Dropping Art GCSE?

[emMo13]

DD wants to drop art GCSE because she feels the workload is too high and she doesn’t have enough time to revise for other subjects. DD is a procrastinator but has recently started to get down to it and has now realised she’s started too late. I have been telling her she needs to get her finger out for since half way through year 10, but to no avail. Maybe it’s my shoddy parenting. Regardless, I’m willing to accommodate her wishes because I don’t think that not letting her drop it out of spite is going to achieve anything at this point. I’m 100% sure that if DD replaced the time she was spending doing art, she’d do incredibly well at the rest of her subjects (she has 10 others, and did RE last year), since she spends days on it and nothing else. Yes - it’s a time management thing when it comes to art (I’ve been blasted about that before) but she insists that if she had to do it to a passable quality she’d still spend a significant amount of time on it and there’s no point spending that time just to get a 4 or a 5. Thoughts? Has anyone ever dropped art so late?

Will the school let her? My eldest is taking art GCSE and the workload is enormous but they are starting their exam piece in January. I don't know if you can quit this late in the game.

My dd has been overwhelmed by the workload at times, and she adores art, wants to be an artist etc. I would never recommend it as a soft option or even to my younger DC if they aren't committed enough.

DD1 was allowed to drop History after mocks but we had only just got a diagnosis of dyspraxia and she had bombed both history and English Lang in her mocks.

It's clear she doesn't 'need' art, but would school actually let her drop it?

I think you had a thread about this before and your DD is quite high achieving? Schools don't normally like high achieving kids to drop a subject just because they haven't managed their time very well. After all there is still 6 months to go.

Is the school private or state and if state grammar or comp? It might make a difference as to their attitude.

Wouldn't accepting she needs to sort out her time management be a better solution which will help her going forward?

Several of my DC have done Art including DD4 doing the new spec last year. In your situation I think once I'd ascertained she wasn't just having a panic I'd be right behind her in dropping this as an eleventh GCSE.

(On the basis that all her other GCSEs are the reformed numbered GCSEs, not the easier IGCSEs).

@TeenTimesTwo - yes, I did have a previous thread but I forgot the account whoops :). Yes, time management 100% is the issue right now, and I’ve addressed that with her, but I just feel like if she’s going to be getting a 4/5/6 for several hours of work everyday, it’s just detracting from the top grades she could be getting in other subjects? She doesn’t want to do anything art related in the future, and she could use those hours. It just seems like a waste at this point. She goes to a comp school (as per your question). She is managing her time better than she was before but since she has done next to no revision for anything, I feel like this isn’t the best time to teach her a lesson she already understands at the cost of GCSEs.

@BlytheSpiritSpirits Gosh, really? DD starts her final coursework based on the exam from March to April. I’ve emailed AQA directly about when the cut off date is. Good luck to your DC!

In that case tell the school she's giving up and don't take no for an answer.

By case, I mean attending a state comp and doing reformed GCSEs.

It's not too late to give up, it's absolutely fine.

@goodbyestranger That’s what I thought, but I’m unsure as to whether she’s bound to do it? Regardless, thanks for your advice!

Our school wouldn’t allow a pupil to drop a subject this far into the course without genuinely exceptional circumstances. As a previous poster said, she’d be better off sorting out time management and getting stuck in.

This will be down to school policy. There is nothing to stop the school withdrawing her (or rather not cashing in) her from GCSE ART the day before results day.

Whether or not they will do as you request depends on how flexible they are. If they disagree that it will affect her other results they may not.

‘Not worth getting a 4 or 5’ is a dreadful attitude to have though they are perfectly acceptable grades and if the rest are 8/9s there is no detrimental effect. She can always leave it off her CV later if she likes 😃

It’s a long time ago but I took Artfor GCSE and also did a ceramics GNVQ at the same time. The workload for Art is incredibly high, I took it as purely as it was a subject I enjoyed not for any future career. I did manage to complete both however didn’t turn in the kind of work I would have liked because it came behind prioritising other more career focused subjects.

Thank you, emMo13. :) Time management is an issue here as well, but I am making headway with her (I hope!!).

@Soursprout that’s definitely something I’ve asked her since it seems like less of a hassle! I feel like if she just continues this portfolio (60%) up to the end of January she’ll probably be able to just slack off at art regardless. She is open to the idea but detests the idea of getting lower grades, especially she’s getting 8s now in art. I’ll definitely push it though, it seems like a better idea than dropping the whole subject and getting in a big huff with the school

I'd say a 4/5 is not worth spending hours of time over and is actually quite a blot on a landscape of 8s/9s or even 7s/8s/9s AppleKatie. From the perspective of a high achiever a 4/5 is a poor grade and not actually that acceptable.

It's more 'dreadful' to suggest misrepresenting grades (aka lying/ committing fraud) to employers later on.

Cross posts. Absolutely agree. A low grade is not ok to a high achiever just because it's the national average or whatever. People are too sensitive OP. Just do whatever seems best for your DD. I'd be with you on dropping it now.

Fraud?

Only listing 11 or your 12 GCSEs? Do leave it out.

TBH if she’s getting 8s at the moment it’s very unlikely the school will allow her to withdraw. I think it’s stop procrastinating and suck it up buttercup time.

If she ‘ends up’ with a 4/5 it really isn’t a problem. Most children do not have 12 GCSEs anyway.

I dropped another subject to take art at as level. Was a mistake I think, as your daughter says it takes up so much time and I think it's time that could be spent studying other subjects that are arguably more useful.

AppleKatie if an application requires you to list all your qualifications incl GCSEs and A levels it is most certainly fraud to leave out one GCSE because it's a less good grade. It's not even arguable.

School policy varies. A stupid school might insist she carries on with Art. A not stupid school would let it go.

Incidentally I interview a lot in an area where all grades have to be disclosed and non disclosure would be a big problem for any applicant offered a job.

It would be the fact of lying though, rather than the grade. Which is why I find your advice very questionable on moral grounds.

She has to list everything on UCAS applications, but for employers she can ignore listing if she wants. So e.g. 10 GCSEs all grade 7-9 rather than 11 GCSEs grade 5+.

The issue I am reading here is that the OP thinks that by dropping art the DD will go 'up' in at least some of the other subjects, since time lost to art will be diverted. So if e.g. 4 subjects go from a 7 to an 8 the OP thinks this is worthwhile.

I can see her point, but concerned this issue is still going on following the previous thread. However, I know DD's school is extremely reluctant to let high achievers drop subjects (unless it is something taken as a 'twilight' one).

OP - you can but put your case, and have your DD decide whether if they make her continue she is going to put any effort in or not.

but for employers she can ignore listing if she wants
unless of course they say she must list everything taken.

Yes that was my original point TTT. Plenty of top employers do insist because straight top grades do often mean more to them than the same number plus one flunked grade.

My youngest DD has just dropped the EPQ despite being one of the top achievers at her high performing school and no-one batted an eye lid. But then it's a sensible school. If I'd had to escalate it to the HT - which I knew I wouldn't - he'd have agreed without any wrangling too. Totally dependent on school. OP's school might be just as sensible.