When does your child choose their GCSE options

[treas]

Found out that ds who is 12 y o and in year 8 is expected to select the subjects he wants to do for GCSE at the end of this year.

He will just have turned 13 y.o. many of his friends will still be 12.

Apparently, the new head of the next school sees Yr 9 as a wasted year and wants to start the children on the GCSE's early although they will sit their exams at the usual time as the school do not let even the GandT children sit exams early.

Personally I think it too early as the childen are still young and don't necessarily know what they want to do in the future or what career options there are available with the subjects they select.

So when does / has your child choose/chosen their GCSE subjects? And what do you think of the idea of choosing them earlier?

One criterion to consider when choosing options is: 'can this be done outside of school or picked up later'. So while food tech might be useful for a child who for whatever reason can't learn at home its not so important for those who can; DT can't really be done at home- how many people have their own laser cutter? Electronics can be done as a hobby I suppose, if the person is keen enough. On the academic side, its probably a lot more feasible to learn eg history outside the classroom than physics.