GCSE options - which combination of humanities subjects to choose?

[TheatreTaxi]

DS (Y9) is choosing GCSE options at the moment and is finding it difficult to decide on a final selection. He's the eldest so this is my first experience with GCSEs and I'm struggling to know how to advise him.

Aside from the compulsory English/maths/triple science subjects, he has to choose 4 options. Two of these are already decided (a MFL and Drama - both compulsory for different reasons), but he's stuck on his final 2 choices. He's bright but a bit scatter-brained, is very strong in humanities subjects, and has narrowed down his preferences to History, Theology & Philosophy, or Economics - but now can't decide which 2 of these to choose (no options blocks so he has a free choice).

Pros and cons for each option:

1. History

• Has already taking History for several years, is doing well and his teacher is pushing for him to take it at GCSE
• Good at writing essays
• History assessed partly by coursework, which might suit him as his focus and attention for learning facts/revising for exams isn’t always the best (has SEN diagnosis that accounts for this)
• Likes history and has better-than-average general history knowledge, but less keen on the 20th century topics covered in GCSE History (though I think he would actually enjoy WWII and the Cold War)

1. Theology & Philosophy

• Has already taking T&P for several years, knows he likes it, is doing reasonably well when he puts the effort in. Teacher says he could do very well at GCSE if he puts the work in but isn’t actively pushing him to choose it.
• Creative, enjoys arguing about debating ideas
• Good at essay-writing

1. Economics

• Would be a new subject for him so he might discover he doesn’t like it/isn’t good at it
• He is interested in the topics the syllabus covers and there is some overlap with topics in Geography and Maths that he’s enjoyed in the past
• He passed the school’s Economics aptitude test (though his maths isn't the strongest)
• Economics might give him a useful "life skills" grounding in how money/business/finance works?

Currently going round in circles trying to decide which 2 to choose! Unfortunately no possibility of only taking double science to free up space to take all three.

Does anyone have any advice or experience of which of these subjects/combinations to choose or avoid? Should he stick with the 2 subjects he knows he's good at? Or is Economics a useful enough subject to make it worth taking a gamble on?

History and T&P are known to him so safer choices in a way. He would need history if he wanted to do it at A level (in most schools). You don’t need Economics at gcse to do it at A level. In fact many schools don’t offer the gcse. If he’s not confident with maths though, I would be wary. He may well be better at sticking with the essay subjects.

No employer will care much about economics gcse but I agree it’s good for general knowledge about the economy. I actually think it’s interesting but if he’s best at essays, history and T&P make more sense. He can do Economics A level if his maths holds up.

Thanks PresentingPercy, that makes a lot of sense.

My DS took economics because he thought he would enjoy the topics and was also strong in Geography/Maths. He absolutely loathed it, so my advice would be to think very carefully before your DS embarks on a subject he's not studied before. (You don't have Geography on your list of options - why is this?)

Agree with PP that if DS is good at writing essays both history and T&P (assume this similar to Religious studies?) should be relatively easy to do well in. Although there is a lot of writing in Economics as well (one reason my DS hated it).

I don't think any combinations are better/worse than any other. If you/the school are interested in the not-very-relevant Ebacc, then he would have to take history.

Whatever he enjoys or is excited about the most. Intrinsic motivation to study is very important and pleasure in learning helps a lot.

No choice will mean a closed avenue for college study, so it doesn’t really matter.

Thanks UserAgain, that's a useful perspective. Was there anything specific beyond the writing aspect that your DS didn't enjoy about Economics?

DS enjoys the human environment topics in Geography but not the physical geography topics (a bit too much like science for his liking), so ruled it out. He thought some of the Economics content sounded similar to the aspects of geography that he likes.

School are not bothered by the Ebacc and their guidance is for students to pick subjects they enjoy and are good at. Not so helpful when it comes to "new" subjects like Economics, and it does seem a risk to choose it instead of one of the subjects that he already knows.

Agree completely, Greenmarmalade. DS sometimes struggles with motivation and he already has to do enough subjects that he's competent at but not enthusiastic about (maths and triple science).

I think he'd probably be fine doing any combination of the 3, it's just s case of trying to find a way of picking 2 when he's equally torn between all of them.

If he doesn’t like maths I’m really not sure economics is a good choice. As I said earlier, most schools would consider no History GCSE as closing off History A level. History A level keeps more doors than the other two. So History should be his no 1 choice. He could still do economics at A level and politics too. Plus RE.

