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 also has AS, so in that respect, isn't so much of an exception if we're thinking of stereotypes.

Someone on another options thread pointed out that taking a subject you have never studied at GSCE, like Business, would at least help you decide if you enjoyed it. If you just take Business at A level and then find you hate it that's far more of an issue.

My son has just picked his options and has chosen history as his humanities subject, mandarin as his language. His other two are triple science and, his "fun" subject, psychology, which he has never studied. He will take 11 GCSEs in total, but if he struggles he can drop further maths. He wants to study Law at University and History is a good choice for this (so I've been told).

I see it as potentially last chance to gain more knowledge of the world before specialising in his interests.
You can do a business diploma and be a successful entrepreneur but surely better to do that with a good background knowledge of the world

As an employer I do not rate a GCSE in Business as highly as one in History. What is taught in Business is so far removed from the real world as to be useless in my opinion.

I’d definitely go for History over Business unless he is laser focussed on a plan for running his own business as soon as he leaves school Alan Sugar style! He can always learn business skills later on if and when and I wonder how useful GCSE Business is really in terms of day to day real life running of a business or whether much of it you actually learn as you go and from others who are more experinced maybe?

Unless he is a budding Alan Sugar, if he thinks the course content looks interesting to him and is academic I think this is a no brainer. If he is more likely to go the uni route I do think History is a more academically rigorous subject. I’m a GP now and I would say that the skills I learned in History at secondary school in terms of critical analysis of sources and laying out content in essays etc. stood me in very good stead for a Medicine degree if that is something he might be considering in the future. I’m sure it would be the same for Law. And it also helps me understand current affairs better in terms of social skills/cultural awareness. In these post truth days I think it’s no bad thing to really be able to analyse sources critically and be aware of bias etc. As well as being able to see both sides of a debate etc. and look at things from different viewpoints.

I honestly feel that I still use the skills from History GCSE most days of my life at work and at home! And I absolutely loved it and found it so interesting (I actually did it for A level alongside the sciences I needed for Medicine in the end). I did have the benefit of having some very passionate and very academically respected History teachers at my grammar school, so perhaps that has influenced me but I’d definitely encourage him along the History line. I will say that yes I think it’s probably relatively heavy on the time and effort required for coursework etc. But an academic child should be able to rise to that challenge and actually enjoy it as I did.

Some schools have abandoned doing an exam a year early but for strong mathematicians who will get a 9, it’s worth it. But, yes, you need the whole set because of the pace of teaching.

Shame a chemical engineer isn’t interested in working in engineering. Lots of posters have sneered at me when I’ve said lots of engineers never work as engineers. It’s true and it’s why there is a shortage of engineers. The universities churn them out but they get more money elsewhere.

@PresentingPercy Ah there you are! I am missing you over on the Dulwich thread, I wanted to pick your learned brain about the schools you know of with excellent mobile phones policy.

Hi BaconAndAvocado!

Your son will need strong or strong enough GCSEs at the end of Year 11. This will give him the best route, or the option of good routes, through A Levels and beyond.

So I would go for History plus one. History is academically strong enough. Also, in the long term, Computing or Business can be picked up later on and more easily if he needed.

I suggest you do your own research @Oohhhbetty. That’s your job isn’t it? But to help you, my DDs old boarding school gas a no phones in lessons policy as do my two local grammars. They all have comprehensive it installations in the schools so I guess they don’t need individual phones. They sweep their it for inappropriate material too. Sorry to disrail - but I’m being followed!

@PresentingPercy
Thank you so much! They sounds like most schools - not in lessons but allowed in bags.
I am looking for the ones that use locker turn in though, do you know any of those?

PresentingPercy
We were surprised when halfway through his course he decided against becoming an engineer. We thought it would suit his personality and there were lots of job opportunities out there.
That said, most of his course peers didn't manage to get jobs in engineering or elsewhere last year.
He was definitely one of the lucky ones.