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Secondary education

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Original poster

GCSE options

98 replies

BetterWithCake · 08/01/2018 15:18

DS has to make subject choices for GCSEs in the next few weeks. He has no idea what he might like to do after school career wise. Is the best thing to keep things as broad as possible and stick with the things he enjoys and hopefully will do well in? I am concerned he will leave something out that he might later regret.

TIA

OP posts:
sashh · 09/01/2018 12:43

Is Computing considered an academic subject?

Yes, it is also counted as a science for progress 8.

BeyondThePage · 09/01/2018 12:44

Computer Science yes, IT no.

TeenTimesTwo · 09/01/2018 12:44

Computing is academic as far as I am concerned.

I don't know what the GCSE content is, (though have seen the debacle re this years practical). A good software engineer / programmer often relates to a good logical maths brain.

CrumpettyTree · 09/01/2018 12:44

Thanks. Is it different from Computer Science or the same,

brizzledrizzle · 09/01/2018 12:52

Mine is hoping to do sports science, triple science, engineering, history and geography and no languages and then the compulsory 1 year RE,
English (x2) and Maths. We're not sure yet if the languages are optional, I thought the government said you had to do one now?

BeyondThePage · 09/01/2018 12:52

don't know if they are the same or not - have only heard of Computer Science at GCSE (or IT) - not Computing

sashh · 09/01/2018 12:53

Some boards call it computer science and others computing, both count as a science.

GCSE includes

programming
binary
algorithms eg various sorts
components of computer
Logic gates, but only NOT, AND, OR XOR

CrumpettyTree · 09/01/2018 12:56

Thank you. Think dd will need to decide between Computing or Geography (she does have a maths brain) Getting ahead of myself anyway as we've not had info from the school about it yet, but good to understand more about it. Thanks

TeenTimesTwo · 09/01/2018 12:57

You do not have to do a language from a government point of view.
Some schools mandate it though (usually selective ones).

I would expect Computing to = Computer science and include elements of analysis, design, programming etc. This is academic.

ICT is more use of computers eg Word, Excel etc. This is easier, and I think no longer available as a GCSE.

But generally, don't let your DC select a GCSE without understanding the syllabus . They may get a rude awakening when they discover it isn't at all like they expected.

AlexanderHamilton · 09/01/2018 13:30

Agree teen. Ds (yr 9) was thinking of putting Business Studies down instead of Food Tech until I explained exactly what was in the syllabus.

Original poster
BetterWithCake · 09/01/2018 14:59

Not sure about the GCSE computer science then as DS is not keen on the very technical side. It’s such a shame that they don’t have to continue with some form of IT as this is something they will need more than anything in the future.

OP posts:
sashh · 10/01/2018 07:22

Not sure about the GCSE computer science then as DS is not keen on the very technical side

Probably not the subject for hm then.

Yes it's a shame they dropped IT completely (for GCSE). IT is like learning to drive, computer science is like learning to build a car engine.

Although I do think one thing teenagers are prepared for now is that tech will change a lot in their lifetimes.

bluemosquito · 10/01/2018 07:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LooseAtTheSeams · 10/01/2018 08:32

Computer science GCSE needs a good level of maths - in dc's school they screen applicants' maths level before letting them take it as an option. Despite the assessment debacle, DS1 has enjoyed it but he has that kind of brain and is thinking of doing it at A level.

Original poster
BetterWithCake · 10/01/2018 15:17

Would one subject at BTech be a bad thing?

OP posts:
AlexanderHamilton · 10/01/2018 15:25

I know the school Ds used to go to didn't accept a btec as entry for A levels they needed 8 good GCSE's but it wouldn't be a problem if the btec was additional to that or if the student knew he would be going onto a 6th form course with less stringent requirements or that accepted btec's.

TeenTimesTwo · 10/01/2018 15:26

Personal opinion again here:

DD1 did a level 3 BTEC diploma at college.
It would have helped her (and me) had she done one at GCSE level, so we understood better how they worked etc.
As they are more coursework/assignment based (though I think they may now all have some level of exams) it can take away some of the pressure from May/June y11.

For DD2 (less academic), if there is a BTEC available in something that interests her, I'd be all for it. (eg for her a BTEC in cooking might be better than a GCSE in food tech). But I wouldn't suggest she does a BTEC in something that doesn't interest her just for the sake of doing a BTEC iyswim.

I don't think one BTEC is going to make much odds when others are looking at your DC's clutch of GCSE results. Though ultimately, whatever people say about parity, BTECs are not generally as well respected as GCSEs (or A levels).

Vixnixtrix1981 · 10/01/2018 15:49

How many GCSE's are your kids doing? I have a feeling that my DS's school has dropped to doing 8 GCSE's (they did do 9 last year and I did 10).

PostNotInHaste · 10/01/2018 15:54

I agree with Teen on BTEC front. DD struggled the first few months of her L3 BTEC getting to grips with what was required. She was put on what her school called the EBAC path at the time where she had to do a humanity and language. With hindsight this was very wrong for her and she would have got more passes with subjects she actually enjoyed.

DS however is more academic so it will pan out differently. Not seen the booklet yet but going on last year’s he’ll be doing triple science and computer science, history. Final would have been German but it is no longer an option. He wouldn’t mind Psychology but think it is going to clash with computer science so pretty much by default last one likely to be Business because there’s nothing els3he particularly wants to do. I’ve warned him off drama as found with DD it’s very dependent on who you are with.

He looks set to go down STEM point but with those options if he had a sudden change of mind for A level he could do something like English, History and Economics .

LemonysSnicket · 10/01/2018 15:58

Honestly, as a graduate who’s just gotten my first grad job ... I’d do IT.

Everything is tech based now and it makes a great basis for a lot of careers.

LemonysSnicket · 10/01/2018 16:00

@TeenTimesTwo I went to a comp and did 13 GCSEs including 2 humanities, a language and triple science. You had to do all 13 unless you were taken out of triple science and placed into double.

Trumpetboysmum · 10/01/2018 16:09

Ds' she school I think still does 11 or 12 GCSEs now it's all exam based that's ALOT of pressure in Year 11 ( I'm hoping that school will agree to him doing 1 less if he's still studying music at a high level outside school) interesting what you say about drama PostNotInHaste I've heard this from others too but would be a good pairing with music so I suspect he will want to take it anyway. At ds's school they all have to follow the ebac route and take a humanities and a language ( or at least they did last year) interesting that other schools don't insist on it. Ds is acad

Trumpetboysmum · 10/01/2018 16:10

Posted too soon !! Academic though so that sort of breadth of subjects will suit him anyway

TeenTimesTwo · 10/01/2018 16:21

I agree drama is dependent on other people. For the performance element, if you are in a group you don't get on with (or don't get on with you) or who don't want to rehearse, then there's not a lot you can do. An on the ball drama teacher can make a big difference here though as they set the groups.

Lemony I suspect you were referring to the comment I made re limited choices and was it a selective school? Agree you can do triple plus 2 humanity plus language at comps, but the difference tends to be they don't force the children to do it so options blocks and choices are more flexible.

Original poster
BetterWithCake · 10/01/2018 16:52

Teen Good point re BTech and getting used to the requirements for L3. I am loathe to push him to do a GCSE as his remaining option in a subject he has little interest in just because it is a GCSE and carries more prestige. I also like the idea that an element of coursework will take a bit of the pressure off him at exam time so hopefully his efforts can be concentrated on getting good results in the other subjects.

Lemony I agree with you about IT but having looked at the GCSE Computer Science is looks very technical which is not his strength unfortunately. There is possibly another option which is not a GCSE so perhaps I will have a look at this.

OP posts: