Year 9 Options question

[BaconAndAvocado]

DS2 is in the process of choosing his options for GCSE.

He’s narrowed it down to Computing, Business and History and needs to choose 2 out of the 3. Finding it hard to choose.

Being 14, he doesn’t know what he wants to do. He’s a bright boy, at a Grammar school.

I think he’ll definitely go for Computing as he thinks he can get a high grade in it and has built his own computer so already has an interest here.

It’s History and Business that are causing the problem.
He enjoys History and the GCSE curriculum covers periods that he says he’s interested in.
Equally he thinks he might go for Business but more because it’s a vocational qualification.

I’m hoping any decisions he makes now won’t limit him in the future!
And because of Covid we haven’t had the usual input from his school e.g. Options Evening.

There’s a virtual Parents Evening on Tuesday but as he hasn’t studied Business (or Computing for that matter) there won’t be a subject teacher to talk to.

In my mind, I’m thinking History is a more academic subject and that he could possibly learn about running a business in the future without needing to do a GCSE in it.

He doesn't need business to run a business. Can you email the business teacher to get more information about the course? Or look up the spec online (check which board). For history, find out which topics they study as that may make a difference - will he find medicine though time or the rise of Nazism engaging?

Surprised he hasn't studied computing at KS3 but just asked ds2 who took it at GCSE and he says he didn't lean much at ks3 that was needed for GCSE. He wouldn't recommend it tho, he found it dull (and he's a mathematician!).

Rest assured, any decision now won't limit him in the future - business GCSE is not even always required fir business a level as not all schools offer it. And I imagine if history A level were an option for him he would do GCSE anyway - tho again, I know people who have done the A level without GCSE - it's modular, not linear like MFL for example.

What I meant by that history comment was, anyone who was keen enough on history to want to do A level would not be hesitating over the GCSE anyway - so I presume he is not thinking of that post 16.

Thanks clary

He said the GCSE curriculum looks very engaging,Vietnam war, WW2.
When I quizzed him about his current History lessons and how he finds them, he said he enjoys them and often asks questions. Equally, at home he’ll ask me and DH questions about History and enjoys discussions around them.

I’ve got the spec on all the subjects, just an A4 sheet at most.

I guess, as parents, we’ve got different views on education.
I studied History of Art at Uni and enjoyed being taught how to analyse and discuss information which I presume History would do too. I’d like our children to go to University to broaden their horizons, socially as well as educationally.
DH runs his own business and has a totally vocational degree so I guess the humanities aren’t as important to him.

I know our views shouldn’t come into it but of course they do even ina subtle way.

History sounds like a good shout then. If you know the board (AQA, Edexcel, OCR) you can look up the spec on line for more detail. Here's AQA business [[https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/business/gcse/business-8132/specification-at-a-glance business ]]

Yes, I agree.

He doesn’t want to talk about it, thinks we’re hounding him!

We’ll both see his History teacher on Tuesday then make a final decision.

It can’t make that much of a huge difference as I honestly can’t remember what DS1 chose and he graduated last year!

I would look at the schools historical results and are there people you can ask about the teachers? Maybe your son may know this.
Obv if history has high exam results and the best teachers in the area and opposite for business then that could help sway the decision.

Computing sounds like an obvious one to take assuming he's good at maths as well which would presume he is and good teaching - lots of shortages of computing teachers in state schools (we had 3 in one year, two of which knew very little computing but now have a good one). Both mine are taking computing - very male dominated at our school, DD is one of only two girls taking.

With History / Business, Business at our school is quite a practical subject and the grades aren't great but you probably won't have that issue at a grammar. Maybe worth looking if your 6th form requires history GCSE for history A level, ours doesn't. Both mine have done History though I don't think it makes a great deal of difference either way. History is quite a lot of writing and content.

If he is academic, History will hold him in good stead for the future.

The wide knowledge base, as well as the ability to assimilate and sort large amounts of information will be very useful in other subjects at GCSE and when he goes on to A Level.

Having said that, it will be much less of a workload if he does GCSE Business, so suggest you also look at the mix of other subjects he is taking for his GCSE's.

Silkies yes, he’s top set Maths so I think Computing will suit him.

If he gets picked to do Triple Science, which he probably will, he’ll be studying for 10 GCSEs so the point about the content/workload of History is a salient one.

I’ll find out about the A level angle too.

Thanks all

It depends on what he wants to do for A levels. History or Geography are looked highly upon due to the writing skills needed and you do need a History GCSE to do History A level. But you don't need a business GCSE to do a business A level. It depends on how academic he is or how he feels about history. History would be more work than business.

@ittakes2

It depends on what he wants to do for A levels. History or Geography are looked highly upon due to the writing skills needed and you do need a History GCSE to do History A level. But you don't need a business GCSE to do a business A level. It depends on how academic he is or how he feels about history. History would be more work than business.

That's not quite true - it's not unheard of for someone to take history A level without the GCSE - it's not a linear subject so if you could show you had the skills (for example in Eng lit or RE) it might be OK.

I do take the view tho that if someone had a sufficient passion for history to take A level, they would most likely do the GCSE as well! But certainly some schools do not require it.

I did History A level without the GCSE (just English Lit as a writing subject) and found it fine - we could only take one Humanities and I was more interested in political history / economics / current events and our History GCSE was medicine and Norman England. Though if there's any chance he will take History A level makes more sense to take the GCSE as well.

I found it useful with both mine to consider quickly if they had any preference re degree / A levels and look through some of both the content of the GCSEs and A levels. Though I don't think either will restrict anything unless their 6th form has rules about entry so I would just check but none of those subjects are requirements at ours. The business course at our school was quite different to what I expected and very practical and lots of marketing. If you get the exam board you can get full syllabus and a past paper which gives a very clear idea. I know a few subjects I've read out to mine and they've been wasn't expecting that, no I don't want to do that or actually that is interesting.

History GCSE does have a reputation for being content heavy though my DD is doing 11 and says she doesn't find it too different to the others and says overall workload is OK. My DS is taking pretty much the same, I'm more wary with him taking it as he doesn't like writing and has a do minimum approach.

Lots of academic schools don’t offer Business at GCSE. Mainly because it’s not necessary for A level. History is offered by all schools. That’s because it’s more academically rigorous and most schools do want DC to have studied it at GCSE prior to A level. It’s still one of the A level subjects posted by Cambridge University regarding giving best prep to their courses. Business Studies doesn’t and nearly everyone who runs a business won’t have it at gcse. It’s truly something you can leave to university!

Is he good at essay writing? If so, then opt for history. What are his other options? There is a lot of content in history and if he has opted for other essay based subjects the workload might be high.

My son enjoyed business studies because he felt it was a more logical subject (he's far more mathematically minded and struggles with essay subjects.

PresentingPercy
This is why I’m thinking History rather than Business; to run a business you don’t need Business GCSE!
I doubt very much that he’s Oxbridge-bound, but I’d agree that studying History affords you a certain set of skills.

However, at GCSE level, isn’t it better to have 10 with good grades. I think he may do better at Business as I can imagine the amount of writing is huge in History.

He’s more Maths/Science orientated than English in terms of interest and achievement.
One of his best friends wants to study Law at university so is choosing History.
It makes is a lot easier knowing what you want to do at such a young age!

Yes, unless he wants to take history for A level then its better to have have good grades than specific subjects assuming maths, English and science are all covered.

My dd took French because she felt she ought to have a language but it was her weakest subject and she really wishes she'd taken Geography instead (which she excelled at) she got 8's and 9's at GCSE but her French Grade 6 sticks out like a sore thumb.

Comefromaway Wow, your daughter’s grades sound superb!

At DS’s school you have to take a language (French or Spanish), unfortunately as he hates languages!

Yes, he’ll be doing 2 Maths, 2 English and (probably) 3 Sciences.

Can I please just say: it is necessary for bright children to be able to write!!! My DH employs many qualified engineers. Lots cannot write a report without it being corrected. Please ensure your DCs can write well, even if they like STEM. It’s vital and they need to learn that writing is a skill needed in most professional jobs.

Why is it, in this country, DCs don’t want to write or don’t want to bother with a language? Why are we so narrow in our expectations? It’s not great for the future.

@PresentingPercy

Can I please just say: it is necessary for bright children to be able to write!!! My DH employs many qualified engineers. Lots cannot write a report without it being corrected. Please ensure your DCs can write well, even if they like STEM. It’s vital and they need to learn that writing is a skill needed in most professional jobs.

There is being able to write though and there is being able to write essays.

My son's grammar, punctuation and clarity is excellent but due to specific issues related to autism, he cannot write good essays in the way that was expected at GCSE although I have seen him destroy someone's argument a debate on social media several times!

I found the opposite at dd's school. It was the essay subjects that were more popular (along with the arts).

The language thing I feel is more to do with the way GCSE is structured and marked. Dd has sensory processing issues so she found the listening exam very challenging due to her inability to filter out background noise. She literally could not decipher what they were saying on the recording. A native speaking boy was marked down because he used colloquial phrases.

However, now she is in college she is learning German as part of her course but she will not be assessed on it. She's also learning Dutch for fun (because she has links with a Dutch school). The German she is learning is specifically relevant to the industry she hopes to go into.

I'd definitely go for history over business if he is academic and doesn't have a preference. 10 GCSEs is pretty standard, so I wouldn't worry too much about the workload unless he really struggles with time management. There is a lot of content, but it's manageable.

Comefromaway Same with my son he's austistic as well.