DD forced to do X number of GCSEs subjects?

[lora200]

DD will enter Year 10 in September and wants to study medicine at university (further down the line).

DD will do 7 'curriculum' GCSEs:

1. English Language
2. English Literature
3. Mathematics
4. Biology
5. Chemistry
6. Physics
7. Religious Education

... and 3 optional:

1. Spanish
2. Geography

10. ICT

School however wants her to choose another optional subject saying the all of the students choose 4 optional. I argue that this could be the case but most students do not take triple sciences hence it makes them for them to study 4 optional.

Surely the school (state comprehensive) can't force my DD to take up a forth optional GCSE? We are talking of subjects here that do not interest DD at all such as Business, Food Technology, Resistant Materials, PE etc.

We are in talks with the headteacher about this but have not heard back yet.

DS2 found ICT pretty easy and had achieved the equivalent of an A my March of year 11 and then used the time to revise for his other subjects.

Absolutely 3littlefrogs - couldn't agree more. Luckily DD has kept up a sport that she has been doing since she was 5/6, but I agree that there's no wonder she is stressed as she has so many plates to spin

We did three separate sciences at our school (state) and were expected to do 13 subjects. no exceptions. Everyone managed it. What difference is it to her to do eleven not ten?

I don't think you have any choice in the matter as the school decide.
I think that 6 are plenty but haven't found a school happy to do this yet.
I think 8 is the least I have come across yet and that's a specialist school so can do fewer here.
My ds did 10 or more, its ridiculous and only for the schools benefit, once again not the children's.

Thinking back a bit (1995)

I did
2 English
3 sciences
2 maths (but over two years, so did one in 94)
Geography
Music
History and appreciation of music
French

So eleven. Then three science A levels and AS maths, plus A level general studies.

Then medicine. Worked in surgery for a long time and now training as a GP. In retrospect, business would have been a good one, as very little time is available for the running a business side of being a modern GP (responsible for staff, tax, stock, buildings etc as well as the day job if a partner)

I remember thinking about doing GCSE PE in sixth form, as there was quite a lot of physiology on the syllabus, but it was no loss to leave it. Choose something fun that uses a different bit of brain, and be ready to use it in other things (one of my hist. App. Music essays got me an A in general studies two years later, and that A helped me into med school!)

morethanpotatoprints 6 GCSEs aren't really enough broadly speaking. Schools now get measured on 'best 8' (or something like that).

(Though of course for lots of things 5 A*-C is the minimum needed)

DD (same age group) will be doing:

English
Maths
Science (*3)
RE
IT

Her optional choices were:
Geography
Resistant Materials

She also should have a language option but because she's top set is forced to do French GCSE in year 10 and then Spanish in year 11.

I'm not sure if English / Maths are dual award or single.

DD hates languages and is constantly astounded that she gets good grades and in all honesty she would have happily dropped at least one.

Choosing 3* Science meant she couldn't do certain other subjects (I think drama, PE and erm something else) due to timetable clashes.

Um, having looked at Med School entry requirements not every MED school will require all A/A* in all GCSEs. They just don't. Maybe those MED schools aren't acceptable to OP. Which means aiming for an extremely high bar or nothing, I guess.

It baffles me how many schools expect them to do now, took 8 GCSEs in 1989 and I'm a vet. There seems to be a continual one upmanship from schools to do more and more GCSEs, really wrong in my view.

She should do whatever is most attractor from that
crappy list and not turn up for the exam, she'll get a U and it literally will not exist.

I think you're being a little narrow minded about the usefulness of a D&T subject. Mine was one of the most useful I did wrt the real world, thinking about project management and specifications for products (be they wood, food or textile!).

My DS3 picked all very academic subjects, he started his courses last week and after a day asked to switch his geography to sports studies. He is is still doing history, full RE, German and ict as his options. I'm pleased for him, he's picked a subject he is interested in that isn't quite as academically challenging as his other options. I think universities like to see a good range of subjects.

