GCSE's- does this sound right?

[MrsWarboys]

Ds is in Yr 10 at an indpendent ASD school and academically quite able. We are getting very vague information about what subjects and level of GCSE's he will be taking and awaiting further information. Ds claims to have been told that he will be taught the subject at both Foundation and Higher Level and at the time of exams he gets to decide what exam he takes

It's been a long time since I took GCSE's but this sounds a bit strange to me. Is there not different coursework for the different levels? I will obviously check this with the school but any advice would be appreciated.

Not necessarily.

In my subject the coursework is not different for the different tiers. In fact I will be doing the same, teaching and deciding closer to the time. I believe it is normal practice.

In my other subject there are no tie.

Tier of entry doesn't need to be decided till the last minute.

That's really helpful. Thanks

There are 2 tiers for the following GCSE subjects: Maths, Science, English language, English Lit, Geography and MFL.
There are no tiers in other subjects.
The teachers would decide which tier paper a pupils would take based on recent assessments. Higher tier is for grades A*-C and Foundation grades C to G. if your son is academically able across these main subjects, it is very unlikely he would be entered for Foundation tier exams.

Are there still tiers? I thought last years year 11 were the last to do them. Could be wrong.......

Yes there are still tiers. My dd is in Y11 now and her cohort has them.

Also they can mix and match within a subject.
e.g. Languages - the writing and oral are coursework. The reading and listening are separate papers, so you could be entered for Higher tier reading, but lower tier listening.

Yes still tiers Current y10 is the last cohort doing the existing English and Maths exams.

Haven't they got rid of coursework?

Sorry, my mistake, I should have said Controlled Assessment instead of Coursework.