GCSE thoughts please. Drama and Eng Lit

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If someone wants to be an actor, or something to do with drama / performing, do you think Eng Lit would be necessary?
On the other hand, dc has some additional needs, and struggles with writing essays.

The option other than Eng Lit would be photography, which would be a creative outlet and less written work for dc.

My question is : do you think Eng Lit is important to an eventual career in drama type job?
Thanks.

Drama - the written section requires many of the same skills as English lit, analysis of text. At some point in drama you are going to meet Shakespeare, there is Shakespeare in English lit.

Isn't English lit compulsory?

I'm sure Eng Lit is compulsory at GCSE?

Is this a state school? If so, your child will almost definitely have to do English literature.

no it's not state. Lit not compulsory.

If they want to study after GCSEs then they need Maths and English. If they are borderline then taking Lit and Lang is a good idea because you only need a pass in one of them.

Literature is more like drama because of the analysis. One of the pieces my dd is doing for Lit is a play (An Inspector Calls) Obviously Shakespeare is a play too.

There's lots of writing with drama btw. My child doesn't do drama but I overheard DD's friend talking about it.?

Um, English Lit is DEFINITELY a compulsory subjects that has to be taught at GCSE (regardless of being at a state or independent school)

Also as @goldengummybear put, for a lot of things at post 16, English lit is usually asked for, so yes I think he should do it ( even if he should really be doing it by law anyway).

Anyway as far as an acting point of View. I have always been into the performing arts and I think that is partly why I enjoyed English lit so much at GCSE. I decided to study at A-level (English as a subject I would never thought of studying at A-level in year seven).

I don't understand why, if you enjoy drama, you opulent want to study English lit. Shakespeare, you know. Also some great stories and possibly Taste of Honey or An Inpector Calls.

What kind of school is it where aren't Lit is not compulsory?

Eng lit not aren't lit, stupid iPad.

I think it depends on the board, but you do have to pass both to get the GCSE, or so I've been told.
mine is much better at Lit than language, and was told has to pass both.

If you want to be an actor, GCSEs won’t help much. It’s talent that gets you noticed. Getting that training place. Work back from the post 18 courses and see what’s needed. Often GCSE drama can be badly taught. Try and join a drama club or theatre school.

I think Eng Lang counts as one of the compulsory subjects at GCSE - doesn't have to be Eng Lit. DS has just graduated but he did not do Eng Lit at GCSE but did Eng Lang. He did do Eng Lit A level. At his school Eng lit was not compulsory at GCSE.

The OP has said its not compulsory at her dc’s school.

The national curriculum only applies to LA run schools, so private schools and academies don’t have to teach it. Nowhere has to insist on a GCSE in it (or in language actually).

It’s the schools that make it compulsory because if pupils don’t pass it, their Progress 8 mark would be massively reduced. P8 makes no difference whatsoever to pupils; it’s the league tables it effects. This is probably why Romany has been told you need to pass both.

It’s seriously immoral as the Lit GCSE is too hard for many children, but the progress 8 system forces schools into this. It’s a mess.

OP, Lit is a great subject, but there are eight essays in the exam. If he’s a great actor, his GCSEs won’t matter. If he’s not, GCSE Lang is what he’ll need for employers etc.

You definitely don't need both. My ds1 passed one and failed the other and has 5 conditional offers for university in the autumn. I didn't know that you could proceed with training/education without GCSE English.

Drama schools all seem to have slightly different requirements. You need to do a bit of googling.

Some seem to want Eng Lit/Lang GCSE's, others not. Some want A Levels, others not.

They all need an audition, often with two contrasting pieces, including a Shakespearean monologue, so some Eng Lit or Drama GCSE would be helpful with that. Otherwise you definitely need some Drama input, via a Saturday school perhaps, or some LAMDA.

I am always interested in replies to these threads as my DD wants to pursue Drama. I think we are going the post ALevel/Uni or Drama school option though, and she has done Drama and Eng Lit GCSE and she will do Eng Lit A Level, as well as others.

Drama gcse also includes a significant proportion of essay writing and analysis akin to English lit, 60:40 essay to performance.

I thing the Op is asking English Lit or Photography? I would look at the syllabus for the photography and see whether it is something your son would enjoy/could do well in. If he is doing Drama GCSE that involves writing too! If he is stronger at English Lang than Lit and may fail English Lit, than maybe go with the photography

If your DS is working at a borderline pass level for both Lang and Lit, I would suggest doing both as he would only need to pass one.

Just a word of warning about photography - it requires a lot of writing - not essays but they have to keep extensive portfolios with every photo shoot written up. There is also the need to do a photo shoot every week to cover the syllabus. It's really not an easy or let-up subject at all. Friend's son thought it would be easy with no writing and he was horrified when he discovered just how much work there was and barely scraped a pass. DS just about managed to keep on top of his portfolio and is a very good photographer with a real passion for it and he did fine but it was hard work. He hasn't gone on to take it at A level because he simply couldn't face another 2 years of having to go out and photograph something on a topic that wasn't of particular interest (In the Eye of the Beholder was one GCSE topic and that's not as easy as it sounds).

Isn't there the expense of buying a decent camera for photography? DD's school didn't provide them.

DS's state school had 5 cameras which they all had to share. Fortunately a kind uncle bought DS the same camera the school was using which meant he wasn't in a queue for a camera to do a shoot. You also need to add in the expense of processing - DS did a very specific set of shots that needed to be in b&w and that wasn't cheap but if you have access to a school camera and don't get arty with film cameras then it's not so bad.

I think the thing with all the new GCSE specs is no matter what you choose there is extensive writing.
Drama in addition to write exam you have to submit a written log book to go with your devised piece.
Dance written exam and critique of various dance pieces.
Yes they are less writing than say history, but still a fair amount of writing.

I tend to think if you cannot manage English Lit at GCSE, your future as an actor will be limited. It is a case of being able to read and memorise lines and texts. Not being able to read and understand "literature" will be detrimental to a future career. Plays are literature.

Thanks everyone. A varied response!
Yes, we know drama has writing - she is prepared to accept that, as she loves it so much. Our worry is doing too many subjects with lots of writing.
She's pretty bright, and should pass the subjects she chosen.
The other subject we don't know too much about is psychology. Maybe someone can fill us in on the written elements of that?

I do have appointments lined up next week with the photography and psych teachers, but actual info from real people would be great at this stage.
(she does do a saturday theatre school by the way, so that's fine)