GCSE subjects

[Rennypie03]

Hello. It's that time where Year 9s select subjects; does anyone know if having a modern language subject is critical for admission into Russell Group or Oxbridge? If my DS takes 10 traditionally academic subjects but no language does that put him at a disadvantage when applying to university? We are having a debate between Spanish and Economics. He likes Spanish but we don't live in Europe currently so he isn't getting as much exposure to the subject as I would like and as would make him a strong A student in it. Any thoughts welcome please

Isn't it better they do something they enjoy or excel in? Who knows in 5 years if they even want to go to university. I don't think GCSEs count for much post a levels

You do not need exposure to the language in order to attain a high grade whatsoever. If he has a good teacher and works hard he could easily achieve an A*, GCSE languages aren’t that hard.

MFL GCSE is not necessary for a uni application in the U.K. unless it's a language related degree. There is a shortage of MFL teachers so even if schools wanted to they can't always offer languages to all students.

Thank you for this. Food for thought now

Ah I see. Yes our current school has challenges with getting a Spanish teacher to stay employed. So that is a worry

It’s not necessary, but I know some of the better regarded independents require their students to take at least one language so I’m guessing there is perhaps something driving that (other than pure snobbery of sorts). (One would hope! 😬)

We visit Spain for a few weeks every year - despite this DD chose French, even though she’d only been to France once in her life. She got an A with very little effort, honestly if your DS does decide to go down the language route he will be absolutely fine. The vast majority of GCSE candidates don’t have extensive exposure

Its not a requirement to have economics GCSE to do economics a level so I would be inclined to go with a language for GCSE instead.

Thank you. I have been chewing on this point as well. Economics can always be picked up at ALevel so why doesn't he just do what he likes for now?

Check if this is the case for the school

It's not a requirement for universities, no.

But my priorities for choosing GCSE options will almost always be a) What are they most motivated to study and b) What opportunities a GCSE choice opens at A-levels and beyond. It sounds like Spanish is the better option for both in your DS's case - he wants to do it, and it will open up the option to continue Spanish at A level while GCSE economics is generally not required for A level econ (obviously this will be a rule set by schools, but I don't know of any that require it and GCSE econ is still not widely enough offered for A-level curriculums to assume students have prior coursework).

The internet makes the in-person exposure to the language not an issue at GCSE. It's easy to find opportunities to practice listening, reading, writing & speaking in a language if you look for them, especially one as widely spoken as Spanish.

Many, many state schools require an MFL, at least from their stronger students, because it is part of the EBacc that Ofsted like to push.

If anything, you are more likely (as an academic pupil) to have the option not to do an MFL in an independent school.

Aah well some of the independents require it too, so I guess that strengthens it further, op, that it is seen as a good thing.

The independents I’m thinking of don’t give you the option not to.

However as far as I know so long as DC’s school does not require it, it isn’t necessary as such.

Yes most independent schools require you to do a language GCSE unless you are bottom set.

DC’s school doesn’t insist upon it- about 10% don’t do one but it has to be on the basis of there being 5 other subjects which they are super enthusiastic about ( on top of 2 English, maths, 2 science) rather than just “don’t wanna do French”. A couple do Latin but no MFL- suspect DD might do that.

I think generally the insistence comes from wanting students to choose a fairly well rounded set of GCSEs so that they haven’t blocked off any a level choices. But at the same time, there are only so many options and I can see why dc don’t want to if it will impact their overall grade profile.

Apparently US universities like to see a language ( pretty much above other humanities).

Thank you. This is becoming more apparent to me. Apparently UCL also wants Language of at least C grade at GCSE level or you do a language whilst doing your degree. I had no clue!

As an American ex-pat I will confirm this is very true. It wouldn’t necessarily make it impossible, but any student thinking about university in the US for whatever reason should keep a foreign language in their GCSE timetable. Almost all US students are required to have 2-3 years of language in their last four years of secondary school (high school) just to graduate. Most universities require it for US applicants and then go on to require more foreign language taken at university level. The early narrowing of studies allowed in the UK is a pretty stark contrast to what’s expected in the US.

That’s good to know- thanks