AIBU to worry Business Studies GCSE may affect future university choices?

[Y9Options]

DS has chosen his options for GCSE and I'm concerned the Business Studies GCSE is not accepted by some universities. When completing UCAS applications for my DD recently, some of her uni choices stated they didn't accept some subjects - things like Business Studies, Media Studies etc.

DS's GCSE choices so far are:

English Language
English Literature
Maths
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
History
Geography
PE
And the last option is yet to be decided.

DS wants to do Business Studies (Edexcel). He'd consider Computer Science (also Edexcel) but doesn't really enjoy it - and everything I've read online suggests it's dull and hard to get a high grade in.

I'd love him to continue with his MFL (Spanish), but he checked out mentally a while ago when he realised he wouldn't have to choose an MFL for GCSE. He has some dyslexia which affects his spelling and doesn't languages even though, he seems to be naturally pretty good at them when he tries. He also has ADHD (medicated) and is far more motivated in the subjects he enjoys.

Uni applications look at the average of your top 8 GCSE grades, so I'm thinking about his chances of getting the best grades he can. He wants to do something like Economics or Architecture at Uni.

DS does econ at Bath. He’s got PE gcse and a 5 in English (7 English lit). They focus on maths a-levels.

I think he'll be fine.

My DD did Music and Citizenship GCSEs alongside the academic stuff and Business Studies A Level and still managed to get into Uni of Bristol to study Law and is off to do her Masters at LSE in September.

I really don't think it matters that much if his other choices are 'traditional' and he does well in them.

She's going to do Business and Management. Myself and her Dad are just waiting on the final uni decision, we both agree she needs to go and both schools offer a lot.
Taking a year out has been so helpful. She got a 4 in English and a 6 in maths, and lots of that was in covid. Like lots of kids she just did better at L3.

To do econ at LSE you need a 6 in English and they don’t factor in English lit. So DS couldn’t apply there (and saved us money 😂!)

@jsku were these ‘gcse’ that weren’t counted actual GCSEs? Was your DC at a school in England? I’m also perplexed & I’ve also never heard of GCSEs not counting and have had two apply to uni for competitive degrees (neither with business or PE but still…). I do think it’d be common knowledge if certain GCSEs were not counted esp very popular ones like PE & Business. Seems very bizarre. And incredibly unfair if it is indeed true and the universities aren’t transparent about it. Which I doubt!

They are overhauling and updating the whole mfl syllabus this year. I am sure last years GCSEs still count!

I assume your dc did some level 2 GCSE equivalents - instrumental grade 4 or 5 for example. There is no GCSE that cannot be added to a UCAS form. Unless they ran out of space….

It’s already been acknowledged that a handful of unis’ courses take the grades of the top 8 GCSEs, as well as A levels, interviews and other admissions tests. But these WILL be explicitly on the website.

Congratulations to your daughter! You must have a really special DD.

I indeed have no knowledge as to alternative routes and qualifications. And I was not at all trying to comment on that.

I was only commenting as the OP mentioned potentially applying for Economics at Uni and going the regular route of GCSEs/Alevels. And on that - I have experience and knowledge.
I am sure there must be unconditional offers for Economics degrees somewhere. But it's not something one can count for.

Indeed @titchy i think @Sashya is getting muddled between GCSEs & A levels. As we both know lots if unis have preferred A levels.

@Y9Options honestly his choices are great. Let him choose what he’ll enjoy and do the best with. He needs top grades ultimately. His maths and English grades really matter as do the GCSE’s he then wishes to take to A level. The ones you’ve listed are fine.

No - my DC were at one of the top academic private schools in the UK and took what they (and all of the parents) believed were actual proper GSCEs. But they were "school-directed" which we did not know didn't count for UCAS.

So which unis? Which subjects? All STEM subjects? Please link as others have said. If this information is not on the website, even in the style "we prefer" or "most students have…" then that is not really fair of the unis.

And what do you mean by Schools that London private school kids would be applying to from schools don't offer PE as a GCSE option? That private schools don't offer PE GCSE? So what?

Pretty sure there is no uni in the UK that doesn't accept pupils from state schools – who may have been offered PE GCSE and done it?

