GCSE Options

[ValseTriste]

DS is undecided on a couple of his choices at the moment. We are talking through what he likes, what he's good at and what we think are good options. But would be interested in any views. He doesn't know what he wants to do at A level and beyond, and is quite ambivalent about most choices. His best subjects are Maths and probably Sciences - though he's a pretty good all-rounder (decent at most things. Sporty but not musical or particularly arty).

Obviously will do Eng Lang and Lit and Maths. Then either Triple Science or Combined Science (tbc, based on test results - but he's got a reasonable chance of doing triple science).

So 4 choices left. He vehemently doesn't want to do a language. I was originally really pushing for him to do French not only because of the Ebac but also I just think that everyone should do a language and it would make a more well-rounded choice but he hates it and actually it's his worst subject, and whilst grades aren't everything, I have come round to the view that it is probably better for him to do something he's engaged in and not push him into it.

So for the 4 choices - he definitely wants to do Geography. And two out of Computer Science, Economics, History or RE. I think most likely is Computer Science. And for the other he's veering towards Economics but I think it's not the best choice for GCSE level and is something he could do at A level without having done at GCSE and that he would be better to do something like History instead

For his final choice, we thought maybe a practical subject - either DT or PE. Do most kids tend to do a practical subject?

So questions - do you think I'm right not to push the language? Do you agree that I should "encourage" History over Economics? Is Computer Science well regarded? Do most kids do at least one practical? Which would be better, DT or PE?

I know that's a lot of questions and quite broad. We will obviously be talking to the school too, but am just interested in any experiences on any of these points. And whether you've just left them to pick their own choices or tried to steer in certain directions (in my case, history!) Thanks so much

EBacc is not a qualification just a measure for the school so I really wouldn't force the language issue especially if it is his worst subject and he hates it.

I do agree that history, geography and computer science would be good options with one other which he should just choose for "fun" but I wouldn't necessarily force a practical subject on someone either unless they love it. There is a lot of work during the course for DT and PE in terms of coursework/assessments/projects so it is not an easy route especially if no aptitude as such.

It would be a shame to rule out certain A levels such as history by not having done them at gcse whereas for economics A level you do not need economics gcse just decent maths gcse, the same as for an economics degree you do not need economics A level but they do prefer Maths A level.

Does the school offer subjects in blocks? Some kids are restrained by the block offerings. Fortunately DS's school asked what they wanted to do and was able to accommodate everyone's choices.

Geography & History both have a high content level - it will be a lot of revision, especially if he does triple science as well.

RE imo seems to have less content, and is more 'straightforward', but again imo, pretty interesting.

DT / PE I would say only if he wants to do them and has some level of skill.

I wouldn't push a language is he's not keen. (Actually that is true of any subject!).

History and Economics are 2 very different subjects. History is a lot of content and a lot of writing which, based on his other subjects, might not be his forte? But there is a fair bit of writing in Economics too. What attracts him to it? I'd personally say if he might want to take it at A Level, he should definitely take it at GCSE unless he has compelling reasons not to. Particularly as Economics is presumably a subject he hasn't studied yet? I think it would be hard to pick a subject at A Level you' had no previous exposure to.

I think it's reasonably common to take one less academic subject (particularly if all your other subjects are pretty heavily academic) and think DT and PE would be equally good - depends on his preferences.

In our school it is generally history OR geography. I think if he's science minded aim for triple, with Englishes and math plus geography is seven already. How many can he take? Forget about language- good to have but nit if ge really doesn't want to. I think computer science useful. He will have to be very sporty to do PE, and there is quite a lot of classroom work with it.

I wouldn't worry about the language. Unless he has a yearning desire to do History AL I'd suggest economics as well (if only because ds did it as a new subject at AL and hated it). If he's sporty PE makes sense. I think the skill level of at least one sport has to be quite high though - county level? Mind you if he enjoys it and gets one low grade out of 10 good grades it doesn't really matter!

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I think I'm going to drop the issue re French. A shame but there we are.

I think that History or RE would be a better choice at GCSE than Economics. I think he's keen to do one practical subject. He's good at both DT and PE. He's not outstanding at anything, but good at everything (well except languages) if you know what I mean - so I think would do well with any of the choices.

He's sporty (football, rugby, running) but doesn't participate in anything other than club level. DH thinks PE is a bad choice but I think it could be a good counterpoint to triple science, geog, history, computer science

@SeasonFinale - yes, that makes sense re the Ebacc - I shouldn't dwell on it. And no, there aren't really subject blocks to choose from. They have to do a certain number of the Ebacc subjects and then have free choice on other options but it's hopefully not too limited.

@TeenPlusTwenties - that's a good point re RE. We are all coming round to the idea of it as a serious contender. It hadn't crossed my mind originally (we aren't religious) but actually, looking at the info the school have issued, we all think that it looks really interesting. And he's good at the PRE that he does at the moment. He's keen to do one practical subject - but can't decide which of the two.

