GCSE French in Year 9

[French2019]

My dd is currently in Year 8, and will soon be going into Year 9. She and another pupil have been asked if they would like to do GCSE French in Year 9, freeing them up to do an extra option in Years 10/11. DD is very keen, but the suggestion has taken me rather by surprise and I'm confused about what's in her best interests. I'd be really grateful for any advice or insights from other parents who have been in a similar situation.

My current thoughts are as follows:

Pros

• DD seems to be very good at French and is getting a bit bored, so moving at a faster pace would probably benefit her. She would apparently get an extra lesson each week to help her prepare.
• She has been struggling to narrow down her option choices, so having the chance to do an additional subject in Year 10/11 would be good.
• It might build her confidence to get one GCSE out of the way early.

Cons

• Her "target grade" is a 9, but I can't see how she'd cover enough ground in the next year to finish the syllabus, and she might therefore end up failing to do as well as she would if she waited until year 11.
• I'm concerned about putting her under too much pressure too soon. She will still be 13 this time next year, which seems very young. However, she doesn't seem to think this is an issue.
• If she later decided that she wanted to do French A-level, I'm not sure that she'd find it easy after having had a gap of 2 years. I know from my own experience how easy it is to forget languages if you don't use them. At the moment, she says she isn't interested in doing French A-level anyway, but that could change.

I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts and/or experiences. The other pupil is half French and will almost certainly do the early option as she speaks French at home and has an older sibling who did the same. DD's situation is a bit different - DH and I are both good linguists but neither of us speak French to any sort of respectable standard, so she wouldn't have any help at home.

Oxford actively recruits bilingual/plurilingual DC to their MFL degrees. The issue is the value of MFL GCSE as a gauge of hard work and achievement among those who can rock up to the exam having done no preparation.

The new MFL GCSE is a big challenge. So if her teacher make any references to success with entering students early in previous years, ignore them. It's not the same exam.

In addition to all the very good points made above, I would be worried about her sitting the speaking assessment at age 13. Some of the topics they are asked to speak about would be quite challenging in English, never mind in a second language. "Pros and cons of the Olympic Games" comes to mind. A bit more life experience and an extra couple of years learning vocabulary can't possibly hurt.

Plenty of universities take bilingual children onto their degree MFL programmes! I know of a half German child who did German at Oxford.Totally bilingual and every advantage going. Spoke German and English from the start. English at school and German at home. German when with German gandparents etc. Ditto my best friend. If you are the best, you are the best, and top universities want you.

I agree, BubblesBuddy. There is a massive discrepancy between the entrance standards at top universities and the rubbish implementation by schools of an already creaky state education system. By doing GCSE French in Y9 the OP’s daughter would be scuppering her already low chances of reading French at university. Oxbridge can do all the outreach it wants but schools that implement the system to the detriment of their pupils’ chances are a scandal.

Thank you all for your comments and insights. We haven't yet been able to speak to the French teacher and dd is still confused about what to do, but the overwhelming message from those who have commented on this thread is that it probably isn't a good idea to do the GCSE early. I will certainly take that on board and encourage dd to think really hard about whether this is the right way forward for her. I don't want to dictate her choices, but on balance, it would be my preference for her to wait.

If you give your DD the facts/risks as outlined in this conversation she will probably find it quite easy to make up her own mind. It is not Somy je about dictating choices as about having enough information to take an informed decision.

So much

My experience is that ambitious kids need to be challenged. I'd go for it.

Of course ambitious DC need to be challenged. But don’t you think that the need to be challenged now ought to be weighed against the need to optimise a UCAS profile later?

I think you need to make the decision not your dd.

I've not heard many good things about taking GCSES early either - seems to be to benefit school rather than kids.

I'm not saying this to user...618 personally.

I am sick and tired of MN obsession with UCAS forms & university is only acceptable path & the margins are so extremely tight on Uni applications that no risks must ever be taken & all the hand-wringing over exam results. The more you lot harp on about it the less I care or believe a word of it, & the more I just want to do what works best for the kid at the time. I have kids who finished GCSEs in yr9 & yr10 (gasp shock horror...). They got decent enough grades (ambitious DD got A*, of course). I have no regrets. They have no regrets.

I'd talk thru the pros & cons with my kid & they'd make the final decision. OP can do whatever she likes, but since she asked for thoughts & experiences, those are mine.

The system is awful, lljkk, but surely it is better to recognize it for what it is and not fall inadvertently into traps that can trip DC up later on? The issue of sitting GCSEs at one sitting has also tightened up quite recently. What happened 4 years ago, say,is not a good guide for today.

lljk the thing is that the school is essentially encouraging one of its best Y9 pupils at French to bin the possibility of taking French A-level.

This is extremely short-sighted!

I'm not seeing traps. If other folk like to live that way, so be it.
Why mention 4 yrs ago? I've got 1DC in yr 9 now (just did GCSE) & another DC in yr11. My experiences aren't from 4 yrs ago.

I agree a final-exam-is-everything system IS terrible way to assess overall academic ability.

So, the worry is WHATIF the girl doesn't get high enough grade at GCSE or WHATIF she can't refresh her French skills 2yrs later when WHATIF she changes her mind so wants to do A-level (which she currently doesn't, but WHATIF she changes her mind...)

If If If If If... Maybe she shouldn't do the French GCSE soon because WHATIF she wants to do German instead or WHATIF she has to suddenly move school or WHATIF the teacher leaves suddenly next March or WHATIF some other trauma happens to her in mean time and WHATIF she gets distracted by a boy and WHATIF it rains tomorrow oh and WHATIF she has a nasty ...

The obession is not just an MN thing. DD wants to do medicine, and the fact that she took 2 GCSEs in year 10, because that is how the school did it back then, no choice, means that she can't apply to some universities.

For example for Sheffield she needs 6 A grades or above in one sitting. She achieved 2 As in year 10, an A in the January of year 11, and 4A, 1A and 2Bs in the June of year 11.

lljkk the risks need to be weighed against the benefits and the risk of a worse grade, being unable to take an A-level in a subject she is good at, it possibly affecting UCAS applications, having an extra French lesson per week at the expense of...?
Versus
Being able to take an extra GCSE

lljkk
We are all in a system which has limitations.
Option 1 - pretend that because we don't like some of the system that we'll ignore those parts because they aren't how we'd like it.
Option 2 - accept that whilst the system isn't perfect, that's what we are working with and offer the best advice and guidance given the current system.

Doing option 1 under some idealistic belief of 'but X shouldn't matter' is potentially foolish and could limit outcomes for kids. Option 2 acknowledges the problems and does it's best within a system which may change, but is unlikely to change on such a large scale in the next 1-2 years.

lljkk - I doubt anyone on this thread disagrees with you that the system is really annoying and makes GCSEs and A-levels into a hoop jumping exercise whereas we would prefer our DC to go to school to be challenged and educated.

Arguably the culture of early entry has narrowed the curriculum. There’s no particular reason why able linguists couldn’t be stretched by by the curriculum going broader and deeper than just what’s in the GCSE spec.

In some of the better private schools, MFL are taught to a level that far exceeds the GCSE curriculum.

It's interesting to see the different points of view. I am grateful for all of your comments.

Ultimately, I will let dd make the choice. She is a mature, sensible kid and will take the various issues that have been highlighted into account. This thread has been useful in helping me to think through some of the potential issues.