If you have/had children doing GCSE's what do you wish you had known?

[FiveHoursSleep]

DD has her options evening tomorrow and she's having trouble deciding what subjects to choose. She does have a shortlist based on what she dislikes least! I know this sounds negative but the reality is that she's quite academic and a good all rounder.
What questions should we ask?
Especially since our kids will be sitting the new GCSE

A very complete answer . So that sounds similar to classical civilisation A level basically but would n't provide the source analysis skills that she would need for historyA level.
If she is interested she should do it but also consider geography or history as her humanity particularly if they are subjects she would enjoy with a good teacher and therefore might want to do them at A level.
If she has absolutely no interest in history (surprising if she likes the idea of CC) or geography for A level then RE (if syllabus appeals) together with CC would be good choices.

Just to say that any art subject takes up masses of time. At my dd's school they say not more than 2 out of art, photography, textiles, graphic communications, product design etc. but even one seems to take up more time than all the rest of the homework put together.

Also consider whether she is likely to want to get all As or As, how much pressure she will put on herself etc. Some subjects like music and drama have parts that are somewhat more subjective than other choices, and there isn't always much you can do about it, even when you think you've worked really hard. I know that some students have only ended up with a B in art or music, even though they worked hard, but somehow their style/interpretation was just not in line with what the teacher/exam board wanted. That should have been something that became apparent sooner, perhaps, but it didn't, and it was frustrating for them not just being able to "try harder" to bring their grade up to an A, the way that they could in other lessons (they were high achieving children used to getting A in other subjects). This was much more out of their control, and when they were hoping for A* across the board, it was quite stressful having some subjects where it was less in their control. Drama and its dependence on group work was a similar source of stress - not only was there subjective interpretation in the marking, but also the need to rely on other people made it hard to be in total control of what grade you deserved.

Dd has just chosen her options and had the opposite problem in that she could quite cheerfully have chosen almost any subject on offer apart from music & PE (the only subject she hates is a core one she can't drop . . . ).

My logic to her is that the core subjects are just that for a reason - they're the ones you really need to have studied. If you don't have a clear career plan, it's unlikely that your GSCE choices outside of those core ones are really going to make a massive difference in the end, and if it comes to it you can always pick things up in later life at an evening class.

My only advice to her beyond that was (1) take a language if you can, on the logic that once you've learnt a couple of European languages others become much easier, and (2) be aware which subjects like art / photography / textiles / drama are going to involve a lot of extracurricular work. Not necessarily a bad thing (she's taken drama, and I think will love it), but don't choose them lightly .

Just to update on this thread. DD has listed Music 1st and Drama 2nd, followed by PE and RS.
They only get two of their first choices, but will almost definitely get Music, which pleases me.