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Original poster

GCSE choices

15 replies

mommyofthreeSE · 02/02/2025 00:30

My DS will do 3 Creative Subjects - Music, Art and PE - I told him he will have so many course works to do but he really doesnt enjoy any other subjects - what to do? İs it manageable? Really confused.. I don’t want to change his mind because he will be the done who will study but I feel like he should do more than 2 creative subjects. If he get good grades does it matter if he doesn’t do any humanities or languages at GCSE level?

OP posts:
KittenPause · 02/02/2025 05:25

If the school lets him then that's great

He'll be doing maths, English and science as well as those because they're mandatory

It's always best to study what you're interested in because you'll do well at those

MyUniqueDeer · 02/02/2025 05:48

Some schools it is mandatory to get kids to choose history or geography as it fills one of the 'buckets'. So you may want to check that, but then the rest sounds like if it's what they want to do and enjoy... music will be coursework, art is a 2 day exam and project and gcse pe they normally have to have a sport they do outside of school or at least go to a sports club in school, unless it's more sports studies which is coursework.

user1494050295 · 02/02/2025 06:00

Ask the teacher if there is someone doing a levels who had chosen those three at gcse to speak to your child about the workload. I did this with my daughter and the school arranged for them to have a chat the next day to reassure her the workload was manageable

LottieMary · 02/02/2025 07:44

Courseworks great though (as a teacher!)
It won't be a massive proportion in all subjects. Personally I like that art is usually an early exam so takes some pressure off elsewhere too

Getting into good regular working habits is important not to leave it all until the last minute - all good for exam subjects too!

clary · 02/02/2025 08:21

Art is the big thief of time of those three. I agree it's a good idea to get him to speak to someone who has done the GCSE recently to get an idea.

DD took music (tho old spec) and it was fine; DS2 took PE and again fine. Tho tbf both did a lot of those subjects outside school, hence taking them.

Does he do at least one sport to a reasonable level (DS played footy for a local club and did athletics to a county level) outside school? And does he also play an instrument to (say) grade 3/4 outside school? That would help.

Zonder · 02/02/2025 08:26

Can he definitely do those three? I don't know of a school where a humanity isn't compulsory.

RatedDoingMagic · 02/02/2025 08:31

KittenPause · 02/02/2025 05:25

If the school lets him then that's great

He'll be doing maths, English and science as well as those because they're mandatory

It's always best to study what you're interested in because you'll do well at those

Exactly this.
Make sure he is aware that each of the subjects will have significant extra coursework which will mean working through half terms and holidays in y11 (one coursework subject can be managed within a normal homework workload but not 3) - and if that is what he wants that's fine.

He doesn't need humanities or a language if those spark no joy.

RampantIvy · 02/02/2025 08:32

PE also covers a fair amount of biology and includes quite a bit of essay writing. The practical element is less than you think.

In the options booklet from DD's school, under PE, the first sentence was "if you don't like writing essays then PE is not for you".

ThanksItHasPockets · 02/02/2025 09:00

I don't know of any state schools whose GCSE options are set up to allow three creative / practical subjects and no humanities. Check that first.

RatedDoingMagic · 02/02/2025 09:48

ThanksItHasPockets · 02/02/2025 09:00

I don't know of any state schools whose GCSE options are set up to allow three creative / practical subjects and no humanities. Check that first.

I do. If the humanities dept has flexible staff who teach across more than one humanities subject there can be humanities and nonhumanities in each option block to maximise the flexibility

SunsetGirl · 02/02/2025 10:20

Our school would let you do three creative subjects, as you get four choices...

And you don't need to take a humanity to fill the "bucket", you could also take another science (usually Triple instead of combined), but also Computer Science or a language. (Unless the school is requiring the English Bachelorette, which does require a humanity AND a language.)

Zonder · 02/02/2025 10:23

I'm guessing you mean baccalaureate not bachelorette @SunsetGirl ?

I work in a number of secondary schools and all require a humanity to ensure a broad education. Technically they all also require a MFL but they do seem to all have ways round this for children who need to focus on extra support.

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 02/02/2025 18:19

Is it manageable?

What level is your son on in each at the moment?

Art is definitely a massive amount of extra work outside school.

Music and PE depends a bit.

DD is taking music, and find the coursework very easy... but she is high level in 3 instruments, and has qualifications in composition that are above A level. I think if your DS is only at grade 3/4 in an instrument and new to composition it could take up a lot of time.

Even with the amount of extra curricular music, I told DD she was not taking Art as well as it would not be a realistic workload for her (she does a creative BTEC instead which is more manageable).

PE - again, what sports is he playing outside school and to what level?

Printedword · 02/02/2025 18:27

In coursework terms Music is more like a combination of elements like doing a language or science.

CerealPosterHere · 02/02/2025 18:35

Dd did art, photography and product design and survived. It’s manageable.

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