Maths career ideas and importance of taking triple science

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My ds is currently age 13, in year 8. No idea what he wants to do career wise yet but he’s very bright, particularly at maths.

I want to help him explore possible maths based careers, but don’t know where to start. I particularly want to help him decide in the short term whether he really ought to take triple science as a gcse option. He doesn’t love science the way he loves maths but I feel like only taking double might limit future options as lots of maths based careers might also need a science background. But maybe I’m wrong!

My husband and I were always told by our parents to choose the subjects we enjoy the most. This led me to an English degree which I loved but I came out with no particular career path and have ended up in local government which has been great for fitting around raising children but rubbish in terms of earnings.

My husband chose design which he loves so it’s fulfilling in that respect but we are miles behind our peers now in terms of earnings.

I will be trying to help my children aim for jobs they will like of course but I want them to be savvier about financial prospects than we were.

If the school is big enough, the top set combined science will be full of smart kids who have other interests. If the school is small, it is worth considering the class makeup if not taking triple.

Given he has other subjects he is interested in, I'd take combined. A'levels from that will be ok, but he might like to do some summer work between 11 and 12 if he does go for Chem and/or physics a levels.

I'm interested in the careers side for a maths-y kid tho. Mine is doing triple science. Engineering currently doesn't interest him. Actuary has already been suggested by a friend having seen him playing board games (and winning anything that involves a bit of logic)

Sorry Clary, no evidence purely anecdotal. DD at very selective 6th form . She and several friends have Cambridge or Oxford offers this year for Maths/Science/CompSci. All triple science at GCSE. At their school, combined was seen as a step down. Happy to accept that this isn't the case everywhere.

That may not happen, it depends how it’s timetabled. You can have top sets comprising both double and triple students, then the ‘option’ lessons are used to teach the triple content to those entered for it. As pp have said, it’s not harder to do triple, just extra content.

I suppose it depends what it is he likes about maths and whether that would be replicated in science or not. I know it can be natural to be good at both - but not necessarily interested in both.

I know a lot of people in accounting and finance who all were maths geeks at school (DH included so largely his circle of friends) none did A level sciences but all did maths with either economics or business as they were that way inclined.

I did a maths degree and am now an actuary. It is a very common career choice for mathematicians. I also looked at logistics - including in the armed forces.

Other mathmo careers from old university friends include:- Research, accountancy, investment banking, teaching, civil service, management consultancy, opera singer(!)

My dd is doing triple science to GCSE. One thing that she has commented is that she does an enormous amount of science now. This is even more for her than the average as she is also doing GCSE PE which is mainly biology. Her school is on a weird two weekly timetable and she has one day a fortnight where she does all three sciences and PE theory and is a bit scienced out by the end of the day.

Let’s just say she notices the difference in demographics between triple science and GCSE PE. I have never seen a teacher look so happy as her PE teacher (who knows her as “sporty girl”) when we were talking to her about GCSE PE and she said that GCSE PE was full of science and I said “Excellent - she is very strong on STEM”.

Re:- A levels - if you like maths then you may want to also do further maths. The trouble with that is it then means that you almost certainly end up doing 4 which means that you want a nice lot of overlap in order to make the workload manageable.

I did the traditional:-

Maths, F Maths, Physics, Chemistry as did 2 others in my further maths class.
2 did Maths, F maths, physics and economics
2 did Maths, F maths, economics, history

With hindsight I should have done M, FM, P & E but when I started A levels I had lofty ideas about being a doctor.

Well lots of schools only do double yet have pupils who go on to get on great science courses

So what you have is students who did very well and got into top unis for science subjects (well done them) – and they did triple science at GCSE. You do see I hope that there is no causal link there? They will have got the Oxford offers based on their PGs for A level and their GCSE grades to some extent and their interview as well. There is no evidence at all that it is because Oxford thinks triple science is better.

Is it usual to have a choice whether you do double or triple? At DS’s school it’s not an option, you get told which you are doing. If you do triple it doesn’t use up an option slot.

Yes some schools do this (my DCs’ school did) but bc there is so much content in triple, some offer it as an option so there is more time to cover it. Also that means that weaker students can choose to take triple – after all, H and F tiers are available and if you take triple you can, as a PP observed, mix and match.

No one needs triple science. It is a waste of a GCSE unless it will help him get better grades overall.

I'm a science teacher. There is no need to take 3 separate sciences to study A level sciences. If your child is bright, they would not be at a disadvantage if they chose not to take separate sciences at GCSE. I myself took double science GCSE and then took A levels in biology, chemistry and physics with no issue at all before completing a biology degree. Tell them to take GCSE subjects they will enjoy. Universities care more about GCSE grades than which subject they are in. Students do best at ones they enjoy.

The school is wrong, I'm afraid, and giving you bad advice.

It simply is not true that those who have taken triple science will have a much deeper science knowledge. And as you can see from PPs the facts and data do not support this belief.

Ds is academic but only took triple science to get rid of naughty kids. A biggest comp in the city.

Thanks for everyone’s input so far. Definitely seems like more cons to the triple currently, for him, if it doesn’t really limit future options/prospects. In particular losing another subject he would probably enjoy having in his timetable more (if only for variety)! He’s getting top marks across the board so not sure the grades would be any different for him whether double/triple.

I have heard before (when I asked a similar question) that the section of the course in triple science is a bit independent of the A Level course, so students will not be lacking knowledge if they start A Level directly from double science.
Most schools would set bridging work in the summer anyway so it would be fairly easy to catch up.
I think triple science is a handy three grades for someone who excels at science, but for someone who excels at lots of things and is not sure that science is for them, then another option is great to have.
DC school offers both, though it seems from my very anecdotal information that it's mainly triple science students who are choosing science A Levels. I guess they already knew in Y9 that they enjoyed/were good at science.

OP, I should have added that my DD did triple science, 3x maths GCSEs, 3x science A levels.and 2x science degrees, so I am not exactly anti-science 😁But you still don't need triple science to do A levels. Good luck to your DS.

Management consultancy = maths + strategy, if that's an interest?

Could you ask the school for their combined science results? Make sure they are entered for the higher tier. DCs school are a triple science top set but there are still kids in double science who get 9-9.

It is slightly easier at A Level as some topics e.g Space in Physics are only covered in triple but if he does do a science A Level then he could read up over the summer. Some schools only offer combined so 6th forms colleges won't assume prior knowledge even if his school does.

Computer Science counts as a science too and PE also has science content. I wouldn't let it reduce the breadth he takes at GCSE. If he's not that keen now, why would he take a science A Level?