I think history is one of the ones I would suggest he takes. He likes it plus it means he can do history for A level if he wants to - it seems to be highly regarded.
In regards to the other two - ask your school if he takes economics but decides he doesn't like it when is he allowed to ask to change to something else. For most government schools its usually after the first half-term. For privates it can be longer.

If he doesn't like maths or science then Economics is really not a good option. DS found it very dry (he actually said the maths was the best bit, but then he likes maths). Suspect your DS might be best sticking to History and T&P.

My daughters school split the gcse choices In y8 they choose what they want to do but don't drop anything. They then have a year to 'try out' new subjects before they make final choices in Y9. So she chose sociology but could drop it at the end of y9 if she felt it wasn't for her.

Think it's a good way of doing it. Reduces the risk!

Economics is not needed to take Economics at A level bc many schools don't offer it.

So maybe take the other two as he knows he enjoys them.

I would check out the line about history being partly coursework btw - no GCSEs include any coursework now AFAIK except for practical elements like cooking for food tech or making something for DT.

I'm guessing OP's DC might go to a school that offers iGCSE clary?

Theology and Philosophy isn't a "standard" GCSE either - but I imagine is the equivalent to Religious Studies.

Ah ok, makes sense. Is that right op, bc it might make a difference to people's answers? I know that in my subject, MFL, the GCSE and iGCSE exams are very different.

It is iGCSE, yes - sorry, still getting my head around the system (why is it so blimmin' complicated?) and didn't realise there were major differences compared to GCSE.

T&P is so non-standard I can't find out much about it beyond the information school has given - seems to be a mixture of RS and philosophy/ethics.

Very good point about needing History GCSE if he wants to do it at A level (his school offers a couple of different History options at A level so he may well want to choose one).

UserAgain, if your DS thought that the maths was the best bit about Economics then it may well not suit mine!

Toomanycats99, that sounds like a good system. I wish DS's school ran some taster sessions in the "new" subjects so that pupils could get a feel for them prior to selecting options, but that don't seem to happen.

To be fair Op I only know in detail about MFL, but yes, the AQA GCSE (done by the majority of students in England who take a language) and for example, the Edexcel iGCSE, have very different exams and expectations. I could bore you with lots of detail but best not!!

Economics is, of course, broader than just maths. But there is some maths in it. I don’t think it’s a huge risk to take it any more then it is to take it at A level. He needs to judge whether the maths in it is ok for him or not. I did it half a century ago! It is maths that is applied to the theory of economics. He needs to know it’s not a subject where you just debate the state of the uk economy. You learn about the theoretical mechanisms that make an economy work.

It depends what he doesn’t like about maths too. Don’t know anything about the igcse specifically and it may have changed since my time but at school level the maths content in Economics used to be a lot more about interpreting graphs and appreciating the scale of different numbers than lots of actual arithmetic for instance. If he doesn’t like graphs I would definitely avoid! It’s a lot more maths heavy later on (at Uni) of course.

I would can economics. You don’t need it at gcse to do it at A level and you don’t need it at A level to do it at university so in my view it is a bit of a cul de sac. What you do need is maths, which suggests he is unlikely to take it further.

Plus every child I know who has done it at a level has found it pretty dull and that includes the ones who went on to do it at university who did so as a stepping stone to career plans.

Would strongly support history and TP thingy.

@Revengeofthepangolins [OP sorry for highjacking]

seeing your post, I have a couple of questions for you. my DC is potentially interested in an economics degree however not so much as taking it for A level, mostly because it's considered an essay-based subject.

it sounds like, as his sixth form offers economics it would be stupid and would hold him back not to take it for A level, as it will make it difficult to prove interest in the subject when applying to uni. However the A level in economics does not really look like the real thing and DC is thinking of taking more traditional subjects like maths, physics, chemistry and a MFL.
DC is quite indecisive between engineering and economics, at this point (year 11).
so in our case your post seems to support not bothering with economics A level now as not sure of the next direction.
any particular reason why it was found dull ? our school follows Edexcel for economics.
Thanks,

Hijack away, Iamsodone

I'm pleased to say that DS has finally decided on History and Theology & Philosophy for GCSE, and those feel like the "best-fit" subjects for him which will leave the most doors open for A-level choices. Thanks to all who offered advice in this thread, it was a huge help!

@TheatreTaxi

Hijack away, Iamsodone

I'm pleased to say that DS has finally decided on History and Theology & Philosophy for GCSE, and those feel like the "best-fit" subjects for him which will leave the most doors open for A-level choices. Thanks to all who offered advice in this thread, it was a huge help!

Good choices and indeed if he does want to do economics at some point he doesn't even need A level Economics but maths.