Double English or English Language GCSE

[Motherofboys195]

DS announced at start of term he is only doing Eng Lang and not double Eng. He is bright and I couldn't get a proper reason from him as to why. I wondered is it a timetable thing? is he not as bright as I think ?is it a problem? Help?

I doubt if he is just doing English Language GCSE. More likely, IMO, that he will be doing the new single English GCSE which combines Language and Literature - there is less Lit content than the standalone Literature GCSE, but a lot of schools are choosing to send a good proportion of pupils down that route as getting through the work for all the controlled asssessments in double English is quite pressured. You should check with the school and see if that is the case. Lang alone would not be a good move, obviously, but single English isn't a bad option, although I would really want to know WHY the school isn't entering him for the double if he is bright. It might be the school's choice or it could be that he has opted for it himself. They are usually timetabled over the same number of periods so it shouldn't be a timetable issue. Definitely query it with the school though.

Thanks very much Themumsnot. I have just been reading about the combined Eng course. I will definitely contact the school too. It has all changed so much since the early 80's when I did my O levels! I try and keep informed and then something else seems to happen.

Yep! I found out this week that DD1, who just started Y11, is not doing Maths and Statistics as the school had told us she would be, but a new pilot double Maths award. Not that it is a problem, it looks like quite a good choice, but the children didn't know that they were doing it either. Communication is not the school's forte.

DS's school thinks the boys communicate when they get home..... it takes water boarding to find out what homework he has at night, never mind anymore information coming out in a meaningful way!!

Just to give you an idea of how it can work- in my school only about 40 of 260 students are entered for the English only course. I find it surprising that any bright child would be.

Spoken to the English teacher and it is the combined course he is doing.