Any advice-year 9 options?

[tantrumsandballoons]

My Dd in year 9 has options evening in 2 weeks time, she had done a lot of research and as she hopes long term to study law she decided she would take history as an option also ICT, French and business studies
We went to parents evening last night and both her art and drama teachers have told her she should consider these subjects as an option and will discuss with us next week

Dd loves drama but is concerned that taking this as an option removes on of the more "useful" academic options, she is really focused on getting a good uni place and is worried a drama GCSE might be unhelpful, and she doesnt know which option she could drop to do drama

Any advice would be appreciated

[mycatunderstandsme]

As long as she keeps History and French she could drop ICT or business studies for drama.

My DD does drama and loves it but it is very difficult to get A on performance as the grade boundary is high. I think my DD says it is 57-58/60 for A. She has managed her A* but is one of 2 in the class to achieve it and she has been doing drama and Lamda exams outside school since she was 7.

She also took Art and has really enjoyed that too. She hasn't found the workload too bad as she really enjoys it and it is a 'different' type of work to the other subjects and of course there is no revision needed for it which is a bonus. Again with art I think it is 'risky' in terms of the likely grade, which you may want to consider if your DD wants to do law. My DDs target was A* for art but she is now onto her 3rd teacher for the subject and has no idea whether she has done the required work for an A-she could well end up with a B through no fault of her own. If she had taken RS which was her other choice she probably would have come out with a higher grade.

Hope this helps!

[GrungeBlobPrimpants]

I'd say drop ICT too, or bus studs. Ask to rate ICT, business, art and drama in priority order - enjoyment and liklihood of good grade - and she does the two that come out top. I'd put art and drama as being 'better' subjects than ICT and bs, but that's just me.

Art is a LOT of extra work, though.

[crazymum53]

In a Law degree public speaking skills are important and there will be role-play activities such as "acting" out a trial in court. So I would say that Drama may be a good idea to help develop these skills, particularly if your dd aims to become a barrister.

[eatyourveg]

Agree with the others, drop ICT and business studies and do Drama. Remember at the end of the day the teachers are all trying to sell their subjects as they need a set number of students for the course to run. If by dropping both ICT and business studies she is one short consider Philosophy or a second language.

[Amaretti]

They have told her that she should take them because she is good at them, not because it is the best long term plan. If she wants to do law then she should only do 1 practical GCSE, she needs to show she can do well at a big batch of academic ones too.

[Amaretti]

And ict and business studies are both a bit soft, tbh

[cricketballs]

just a question Amaretti - if Business Studies is so soft then why is the A*-C rate far lower than French, English Literature, Geography etc (all those that are considered 'academic') If you actually look at the spec then you will see that they have to cover a wide range of 'new information' and this is constantly changing die to the nature of the subject (data set for 2010)

[Idratherbemuckingout]

Aaaaggghhh!
If your DD seriously wants to do law, then she should stick to the truly academic subjects. Anything that ends in the word "studies" is to be avoided at all costs. And art and drama will count for nothing. Do NOT let her do Law at either GCSE or A level, as this too is frowned upon. Somewhere there is a link to what subjects are accepted by universities and you would do well to consider this very hard before making life changing decisions.
Beware, be very ware!

[kensingtonia]

Assuming that she is doing English, maths and the sciences as compulsory subjects I would let her make the choice depending on her own interests. If she loves drama let her do it. I agree that business studies is looked down on. ICT used to be compulsory at DD's school but they have now dropped that requirement - again if she likes it why not? Avoid art unless she is really into it - it is a heavy course - my DD had to be practically forced to finish her coursework and is unlikely to get an A* now which was originally her predicted grade based on her ability.

[campergirls]

It's important in making choices like this to think of the intrinsic as well as the instrumental value of the courses to the student - i.e. not just 'how might this subject be perceived by selectors?' but also (more so, indeed) 'what knowledge and skills will my child learn from doing this subject?'. With that in mind, I would make a strong case for drama as a subject that teaches some really valuable workplace skills - teamwork, negotiation, communication, thinking on your feet, taking responsibility, initiative... If she loves it, and it offers her so much, why not go for it?

ICT is not an academic subject at GCSE, it's just a certificate in using Microsoft Office. Might be useful, but you only have to be moderately smart to figure all that out by yourself. Business studies is meh, IMO. Either of those could easily be replaced by drama.

[pippibluestocking]

Would it be that BS and ICT GCSE grades are lower because they tend to be taken by less academically able students? Don't know this, just wondering if that might be the reason?

[Yellowtip]

@ I'dratherbemuckingout: Aaaaggghhh!

DD3 is currently reading Law at Magdalen, Oxford and did Art at GCSE because she enjoyed it and wanted a break. Ok, she got top marks on her board for it (did quite a pretty thing for her final piece), but it clearly didn't bust her.

OP, your DD should definitely do Drama if that's what she wants.

[AyeAvast]

My friend's daughter did drama for both GCSE and A-level, she's now at Cambridge. So it's not true that doing drama is a complete write-off.
I'd recommend definitely sticking with history and French :)

[cricketballs]

pippi - I wouldn't say that to my current students!

I have had a number of students who have studied BS at GCSE and A level that have gone to Oxbridge......

I also have 2 family members that did law at A level and shock horror studied law at uni

[Yellowtip]

It's worth saying that Oxford is more permissive than almost all other top universities when it comes to subjects studied. What works for the Oxford Law Faculty doesn't always work for, say, Durham.

[Yellowtip]

Though that's about A Level. I've strayed.

At GCSE it's almost irrelevant at the margins provided there's a core of 'hard' subjects.