thank you.

Do they sit something like 5 each year for two years or take all 10 at once?

Actually only 12.2% of pupils took 10 GCSEs in England in 2024.
9 is the commonest at 28.4% and just over a quarter took 8. A tiny number take 13 - only 390 pupils took 12 or more subjects in the whole of England.. The average was 7.81 this year and that number has remained fairly constant since 2019.
That's exams taken in one sitting of course, and there will be schools who do some early leading to a higher number of GCSEs in total but the days of lots of pupils doing 10+ subjects seem to have gone.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/infographic-gcse-results-2024/infographics-for-gcse-results-2024-accessible

@Dutch1e

They take them all at once.

The exam period is about two months and it's roughly three exams a week or so.

drum into them to make sure their phone doesn’t go into the exam room with them - you’d be surprised how many forget despite reminders.

Or their smart watch (and in many cases any watch at all).

Or a calculator with a bunch of formulae printed inside the lid. Near squeak for DS with that one.

Or their pocketful of mini flashcards (very conscientious and very appalled girl of our acquaintance. Yes, she was disqualified).

Number 1 thing you need to know is guard the certificates with you life when they arrive buy him a nice portfolio folder to keep them in because you can't get replacements. They used to be £30 each for a copy certificate, now you just get a rubbishy statement of results from the .gov website instead

I would disagree that GCSEs are only necessary for the next step. I've had to scan them in for various work courses I've been asked to undertake and to show proof I have them on taking up new roles despite having a Dip HE and BSc. Never had to show my A level certs apart from Uni though

Do not buy 10x CGP revision books and/or flashcards for you DC in the hope it will inspire him to revise. He will use online revision tools/seneca or barely bother revising at all so you will end up weeping at the wasted money as you donate the unused resources to the school the term after results come out....

Top uni’s like Oxbridge look at GCSE’s but generally no. My daughter sat her’s last year and it was unbelievable how much work she put in. She had 25 exams and it was a slog, especially as she had to start B12 injections in the middle. She did amazing though and got all 9’s. But she thoroughly deserved it as she worked so hard for those grades. Biggest advice is read wider around subjects (and watch online etc) and practice papers. When DD was sorting through everything to clear out she said she had done 50 timed practice papers for English!

she sat 11 GCSE’s in year 11, and had sat one in year 10 (whole school does RE in year 10) so has 12. I wasn't aware that most kids do less than 10, makes sense though.

I'm a secondary school teacher and the main advice I give to my students it about how to actually revise. Most students just spend time reading through their books, but nothing really goes in and they just feel depressed. I always say to begin by figuring out what you do/don't know- the school might use PLCs or Seneca, but they can just get the specification and RAG themselves. This stops them from just revising what they already know.

After that, it's important to do active revision and to have a clear, achievable target for the revision period. e.g., don't say "I'm going to revise Spanish" instead "I'm going to make 10 flashcards for Spanish" or "I'm going to do half a Spanish past paper". That way they know when they've achieved it, and it boost self-esteem to feel that something purposeful has been done.

Once they're ready, do some past papers. I'm an examiner for AQA and Cambridge, and there are so many recycled questions over the years (the spec is what it is after all!) I also advise asking teachers to mark past papers for you, most of us will do this (we're always happy to see keen students!) and this is beneficial for long-answer questions where it's not just about what you've said, but the way you've written it.

Need gcse grade 4 or above in maths and English to do a secondary pgce and also need science if you want to be a primary teacher.

So true. And you can't even reuse them for younger siblings as they change the bastard exam board.