GCSE options

[TwoTeaTessie]

My DS is in year 9 and we're currently looking as to what GCSE's would be best for him.

He has no plans for a career so we're looking at a subject base that he would enjoy and excel at.

The only sticking point is triple science V's double award.
He wants to do the triple and I think the double award would be a better fit.

He enjoys science, but his grades are brilliant (he'll pass, but nothing great). I think it would be better for him to do the double and get a decent result rather than triple and meh results

What are people's experiences of this. Looking for some advice as what would be the best outcome

It depends how strong they are at science.

There is the argument that triple science is a better preparation for science A-levels, but most sixth forms require grade 6s to do A-levels, so if a student is heading for grade 5s in triple science then this point becomes irrelevant.

For those students, I feel that 7,7 or even 6,6 in double science GCSE would be a better outcome than 5,5,5 in triple science.

DS2 (Y11) is doing triple science but is heading for (hopefully) 8s and 9s.

Most students at their schools do triple science, but I suspect that for DD and DS3 (Y9) double science might be a better plan.

I’ve just had the discussion with my dd. She’s decided on triple award as they feature quite heavily in university admissions. She also has no idea what she wants to do career wise but I think it’s better to have the three.

At my dd’s school the students were advised whether they should take double or triple science.

It depends partly on what he'd be doing instead of the triple science. If it's double plus free periods for extra study, then that could be better for him. But if he'd have to take another option in that space, and there's nothing obvious he likes more than science then spending that time on science instead might be preferable. Also in DD's school the triple science students get the best science teachers, and a specialist for each subject.
We found subject teachers good at guidance on this.

We need more scientists and engineers. So if your DS wants to do triple and is allowed to then I would let him.
You need to balance with what he would be doing if he doesn't do triple, usually another option - maybe there isn't one h's interested in. Or if it's in the same time as double then the usual thing is for the school to on the whole select who does triple. It is usually possible to drop down to double if a student isn't coping with the workload, but you can't move "up" to triple.

Thank you. There's parents evening this week. I'll talk to his teachers and if his grades are up to it we'll go ahead with triple