GCSE Options - academic child picking multiple creative options

[RedSkyLastNight]

DD is in Y8, but at her school they have a 3 year KS4, so she has to pick GCSE options next term. We haven't yet seen the Options blocks, but based on older DC

She will have to take 10 subjects.
Maths, English Lang, English Lit are compulsory
She has the choice of 2 or 3 Science GCSEs. DD hates Science and wants to do 2.

That leaves her with 5 subjects to choose. DD wants to pick GCSE Art, GCSE Music and BTEC Performing Arts. She is in the fortunate position of being genuinely good at everything and likely to get good marks in whatever she takes, however I feel that taking 3 creative subjects might be a creative subject too far for an academic child that has aspirations of going to University.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Will universities consider a students with more creative GCSE subjects, less favourably than one with fewer? Are there any other negatives (I did think she might struggle to pick 2 facilitating subjects as A Levels based on her GCSE choices as she hates maths and science).

My gut feeling is to dissuade her from one of the creative subjects (and tbh I'm slightly hoping the Option blocks may mean she has to) but is this just me being snobby and biased against creative subjects or is there a genuine reason to be wary (my strengths are all in maths and science; I'm not remotely creative and no idea where DD gets it from!)?

No one thinks anything of a DC taking 3 sciences or 3 humanities; should 3 creative subjects be regarded differently?cant say whether creative subjects SHOULD be regarded differently but they are not considered facilitating subjects. I'm amazed your DC are t required to take. MFL. I thought us was standard now in all schools. It sounds like your DC is wanting to take The easy science option , 3 creative subjects and no language. Unfortunately this leaves her looking decidedly unacademic which may be an unfair representation of her. If she can definitely select 2 facilitating a level subjects then she would be fine for most middling universities but I'm struggling to see what facilitating subjects will be left to her. She would have to take maybe History at GCSE and the. Continue with English and history at a-level.

Few high ranking universities require 3 fascilitatiing subjects at A level for all courses. For example, if you want to study Politics, it’s ok for Politics to be one of the three. Ditto for Economics.

No DC that wants to be an architect should be stopped from doing Art and DT. It’s a sensible pair of subjects for that career and perfectly doable if one of 8/9 GCSEs and the DC is motivated.

Few high ranking universities require 3 fascilitatiing subjects at A level for all courses

I'd take a bet none of them do for all courses, especially for non STEM subjects.

I get the impression there's some confusion about what the term 'facilitating subject' means... my understanding is, they're the ones which are most frequently required for specific courses. So, e.g. chemistry is required for chemistry or medicine, I assume history is required for most history degrees, maths is required (or desirable) for lots of courses. But there are a lot of others which while less commonly required for any particular course are still perfectly acceptable in addition to the required subject(s), moreso for non STEM courses.

If a pupil starting sixth form doesn't know yet which course they may want to do at uni, then taking 3 'facilitating' A level subjects keeps more doors open (within limits) . But if they are reasonably sure what they want to do (and not do) then so long as they're doing the subjects that are necessary, there's more flexibility over the other(s).

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-24289099

Government & politics isn’t on the facilitating subject list.

Only 2 facilitating subjects are needed for lots of courses, eg Aeronautical engineering, medicine. This is Abort making informed choices.

2 creative subjects from a spread of 10 is fine, but 3 would be unwise, yanbu.

creative subjects aren't an easy option, but they do take a massive investment of extra time to do really well in them. over and above the scheduled timetable of lessons. of course she could not worry about that and be satisfied with mediocre grades, but I think it would be better to be a bit more selective and cut it down a bit. any of the 3 of them can be continued as an extracurricular activity of course.

7 good academic subjects is fine. However, she needs to know that creative GCSEs take up a huge amount of time and effort. Art and Music together is a massive workload. BTec Performing Arts is less of a load, but will still involve after school rehearsals and stuff like that.

Our school has changed the available blocks to restrict the choices for choosing options this year. I would see if you can get the list and check.

Art is a particularly huge workload - the new specification asks for a lot of self-analysis and writing about the process. DS1 got a nasty shock - his own fault, I might add. He should have made use of the summer holidays. Music was a lot more manageable in comparison. There's no problem really in doing both of you can manage the coursework. I think the best approach would be to talk to a couple of year 11s doing art and get their input. Some art departments are more organised than others!

I think skip performing arts. If she's mad keen on theatre and drama, tbh it's better if she joins a drama group and does that as an extra curricular. Even if (and we really are talking the far future now) she wanted to get into stage design then art would be good plus practical experience.

I think creative choices per se aren't a problem for many unis.
I know a doctor who did an Art A level for example, alongside 2 sciences. And an English student at Oxford who did Art A level alongside English and Histiry and RE (dropped in after AS).
As others have said the workload and deadlines can be bewildering

My understanding of a facilitating subject was those on the list produced by Cambridge University. Three doesn’t necessarily keep all options open. You could do French, German and English but you won’t get a place to study History! Like everything else in life, common sense needs to be applied.

However it’s perfectly ok to have a complimentary subject such as Drama A level if you want to study English at university and have English A level as well. Cambridge make the point that other subjects compliment the facilitating subjects for specific degrees. It is useful to have Economics for an Economics degree but it’s not a facilitating subject. Ditto Givernmrnt and Politics for Politics. Psychology A level is widely studied but it’s not facilitating. However it’s useful when studied with facilitating subjects when a student applies for Psychology at university. Therefore the MN advice that’s often seen about taking all 3 A levels which are facilitating is nonsense.

Bubbles exactly! Also RG unis often publish their own lists of accepted and valued subjects that is longer than the Informed Choices booklet list.

For DS music was the one we steered away from in the end even though he was Grade 5 in 2 instruments. You really need to have a proper commitment to these creative subjects. For music you have to commit often to being in the school orchestra and have your Grade 5 theory sewn up etc - if you are just muddling along with your music then I would say it is a no.

I read the Informed Choices booklet and various other articles and I see Facilitating Subjects as being mostly of use for students who when picking A levels havn't got a clear idea of what they want to do at degree so it keeps as many options open as possible.

"Facilitating subjects" applies to A levels. This thread is about GCSEs

Which is even more reason why the choice of subjects at GCSE really doesn;t matter as long as the core ones are there.

"Facilitating subjects" applies to A levels. This thread is about GCSEs

Yes ... but given that some A levels have prerequisite of gcse, choices made early can limit those. Which is one of the reasons pushing gcse choices earlier and narrower than they used to be may be problematic.

Oh, yes, I think getting kids to choose so early is utterly bonkers. But I still think that 7 good academic subjects and 3 creative ones are fine.