DS1 has no practical or arty subjects on his timetable.
Maths
English language
English literature
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
German
History
Latin
Classical Civilisation

He chose Classical Civilisation as his 'soft' subject because he is passionate about ancient history and has no interest in doing GCSE art / music / ICT / product design.

I think it seems like an overly academic timetable, but he seems to be enjoying the courses so far (started at half-term).

If she wants to be a GP then GCSE business studies would do no harm, especially with 10 academic subjects.

Can she do something arty or creative as she doesn't seem to have anything in that category?

Dd is at a highly academic school yet they all have to do a creative subject. Dd did 11 GCSEs in Y11 and had already done ICT GCSE in Y9. They all did 12 or 13 in total so if you are looking at moving your dd to a more academic school, I am not sure that 10 would compare favourably. If she is going to do medicine she sounds more than capable of dealing with the workload.

What do you suggest then, OP? That your DD has a free slot on her timetable? Obviously the school cannot do that. Arguing that you only want her to do things that she will get an A or A* in is ridiculous - you have no idea what will happen in the next two years and who is to say that she will not find that she has aptitude in one of the options the school wants her to take. I would caution against allowing a 14 year old to believe that anything lower than an A is not worth having and also that she does not have yo do things she is not interested in or not immediately good at. Also, at 14, she may have her heart set on medicine, but IME, students change their minds about future plans at this age.

I think your approach is wrong, and that you are highly unlikely to convince the school of your POV.

Competitive sixth forms will favour applications who have 10 A - A as opposed to someone who has 10 A - A and a B or C.

Do you have to mention the ones which are only B or C? Or does the school give a record too?

I was only allowed to do 8 GCSEs in 1988. I resented it then and still do a bit now.

Also, it's probably worthwhile to realise that competitive sixth forms will get less so over the next 2-8 years as the number of 16 year olds in the population is lower for each of those next years, the same will go for Uni admission, as there will be fewer 18 year olds, plus Universities no longer have caps on how many students they can admit (although this might not apply to medicine, I'm not sure).

Yes - you do have to mention all GCSEs and grades. This is why this is an issue. If you could just leave them off the application forms for 6th form AND university nobody would worry.

TBH I can't imagine how 15 GCSEs would fit into a normal timetable.
DD did 10 (dropped one half way through year 11) and was still doing controlled assessments at 8 am, lunch time and after school. There was barely time to breathe and certainly no free periods.

OP - you need to look at the entry requirements for the sixth forms you are interested in as getting a couplle of Bs will not be a problem for many. At dd's highly selective school entry into sixth form is based on a points system. I think it is 8 for an A*, 7 for an A and 6 for a B and you have to have a minimum of 6.75 as an average across your top 8 GCSEs, therefore having a B in extra subjects would not penalise your dd but she may look like a more well-rounded candidate.

couple

DD2 has just finished her Gcses. She ended up doing 9 (+ a compulsory Ict qualification) as she dropped P.E. (And just did core PE) at the start of year 11. She was allowed to drop the subject after seeing her head of year. She wanted to concentrate on getting 9 good grades - she also wants to do medicine at the moment. She is doing maths, physics, biology and chemistry at AS level plus self-studying AS further maths (in case she changes her mind and goes for something like medical engineering).
A lot of the art / dt / music gcses are very time consuming - Dd2 did music and DD1 did art and music.

3littlefrogs, they started some of their GCSE courses in Y9 (she has taken 2 this year) and the PE was an extra one that she was wanting to do but now realises it is just too much. As she has taken 2 and dropped 2, she "only" has 11 to do next year
On the positive side, at least it has kept the curriculum broad!

GCSE Art is hugely time consuming.
Just hunting and gathering materials for projects takes up loads of time.

GSCE music is similarly time consuming. DD dropped it as it was sucking all the enjoyment out of her love of music generally.