Advice on DD dropping GCSE?

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In a bit of a fix! DD is in Year 11 and takes Art as a GCSE. Mocks are coming up and she's just realised that she doesn't have enough time to do Art and revise at the same time. She's definitely more dedicated to art than other subjects - she's stayed up till 3, 4 am finishing her homework but she's realised now that she's doing it at the expense of her other subjects. She's also constantly stressed about it and has come crying to me several times. DD now wants to drop Art as a GCSE and concentrate on her other subjects instead. However, I think it's be difficult as she's currently performing the highest in her art class predicted an 8/9 and is doing moderately well in other classes despite slacking, as ability wise the school isn't that great. DD has many other obligations as a member of various clubs and as head girl - but I'm afraid that the school will refuse to let her drop art in which case she tells me she'll just sit in the class and do nothing. Is there anything the school can use as an excuse to keep her in? Legal issues?

It all depends what she wants to do next. If she school does let her drop a subject could she drop something that won't make much of a difference to what she wants to do in the next stage of her life/education. Like for example Geography or French. I was made to drop my art subject because I didn't do enough work. Looking back now it annoys me. There were other subjects that I had zero interest in but were compulsary. Art was an option. I would of much prefered to not bother with Science and French. They were compulsary. I got a very low grade on both subjects. I wasn't interested in them at all. Waste of my time. Waste of the teachers time. How many subjects is she doing?

Thanks for all the replies, despite the fact that some of them really could’ve been phrased better as I really am not stupid. Will definitely ask DD to go to teacher and get her recommendation to sort everything out timetabling wise. My only issue is what’s the point in spending an hour on art a day if she’s getting a 6 on it, she might as well just not do it and use the hour for something else, no?

Schools can't just have students dropping courses because the student hasn't managed their time properly.

Maybe I'm being a little heartless but learning to manage time is a life skill and something that is developed through GCSEs and a levels. If the message becomes 'don't worry about prioritising and time management because someone will always off you an easy route out' then I'm not sure that's really the sort of path tjat is going to build resilience and self regulation.
(Sometimes i wonder if tjis culture od wrapping in cotton wool, no responsibilkty is why I've had trainee teachers come up at 22/23 claiming they couldn't do x y z because they 'didn't have time' and were so overwhelmed. Reality is they had 3 hours in school that day. They simply chose not to take responsibility for their time management.)

On the school front, why should an art teacher have to supervise kids who have dropped their subject? Who should supervise kids who drop subjects? Should every child get to drop subjects on demand on y11? Or just good kids? What s the chance of any gained time being used effectively to revise vs sitting there highlighting everything in sight?
It's an unreasomable request to drop it.

I think if she's head girl they won't be keen as she is probably supposed to set some sort of example to the others & it might prompt others to ask to drop things.
I would speak to the teacher - they may be able to work a plan out. It is ridiculous if she is spending such a disproportionate amount of time on one subject. It would be a shame to drop now though after doing so much work.
The new GCSEs are really challenging though & it's not just a case of these kids not managing their time well enough. It is bascially AS level content and a shift up in skills needed. No wonder they are stressed.

I think most of the advice here was not tell your DD to talk to her teachers. But you need to go and talk to her teachers. This is something where you need to step in. If she is getting that little sleep and stressing so much about her subjects then she is in real danger of having panic attacks and some kind of breakdown - quitely possibly meaning she doesn't sit any exams.
She is only 15/16 - you need to be there to support her and step in. The school might want her to keep "doing stuff" but if it is affecting her this much then they need to be forced to realise this and to work a way forward that is best for her (and them long term).

Lots of girls are so conditioned that they won't speak up when becoming overwhelmed but just "try harder" - this is not healthy.
And does her Art teacher think she is only going to get a 6? My DD did Photography, ended up leaving one whole area out of her portfolio (a stop motion piece) but she still got an A in the end.

You could also consider getting her some counselling to help her deal with her stress.

How would she spend an hour doing something else? All her other subject teachers will be teaching other classes. I am shocked that you are expecting her art teacher to supervise her whilst she does another subject, or expect her other teachers to supervise.

Sit down with her and organise her time with her. Dropping the subject is not a viable solution. I am sure school will agree.

The new GCSEs are really challenging though & it's not just a case of these kids not managing their time well enough. It is bascially AS level content and a shift up in skills needed. No wonder they are stressed.
This is the 2nd or 3rd year through the new GCSEs. There was another year before that when we knew what the changes were like.
Every school I know has changed ks3 to reflect the changes at GCSE.

The first year through was a bit bumpy but nowhere near as bad as I'd have thought (they only had part of y9 to prep them for the new course). If I look at my GCSE classes they are actually much not relaxed since the change in spec. With it all linear theres more teaching time available to cover content in detail, do intervention and get them prepared.

When someone choose to do extra curricular activities they have to accept that one of the reasons sports, drama, music etc are valued isn't just for tjeir intrinsic worth, but all the other skills it demonstrates to so them on top of school. If someone is spending 80% of their time on one subject then that is a time management issue.

I'm 99.9% certain that the DC wouldn't be allowed to drop at our school.
DD1 did drop a subject after y11 mocks because she was failing both it and English Language by a long way, and we had only just got a diagnosis of dyspraxia through, which explained why she was struggling so much. She needed massive work and intervention to scrape her English lang pass.
Even then it needed quite a lot of persuasion and the SENCO on our side, and she had to 'keep it quiet' so as not to encourage further requests.
I really can't see them allowing someone to drop a subject they are working at 8/9 level in because they can't do time management. They would support time management instead.