Project Design or Business - GCSE

[silvinka]

I would like to ask what is a better option to choose out of either Product Design or Business as a GCSE option. Our DS has decided to do Computing, Music, French. Originally he wanted to do Geography but we were told that the school cannot accommodate all of his options. So he decided to drop Geography. He is pretty academic but enjoys the creative side as well.
Which of these two subjects is a better option?

'better' depends on how you define it.

What are his aspirations? What might he want to do next?

It depends - which part of the creative process does he prefer making things or designing them?
dd took Product Design and there were a lot more marks for making the product than there were for designing it.
So I would say if he has good "making" skills that would be a good fit.
On the other hand if you mean Computer Science, Business could be a good fit at GCSE due to the real-life applications of computing in business, but it's the type of subject that could be started at A level without the GCSE.

He says he would like to be a programmer.

remember that product design has only had one cohort ( well two now, sort of) of the new spec, as it was one ofvtheclastvtonswitcg, so unless someone did GCSEs last year, their experience of the spec is not that relevant.

Ds2 was yr 11 last year and his mates who did DT found that the practical element was less than they hoped, a lot more emphasis on the design process and the theory around that. Maybe speak to some current yr 12s who did it if you know any. Ds reckons business OTOH was pretty straightforward and looked fairly interesting.

I should clarify he didn't do either, but lots of his mates did!

op which interests him more? Music is a lot of outside work with performance and composition so business might be good as less work outside the lesson IYSWIM

sorry that gobbledegook word was "one of the last to switch" to number grades ie.

With the current push for EBacc I am amazed a school won't accommodate him taking geography and French! Thinking about future plans I usually recommend picking subjects the students enjoy AND are good at...if they are still much of a muchness for him I would say Business as gives more options post-16!!

Thank you, everybody, for your inputs. It was very helpful. I just wanted to let you know that int the end my son decided to go for Business. :-)