GCSE options

[31Daisy]

My year 9 son has been told by the school he's on the ebacc pathway so he only has 2 'free' gcse choices. He's dithering between pe, business studies and philosophy. Any pros/cons to help us decide? I know philosophy is the sensible more academic choice but thought business studies and pe would be a change from all the other heavily academic subjects he has to take.

[bojorojo]

did Business.

[bojorojo]

I said Business was easier than Economics and it probably is. DD did it at A level and the Maths content is less than Economics. This is why the less able told Business.

[portico]

TBH, Hodder publish a new book and study guide, for ocr , this year. igcse questions and legacy ocr will suffice for revision. Son is at grammar school. I expect 8/9 grades, simply because I find the best resources and and I understand the assessment criteria.

[cricketballs]

bringing not brining!

[cricketballs]

portico as the new specs are as yet untested that is a difficult question - I would just look at all previous papers and pull questions matching the new spec. Whilst I'm not sure about OCR a good tip is to use the BLT (because, leads to, therefore) with such as seasoning (context of the business in the question but not the product/service in the question or just relying on business name)

For example if the question is about Apple's latest iPhone then brining in a competitor such as Samsung would suffice as context if the answer makes sense! There is (with Edexcel) usually context within the case study/ information before the actual question

[portico]

Hi cricket balls

I think it is easy based on life experience. We also some attempted some questions and I checked against the mar scheme.

We also attempt CIE IGCSE questions on some topics.

Out of curiousity which legacy and new Ed Excel spec is good question practice for the new ocr 9-1

[31Daisy]

Our school hasn't chosen exam board yet as it's all new for 2017.

[cricketballs]

portico tutor2u agree with you that OCR seems very light blog here. Also sample papers generally look a lot easier than the reality not that exam boards are trying to drum up business!

However I would question whether your DS thinks both papers are easy, especially the extended writing questions given he would have hardly covered any of the theory or if it is you with your life experience that feels it is easy (also if you are using all the key terms and assessing/evaluating techniques for the extended questions).

I mark for Edexcel and to achieve the higher Mark bands on 6/8/10 marker questions is very difficult due to not only the full all round knowledge but also the assess/evaluative skills needed - I see very few responses that deserve high marks

[portico]

My Y9 DS chose Bus studies at the expense of German. I implored him to keep German. He said s very good at it but hates the new teacher. Anyway, given he doing 3 sciences, Geog and Spanish, I decided Bus Studies was ok. Even more so, since he is doing the very simple OCR 9-1 spec. We practised the specimen papers. How on earth did OFQUAL approve them
??!!!!

[cricketballs]

bojorojo on what what evidence can you claim it would be easy? GCSE Business requires a large range of skills to be used on topics that are alien to 14-16 year olds. They have to calculate, interpret financial information, assess and evaluate actual business decisions using theoretical principles

[mummytime]

I think GCSE is too low a level to be studying philosophy.

[bojorojo]

If he is good at Maths? Business will be easy but Economics would be better. My DH has a degree in Civil and Structural Engineering - this is so far away from what our DDs are good at it is laughable! Don't assume he is a chip off the old block and Philosophy is no more desirable at degree level than any other essay based Arts degree, eg History, MFL, Law etc. Most Arts degrees have a lower employment rate in degree level jobs than Science degrees. Far more doors are opened by university attended and work experience than whether you studied philosophy at GCSE!

[bojorojo]

Many apologies!! Wrong glasses. Comments still apply though!

[ifonly4]

Forgot to ask before, has he had options evening yet. DD found this really helpful - obviously teachers were trying to sell their own subject and wanted her onboard (fairly bright) but they gave her lots of useful information, what would be studied, examples of work etc. Also, it was made clear she could catch up with teachers in the various departments to ask further questions if she wanted.

[31Daisy]

You're right though I'm definitely overthinking it. Might suggest we put them in a hat.

[31Daisy]

The trouble is he can't decide! Aagghhh

[irregularegular]

and there is no reason for you to be "torn". it is his choice!

(I'm a university admissions tutor, by the way)

[irregularegular]

It really doesn't matter whether a GCSE is considered "soft" when it comes to the two "spare" choices.

[irregularegular]

I would let him choose based entirely on what he thinks he would enjoy. None of those subjects is going to open/close any future doors. He will have the important subjects covered already by the sound of it (Eng, Math, Science, language, Humanity). Don't over think it.

[31Daisy]

It's philosophy not psychology. And here's where I admit I'm biased because I have a degree in rs and philosophy! I know how academic it is and how useful it is for so many jobs. A gcse in it would naturally lead to many possible a levels/degree courses. I also think he has the aptitude for it. Philosophy is definitely not for everyone!

[bojorojo]

Neither Business and Psychology will make much difference to a career at GCSE. My DD did Bysiness at A level but it is no substitute for Maths that is required for Economists. Therefore he should do what he likes. The PE seems obvious but the others really do not matter. If he wants something academic, do History or another Language or Latin! As these subjects are not on the table the choice between Business (and it won't be much use in working life) or Psychology is no big deal. I cannot see why you are so torn? They make no differences to A level choices either. (Unless he wants to do History, Art, Music, Drama or Latin A level of course!)

[myfavouritecolourispurple]

If he's quite good at science I would do PE. You say he's good at sport.

I'd also do business studies, I went to a grammar school and it was offered there, so was clearly considered to be academic enough. I didn't do it, but I've looked at the current spec and t's quite interesting. My son's school offers it as an extra after-school option. He might have done it if it was part of the main curriculum but he doesn't want to be doing extra subjects after school.

[cricketballs]

It doesn't 'date' as much as you think - within the marketing aspect we now have to cover social media, crowd funding is now included within sources of finance. As the world moves on so does the spec

[ifonly4]

If he enjoys PE and all that goes with the course, this would be good in that it'll be something different to other subjects.

Kids and a few parents I know consider business studies is a 'soft' option and not highly regarded especially going on to think about A levels and university. However, if business studies could in any way be used for a future job then it can't be that bad. Also, if he's going along the ebacc pathway, then he's going to have some good subjects as fall backs.

My DD is in Year 11 and doing ethics and philosophy - I was surprised she chose this, but has thoroughly enjoyed it and likes taking part in discussion/debate (she comes from one whose usually quiet in other classes and the teachers don't hear from).

Has he any ideas about career choices at the moment?

[31Daisy]

The business is a gcse. I'm so torn. I think it's a good choice because it's up to date, relevant, helps them see how things work in the real world etc BUT that's also its drawback. It will date.
We were told the government wants 90% of kids doing the ebacc route. Our school says it wants 2/3 of this year group to take that route.