And yes @jsku what are these "school-directed" GCSE subjects? Genuinely interested in all this. Unless they were things like general studies or critical thinking, which are often specified on uni websites as unacceptable A levels – but I haven't heard of a school offering them for many years anyway.

So the school pulled the wool over your eyes and told you they were taking GCSE Knitting but they weren’t and just got a school certificate? That’s outrageous behaviour from the school. I hope you complained.

Universities don’t care much about GCSEs so long as they have the maths, English and sciences. Dd did business studies and got uni offers for biological sciences from Bristol, Exeter, Cardiff, Royal Holloway and Reading. She’s chosen Reading because it has the course she wants that matches her interests and opportunities the others don’t offer. Her interests are a bit niche.

I remember mn telling me dd wouldn’t cope at ALevel biology with “only” a 7 at GCSE - she was 3 marks off an A* in her mocks last week. What I’m saying is, mn don’t necessarily know but I’m sharing my experience and business didn’t hold dd back (she did get a 5 in business and was truly shit at it because she has a science brain and not a business one 🤣)

your ds will need maths and maybe further maths, with good grades they really won’t care that he did business studies.

It certsinly sounds fishy. How would you fit 13 GCSE subjects in the curriculum anyway?

I think mfl is slightly different to the ever evolving subject that is computer science.

OP - speak to a careers advisor or the relevant university. There is some well meaning but ill informed advise being given on the this thread

i say this as someone who studied economics and did business studies GCSE😊

I just googled school-directed subjects and it seems they are things like Global Challenges and Creative Technology, assessed through presentations and portfolios. Did the schools tell parents these were actual GCSEs? Did they count them in their GCSE success stories and produce GCSE certificates listing them? That's a bit naughty.

(AI says they are recognised by universities btw but it may be lying. It's lied a lot to me lately).

PE is not what a lot of kids expect. I haven't known anyone actually enjoy it as a subject as it's often sporty kids who choose it but there's so much more theory than practice in it.

I can’t think of a London private school that doesn’t offer PE as a GCSE subject. These schools are highly sports focused with amazing sports facilities and kids on sports scholarship who have chosen to go there because of their love of sports.

They all offer PE GCSE and it’s one of the most popular GCSE’s for private school kids.

Well - it only affected a small number of students and only at the very top choices.

Complaining at the time after UCAS applications were in was not going to change outcome.

And no - the school runs their own school directed versions of GCSEs like Computer Science, and several others, that exist as regular GCSEs in normal boards.

Granted - it only affected a few kids, and we all felt bad for them. But water under the bridge and all kids are in Uni now and I am sure will do great wherever they are.

Maybe I am scared by the experience of watching drama unfold last year - so offering words of caution that is not helpful.
Feels bad when kids work hard and then system puts in unnecessary barriers

My DS loved PE GCSE and took PE A level. In fact he refused to consider any of the sixth forms we looked at that did not offer it.

He is a biologist tho as well as loving his sport so maybe that's why. I agree lads who think they will just be doing GCSE in playing footy get a bit of a shock.

That’s not the system putting up barriers, that’s the school making false claims about the exams their students do.

I vaguely remember reading about it on MN actually - wasn’t the largely held view that the school had acted fraudulently?

Edit to add: Given that the unis presumably didn’t accept these ‘notes from the teachers’ as GCSEs I’d say that demonstrated that the system of uni admissions is indeed robust, clear and transparent

@MyOtherProfile DD3 did GCSE PE and yes there’s a fair bit of theory, anatomy & physiology etc - plus (obviously) the practical sports. She mostly enjoyed it at GCSE and got a very high grade but as she’s not very keen on biology she didn’t take it to A level. Too sciencey for her!

Maybe you are not thinking of Westminster? Latymer Upper? St.Pauls?

Most "academic" selective private secondaries have no reason to offer PE as GSCE option. Those kids do sports - is really important to them.
But that is not the same as wanting to study PE as a subject.

Most of those kids aim for traditionally academic subjects and apply to highly selective universities. PE is not one of the most popular subjects. Maths, Sciences, English, History, Languages - are the most popular subjects.

And those subjects give the most choices when applying to Unis.
It's how the system works.

Yeah @jsku I agree with @titchy that's nothing to do with the system putting in unnecessary barriers. If a school pretended things were GCSEs when they were not then that's on the school.