Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Dropping a GCSE subject?

42 replies

RedskyToNight · 20/10/2019 18:05

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of speaking to their school about dropping a GCSE subject and what the school's response was?

For various reasons, I think it would be beneficial for DS (now in Year 11) to drop one of his GCSE subjects. I can think of lots of reasons why this would be good for him; but want to be able to counter any arguments the school might come up with. The only one I can think of so far, is that if he drops a subject this leaves him with 2 hours of un-timetabled time each week.

Has anyone done this, and what did the school say/do?

OP posts:
GreySheep · 20/10/2019 18:31

My friend just asked for this for her DS but school wouldn’t let him as it meant he had un-timetabled slots in his day. They did let him swap to an easier different GCSE though.

BringOnTheScience · 20/10/2019 19:05

Does he need the time for extra studies for other subjects? We're preparing to request that DC2 drops a forecast grade 1 subject in return for extra support for maths & English.

chckenlicken · 20/10/2019 19:10

Yes, we had this last year with DD. It was one of her option subjects and she was predicted a 3, we suggested that she would sit in student support and study maths or English (predicted 4's) and that we would provide revision books for her to work from, so there was no extra work for school, and school agreed.

TeenPlusTwenties · 20/10/2019 19:17

DD1 did this in Feb y11. She had just received a dyspraxia diagnosis, and had completely bombed out of her English mocks (despite the teacher's prediction at that time being an A), and had also bombed out of History mock.

It was agreed she would drop history, have some English intervention in 2 of the lessons and in the other 3 go to the isolation unit to work.
She was asked not to spread it about she was dropping it in case it encouraged others to want to drop things.

It was definitely the best choice decision. She scraped her English up to just a pass, and not having to revise for History meant more time for other subject revision (needed for slow processing) and fewer exams (helpful as she qualified for extra time once they tested her after mocks).

(I am mentally preparing myself that I may want to ask DD2 to drop a subject later too.)

noblegiraffe · 20/10/2019 19:19

My school would give you a flat no. It would start an avalanche of requests from kids who no longer fancied studying French (it’s usually French) and would absolutely definitely (wouldn’t, because it would be unsupervised) spend the extra time studying maths.

A grade 1 in French can be better for Progress 8 than no grade.

Danglingmod · 20/10/2019 19:25

I imagine it would be a flat No if it leaves the student with fewer than 8 GCSEs (need 8 for Progress 8) and/or there's nowhere for them to go to be supervised.

On the other hand, if it's dropping from 10 to 9, the student in question is a borderline pass for Maths and/or English AND there is a large, supervised student support department or library, then it's a possibility and worth asking.

AskMeHow · 20/10/2019 19:33

If there's additional lessons for a core subject on at the same time as the subject they want to drop it's possible, or if there's somewhere for them to do supervised study.

But it really depends on their circumstances. If there's SEN it's much more likely to be approved than if they're just struggling in a subject.

One or two students per year in my school get this sort of thing approved and study periods put on their timetable instead. It's very much with the understanding that if they don't go/mess around in study or if their other lessons are not reaping the benefits then they'll be put back in the exam class.

When are the mock exams? That might be a good time to broach it, post exams, off the results go as you expect.

Original poster
RedskyToNight · 20/10/2019 19:52

It's a "bucket" subject (not French!!) and he's doing enough other subjects that it won't count for Progress 8. He's currently predicted to get a 2 or 3. He's likely to get 5/6/7+ in all of his other subjects (possibly 4 in English). It's possible with a huge amount of extra work we might drag this result up to a 4, but I can't see why we would spend the time on a subject he really struggles with and is never going to study or need again when it could be better spend pushing some of his other grades up (particularly as he's a child with A Level aspirations but not currently quite the profile you might expect for an A Level student).

I can, however, see that the "what does he do in his free timetabled spots" is potentially an issue.

His mocks are just after half term and I'd already thought that going armed with the (predicted not great) results of those might be good ammunition (coupled with the 1 in he got in his Year 10 exams).
I'm also very happy to set him particular tasks/work to do in free periods, so there is no requirement for the school to do anything.

OP posts:
Malbecfan · 20/10/2019 20:05

One of my tutor group dropped a subject last year when she was in year 10. She was taking 11 subjects and her MH was poor. She begged to drop her MFL and the decision was taken to allow it. Of the 3 freed up lessons per fortnight, she spent 2 of them working on her Art in that department which she was really behind in. The other lesson she had to turn up to be registered in the MFL class but then sat at the back doing other work. She didn't like it but it was presented as "this is the way we do it - take it or leave it" so she took it.

To the OP: I think having a plan for how your DS would use the time to improve his other subjects is a good idea. It looks more like he has really thought it through rather than a "can't be bothered with this anymore" type reaction.

TreePeepingWatcher · 20/10/2019 21:09

What is the subject?

And no, I don't think any school would allow this as it would just set a precedent and then there would be an influx of parents with children and low grades, or children knowing that if they just make no effort in the earlier years they will be allowed to drop a subject later on because their grade is lower than they want.

FiveHoursSleep · 20/10/2019 21:19

DD2 was doing 9 subjects- all predicted 5-7 except for German where she was probably going to sit the foundation paper.
She has ASD and dyspraxia and it was causing her a lot of anxiety so our school agreed to let her drop it after Y11 Mocks.
She did so much better in her GCSEs because she wasn't worrying about a subject that she had no hope of passing. In her 'free' periods she was in learning support revising.

BringOnTheScience · 20/10/2019 22:06

FWIW, my DC2 is predicted to fail entirely or get 1 in every subject, apart from a possible BTEC L2 pass and currently forecast a 2 in English Lit, but that depends on favourable Macbeth questions! I can't see school saying No to dropping one of the Fails, as the Progess 8 stats are screwed anyway. Setting up teens to fail absolutely sucks.

Ginfordinner · 20/10/2019 22:36

What is a "bucket" subject?

That sounds tough BringOnTheScience. Is your DC getting any extra support?

BringOnTheScience · 20/10/2019 22:42

@ginfordinner - laughably little support or even any understanding... but that's a whole separate thread!

TeenPlusTwenties · 21/10/2019 07:51

Gin A 'bucket' subject would be one needed for Progress 8 calculations, without which one of the 'buckets' is empty thus lowering an individual's Progress 8 contribution.

If my DD were to drop Geography she would end up with an empty bucket as she is only doing double science and no MFL and RE doesn't count as 'Ebacc'.

However one individual child missing a bucket really doesn't have that much impact on the overall score. It's the knock on effect if eg 40 children then drop their MFL that has significant impact.

If I find DD can't cope with full load (processing issues), I'll be arguing that dropping one will lead to increased grades in the others so the empty bucket will have less impact anyway.

Original poster
RedskyToNight · 21/10/2019 08:07

Yes, what Teen said. Though I meant it's a subject that goes in his "other" bucket for P8, that he already has (more than) enough other subjects to fill.
In other words, if he gets his predicted grade, it wouldn't be counted for P8 anyway (not being in his top 8 subjects).

OP posts:
Frazzled2207 · 21/10/2019 08:21

This is years ago but my parents pushed for me to drop double award science. I did single award instead. I was so struggling to learn it all that if I could reduce the amount to revise by half I would have a better chance of passing the bloody thing.

There was never a question of having "free" periods though. I carried on attending classes and sometimes just did some revision work rather than what the rest of the class were doing.

It took a bit of convinced but school were supportive. I eventually got a B😀.

Punxsutawney · 21/10/2019 16:48

My Ds is in year 11 and dropped his language gcse (Latin) in year 10. He had been finding it difficult and was also undergoing assessment for ASD. Last academic year he did self study in learning support in those lessons. This year he is doing maths and English intervention instead.

It was absolutely the right decision for him as he was doing 11 gcses, so dropping one was not too significant. Since the start of this academic year he has told me three others have already joined him in intervention having dropped out of languages too.

Rosieposy4 · 21/10/2019 20:20

One of my dc did it and it was very successful, they were never going to pass the dropped on, and it gave them extra time to manage to scrape a pass in English Language.
We always have several kids each year in my school that end up dropping a subject, we deal with the spare frees in a number of ways, not least depending on the student in question.

areyoubeingserviced · 22/10/2019 16:52

My dd is at a grammar and was doing twelve GCSEs which is ridiculous .
She has now dropped two of her subjects
The school wasn’t keen, but I felt that it was the best thing for my dd

MarchingFrogs · 23/10/2019 10:18

Also going back a few years, but we were informed by a very hesitant and apologetic DT department teacher that he'd been told to tell us that DS1 was going to have to drop Graphics GCSE, as the chance of him achieving an anywhere decent grade was minimal. No doubt expecting a tirade of how dare you sacrifice my DS in the school's quest for league table glory?, he was a bit flummoxed to get tearful gratitude instead, I think.

In context, DS1's Graphics folder was so undesirable and incomplete, that it sat for 4 whole hours unstolen in a bus stop before he finally remembered where he might have left it that time...

Wheresthebeach · 23/10/2019 11:04

DD dropped MFL, she's dyslexic and it was just going to take up too much time. School was fine about it, although Spanish teacher wanted her to continue. It wasn't her grades that was an issue, but rather the stress and impact on studying time.

There is a group of 7 dyslexic students who now meet in the library to do homework during MFL time slots. Works really well. Just be clear, and firm about what you want and why. If you appear undecided then they'll push back.

averythinline · 23/10/2019 11:10

my ds may drop eng lit ...he's dyspraxic and has slow processing so whilst has insight...as his teacher says he 'sees' the piece and makes good contributions .....he is unable to articulate on paper enough to get anything reasonable as a grade..... hasnt done yet i n yr10 but maydo after xmas....session willbe for revision /study skills

Original poster
RedskyToNight · 23/10/2019 21:22

Oh for goodness sake.

Talk to the teacher of this subject about how DS is doing. Teacher says that DS is not currently doing as well as he would like but he shows great aptitude and natural ability and once DS has learnt a bit of exam technique and how to apply himself, teacher is confident that DS could easily get a 7,8 or 9. And he should seriously consider taking it for A Level.

This is the most positive feedback we have ever had about DS (and some of the highest predicted grades).

I now have no idea what to think.

OP posts:
TeenPlusTwenties · 23/10/2019 21:27

So could you have an extra push with DS on this subject over half term and up until Christmas? If he 'clicks' with the exam technique then that's great. If he doesn't then you know you've tried?