GCSE Options

[Didthatreallyhappen2]

DD is Y9 - currently choosing GCSEs. It's the norm at her school (independent, if that's relevant?) to choose 10.

Back in the mists of time I did 9 O levels. Friends with children in different schools (both state and private) have said their DCs are doing 9 GCSEs.

Is there a norm? 10 seems an awful lot to me. Thank you.

Mine did 13 -state comprehensive. I did 10 O-levels back in the day - mid 80s.

Our state school in Wales does loads.. they start the courses in Y9 and the advantage is that they use 3 yr GCSEs to keep the curriculum as wide as possible to 16 rather than narrowing to 9 subjects at 14. I think those decisions can be very difficult to make for some children.

They do 9 compulsory (8 if doing double science), 4 options and Welsh Bacc. DS is in set 2 for maths so will also do additional maths for a total of 15.

They do some papers in Y10 so he 'only' has 18 exams this summer.

My DD did 11. 2xEnglish, Maths, 3x Science, RE (2 lessons a week taken a year early), and 4 options. If she'd been in the other top set Maths she'd have done 12 as that group choose to take an extra Maths exam.
If she hadn't done triple science she'd have done 10.

This is what mine did- 13 subjects.
English x 2. Maths x2. Science x3. French. RE. History. Geography. Art. Music (taken two years early)

I think anyone on these threads taking more than 10 needs to be clear whether it was under the old system of lettered grades and CAs, or the new spec GCSEs. You can't compare apples and pears.

Mine's in year 9 atm and current options - not really sure why our comp does so many, its rural and think they are just continuing as before despite GCSEs getting to be more work per subject.

My daughter's 11 were all in the new system.

Our standard is 10 as local state RC school:
Core x6
-Maths
-English Lang (done in year 10)
-Eng literature
-Re

• Double science

Then 4 options which can include an extra science to make it up to triple science

Only people who do 8 are those in the very low sets. no one does 9

Many schools, since the new GCSEs came in, have now reduced the number taken from 10 or 11 to 8 or 9. This includes a lot of high achieving state and independent schools.

DD's independent secondary school changed to do 9 (under the new system) as standard apart for those doing Further Maths as a 10th, or those who have a MFL as their first language often do that as an extra GCSE on top.

I know of another school who makes every child do RE as a GCSE, though doesn't actually have the full allocation of lessons for it - but they sit it simply as RE is a compulsory subject to cover. Not sure why they bother though - several of DD's friends who had to do this ended up with a relatively low grade in it compared to their own subjects, simply as they didn't see it as a proper GCSE esp as they didn't get the proper teaching allowance for it.

Likewise many schools have scrapped the idea of doing some early - a year isn't really long enough for the content of lots of the new GCSEs.

It makes sense. No-one actually needs 10 or 11+ after all, and why make more work for them when its not needed. I have 11 and not once have I need that many.

It also is easier to timetable when schools do less. English, Maths and Science should ideally have at least 3 hours a week, the others 2. Obviously the more subjects they do, the tighter this becomes. It also makes fitting homework in for every subject much harder, let alone revision.

Some people like the idea of more - we have certain met a few parents who think that if their child can do 11 or more GCSEs it makes them somehow appear better than their peers.

English Language, English Lit, Maths and double Science are generally compulsory.

I can understand limiting to 10 but 8 is very low and shows little breath outside of compulsory subjects

Certainly some uni prospectuses I’ve read say that expect 9. I’d not be happy with 8 at all.
I’m happy reading here that our school has mfl and extra science as options rather than extra optional GCSEs as I imagine less take it if an extra whereas in our school they have to do 10 anyway so more likely to choose it

The problem with doing eight is that some universities use your best eight GCSEs as part of the selection. If you’ve only done eight, those might all have to be top-notch grades with no room for a slip-up or subjects you might do worse at.

Certainly some uni prospectuses I’ve read say that expect 9.

Which universities specific 9 GCSEs?

We are currently going through he UCAS procedure with DD and not once has this come up on her searches. We've come across some courses requiring a Grade 4/C or above in English and Maths; some for same in Science and a handful who want a grade 6/B (for example, medicine often request grade 6 in English and they sometimes suggest you need a minimum of 6 or 7 GCSEs when we delved further looking for one of DD's sixth form friends).

To do A levels or some college courses you are generally expected to have 5 or 6 GCSEs of grade 4/C and above, though some places request higher.

Queens Liverpool’s and Lancaster request 9 for some subjects inc medicine

Progress 8 looks at the top 8 GCSE grades, including English, Maths, 3 from the English EBACC list and then 3 others. This is a measure for the schools, rather than the pupil though.

The English Ebacc is six GCSEs, which are grade 5 (or poss 4?) and above from the following subjects:

English language and/or literature
Maths
Science - biology, physics, chemistry and/or computer science
Geography or History
Language (ancient or modern)

Again it is a school measure.

@Sunshine1239... I think the Lancaster medicine thing can be open to interpretation, they ask for 15 points from 9 subjects. You can get a max. of 16 points from 8 subjects so I guess they'd accept that?

DS is one doing 8 (and I'm therefore hoping it's not going to limit anything for him) BUT I imagine this is how the school are doing it because they are trying to boost results. Last year, only 18% passed English & Maths at grade 5-9, so they definitely need to do something to improve.

Where my sister works they have 4 x compulsory (English maths and double science) and 3 options, and if the child is struggling with English and maths they have to take extra classes in those subjects as two of their options. So the bright kids get 7 and those who struggle would only get a maximum of 5. That's in a multi academy trust. All the resources are about pupils getting 5 passes. They don't have a sixth form so don't need to worry beyond Y11.

DD is in Y10 at a comprehensive school and is doing the following:
English Lit
English Lang
Maths
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
RS
Language
Humanities subject
Option 1
Option 2

That's eleven which feels ridiculous! Not everyone is doing triple science but even those that aren't will be doing ten subjects. RS will be taken early, at the end of Y10. There are some students who are not taking a language and are receiving additional support in English or maths instead.

What people do need to remember is that there is a whole bunch of kids for whom it matters not one jot what universities may or may not like to see, as they aren't heading that way.

My DD needs 5 GCSEs for her college course, so if she drops from 9 to 8 to help protect passes in core subjects, that is only going to be beneficial for her.

singing Only 1 English? I can see reasons for limiting to 8, but limiting to 7 could be very limiting for brighter children.

Yes @TeenPlusTwenties I believe English lit is an option. DSis was very disparaging about the school and said that if it looked like my children might have to be educated by this trust, she'd give up work and teach them herself. (Her own DC are grown up and the youngest, also a teacher, agreed and also volunteered.)

My dd did 11.5 last year. It was so much work and done over 2 years. She had nearly 30 exams! I think 9 is a good number, it allows for one dodgy exam.