@RedskyBynight - He seems pretty good at history so I don't think the essay writing is an issue. He doesn't really have any reason why he is considering economics. It's like getting blood out of a stone. Interesting that you think that it is worth doing at GCSE if you want to pursue it at A level or beyond - I had thought it was quite unusual to be offered at GCSE level

In some ways it's a lot easier if (like me!) you lean strongly in one direction. I was terrible at maths and science subjects and art etc and good at English, History and languages. But he's much more of an all-rounder and so struggling to choose. A nice position to be in I guess!

Thanks for your advice all

Thanks @Pipandmum - they do 10 if Triple Science and 9 if Combined Science. I think he can do Geog and History but it depends on the overall combination and time tabling I think.

@titchy - he is really sporty but never competed at that kind of level. He plays in local football and rugby clubs and runs with a running club and is in the school football and cross country teams. He skiis too and is good at that. That's a good point re trying economics at GCSE rather than A level

I'm definitely going to get off his case re French. In the recent test scores he was above average in everything except French (where he got even below the minimum expected level). Seeing those results made me back off the idea as whilst I don't think it's all about the grades, it would be slightly mad to make him do his one poor subject!

Check the exam board and syllabus for all the choices - you might find history covers a period he’s not interested for examp

Thanks @DorotheaDiamond - actually it has had the opposite effect - seeing that one of the periods covered is the Cold War is what has piqued his interest more than previously

I actually suspect that he quite wants to do history but knew that I was keen on history and French - and so was keeping it in reserve as leverage for me to drop the idea of French! Very cynical of me! He did say 'if I don't have to do French, I'll definitely consider history'

I am obviously going to let him choose - but eg with economics, I'm not entirely sure that he really knew what it entailed until we watched the information video from the school yesterday, so he does need a bit of a steer!

We are going to finish watching all the presentation videos later and then I'll ask him to put down an honest list of preferences. He has to choose 6, of which he'll get 4

But I'm def going to ease off about the idea of a language. I think it was just surprising to me that it wasn't compulsory.

Interesting that you think that it is worth doing at GCSE if you want to pursue it at A level or beyond - I had thought it was quite unusual to be offered at GCSE level

I mainly thought it was worth doing at GCSE because my DS who expected to really enjoy Economics (and it should have played to his strengths) found he absolutely loathed it. At least at GCSE level it was only 1 of 10 subjects so he could grit his teeth and just get on with it. If he'd not studied it at GCSE and then decided to take it at A Level and hated it, that would have been 1 subject in 3 and an awful lot harder to put up with. And interestingly I see that a PP did say their DC hated Economics A Level, having not done GCSE. I think you have to be very sure to start a subject for the first time at A Level!

Definite food for thought @RedskyBynight - thanks

I did Economics at GCSE and at A-level (it sat very well as a fourth alongside Maths, FMaths, Physics) - I doubt I would have thought of doing it at A-level if I hadn't done the GCSE. Interesting subject, although I don't know how much it's changed.

History is a big syllabus and I think they have to be really interested to put in the work to learn it all - I don't think it's one to push them into.

Update on this one - and thanks to all who gave insights

DS is going to put the following as his choices (over and above 2 x English, Maths and Science). He has to pick 6 choices of which he'll get 4

• Geography
• Computer Science
• History
• PE

With Economics and DT as his 5th and 6th back up choices. Though he'd want to swap DT for PE or Economics for one of the others, if he didn't get his first choices - rather than say doing both PE and DT

I'm backing off on the language front. Whilst I'd love him to do French. He really doesn't enjoy it at all and it is by far his worse subject. He's above average in everything except French, and he's even below the minimum expected grade for that - so it does feel like it would be mad to push it.

From our talk with his tutor it sounds like he's got a good chance of doing Triple Science. They will be "set" at the end of the Year and out of 10 classes, the top 2 will do Triple Science and the rest will do Combined. DS's form tutor said that he's in the top 10% for science in his class and although that doesn't necessarily mean that his class is indicative of the whole cohort, it does mean there's a strong likelihood of him being in the top 20% across the year.

Thanks all

I know you're out he's decided, but fwiw DD did art as the'easy' subject. It was not! The coursework was huge amounts to keep on top of

DS doesn't want to do a language despite being quite good and I'm not pushing it, esp after reading comments on here.

Oh he def won't do art. He's not v good at all

Yeah I've decided not to push a language. It's a shame though

@TeenPlusTwenties

Geography & History both have a high content level - it will be a lot of revision, especially if he does triple science as well.

RE imo seems to have less content, and is more 'straightforward', but again imo, pretty interesting.

DT / PE I would say only if he wants to do them and has some level of skill.

RS has more content than most GCSE's and is at a higher cognitive level when done properly and not just a half assed short course. Two religions have to be known in depth, then you have Philosophy & Ethics on top. By the end of the course you have to be able to build a fully reasoned, evaluative argument which references sources of wisdom and authority. Utterly fascinating but please don't dismiss as being lesser than other GCSE's.

I'm absolutely not dismissing RE as 'lesser just different. DD1 did History (old GCSE) and DD2 was doing both Geography and full course RE.

There just seemed to me to be more actual content for History & Geography, and harder to work out what were the 'key' things to be learned. Whereas for RE it was more straightforward what information is key and also I feel a higher proportion of topics you might already know something about.

I think RE GCSE is really great, definitely not dismissing it.