Changing GCSE Options

[Anyhelpwelcome]

Hi everyone,
At the end of year 8 my son was given the route 1 option which is triple science but then you could only choose one extra option. My son chose to do route 2 which is double science so he could choose 2 options (at that time he chose business studies and IT). My son changed from IT to Computing science at the beginning of year 9 as he said he would like to work in the gaming industry doing programming. He's not struggling as he is above average academically but he has announced he finds it boring and now wants to swap to Resistant Materials. I am disappointed as he is academically able and has given me no clear vision how RM will benefit him in the future. I know it's his choice but I don't want him making the wrong choices and his end target in computing science is 9.7. The GCSEs he is taking are english, maths, double science, history french, GCSE PE, business studies, philosophy and ethics(re) and (at the moment) computing science. So far I have advised him against swapping as I think some type of computer skills would be beneficial. Any advice/opinion would be appreciated.

Thanks ihatethecold even with a bit of catching up to do, if they enjoy the subject they won't mind the bit of extra work. Hope your son does well.

DS is also learning Python etc. but loves it. It's the only subject he'll actually try to do homework for.

Why I grumbled at the "top universities" thing is that most Kids this age are still fantasising what they want to do, they don't know until they try if they have any commitment or if they actually enjoy or can even endure the reality, it's all so hypothetical. They change their minds (sometimes hugely) very enthusiastically at least once a month about what they think they truly deeply madly like. Worrying about "top universities" is getting wildly ahead of where they are, how they are developing and what they need to do right now to find a way forward.

Surely young people should do a broad range of GCSEs and if you are good at Maths and sciences then triple science is the way forward. This should be based on love of the subjects and ability. Fantasising abour careers at 13 and choosing subjects accordingly is so difficult.

If the teacher has a friend who is a vet and did double science it is highly likely. Until fairly recently my local grammar school for girls did not do double science. I know a vet with double science who went to that school. Now, it is poor advice not to do 3 sciences if you are capable of grade A or A* in all of them and it facilitates your career choice. Obviously it makes the transition to A level sciences easier.

However loads of people do double science and still manage to get a career doing something they like and who knows how many career ideas the OPs DS might have between now and choosing a college or university course.

Teachers do not always know what specific subjects should be chosen for specific courses. It is always best to find out for yourself and do extensive research so not to make mistakes. However, doing 7 academic subjects with maybe 3 free choice subjects is fine and there is no reason why these cannot include Business Studies, PE, Drama, Japanese, Art, Music etc. These subjects can be used to extend an interest in a subject outside the main core of academic ones. No University will take against this, not even Oxbridge.

Since we are on the subject of computer science, can any expert give more details of what this is all about. I gathered that it is about programming and the essence of gaming...anything else?

DD has taken it as a GCSE and is expected an A or A*. She enjoys it. From reading here the link with Maths, it is not surprising as she is especially able in that subject. No issues therefore with her having chosen it, but reading this thread, I am wondering what good it will do her since she is looking for a medical career! Anything else taught in this subject that relates to the medical field? (Besides coding episodes of care which is a very poorly paid job within the NHS?)

I don't think Computer Science is going to be particularly more or less helpful for medical than most other GCSEs, eg History, French, English lit.

But to be a good computer scientist imo you need to be a logical thinker with good attention to detail. I can see that being able to show you have these traits could in theory be useful for medicine. I'm thinking diagnosis where they need to carefully consider all options using the slightest hints before reaching a conclusion. (I worked in software for 20 years, having taken maths for my degree).

(ps Don't know what you mean by 'coding episodes of care').

NHS has own coding system for 'events' (like visits to doctor or A&E). Like 20001 might = broken tibia, etc.

@Swing-of-things: Computer science GCSE should help develop some very relevant skills for anyone working in public health! I think MSoft Access (for handling relational data, only way to make sense of NHS codes) can be programmed with visual basic, for instance, all the principles of coding would be helpful background for someone new to VBa.

Lots of people working in public health have proper medical backgrounds (nurses, medical doctors, pharmacists, physics, related degrees, etc); they need to process big volumes of data to assess efficacy of clinical outcomes from different treatment options or intervention arms.

Coding system for events sound like entering data, not computer science.

Processing volumes of data by querying databases is getting more akin to what I would recognise as computer science, but only if they are making up their own (complex) queries.

Coding in computer science means creating the actual software applications that other people then execute on their computer or other device. So the people who create Internet Explorer, or the people who created the software used to draw pictures on x-rays, or the people who create the stock tracking software for John Lewis, or the people who created the search engine for google.

The rest of computer science is getting what the user / other interested parties want / need (requirements), working out what you are going to give them (specification) how you're going to make it (design) making it (coding) checking it works and is what was wanted (verification and validation) along with keeping track of everything (configuration management).

Thanks for this. As I expected, not much related to medicine! Should have looked into it sooner as DD was strongly encouraged to take it as an option by her teacher, which lead to her chosing it over PE, which I now realise is more closely related to medical fields! It's ok though as she really enjoys it. She says she likes the challenge of making sure she makes no error and then seeing that it is all working, and from that perspective, as you say T&T, I can see how this would prepare her for studying medicine.

Lots of scope for innovating using computer science in medicine. Not sure if there are specific jobs in it but an interest and at least a basic knowledge may well help in R&D, with at least knowing what is possible.

This is a recent app but is an example of the sort of things that might be possible.