GCSE options - what bearing on A-Level (esp music)?

[minisnowballs]

Hello - hoping for some general advice on this one.

DD2, Year 8, has to pick some of her options this year. She wants to do EVERYTHING (but obviously can't) and is wondering whether to sacrifice an obvious subject she'd find easyish (music) for one she's interested in (sociology).

She does a LOT of music out of school and would want to take the A-Level. She already has grade 5 theory and grade 6 practical and will realistically have grade 8 in at least two instruments (neither of them piano, sadly) by the time she hits 16. She just doesn't click particularly with the GCSE music curriculum or current teacher and feels she spends all saturday doing it anyway.

Question is - will most sixth forms accept theory plus practical instrumental for the A-Level course or do they insist on GCSE, and does the A-Level run on from GCSE or is the curriculum quite different? She's academic in the main, so I don't see her finding extra work a massive burden, so she doesn't need Music as an option from that point of view?

Anyone got any thoughts? I'm not sure that taking GCSE music out of school is an option (her Saturday school doesn't offer it and the one that does costs a fortune and she wouldn't want to change teachers anyway)...I love her enthusiasm but we don't want to shut an obvious door on her by dropping the music.

Thanks!

Sociology GCSE is considered a very soft option. Much more academic gravitas gained from doing Music

@KaptainKaveman

She will need to do composition for GCSE and A level. It isn't advisable to start A level without having composed at all.

Really? I managed to avoid doing composition for both gcse and a-level. Both were options. In my day you could do performance Instead. I’d be really surprised if you have to do composition these days and it won’t be all exam boards

Regarding piano skills - I am a firm believer that once children get to a certain stage (not sure what!) on an instrument, it is useful for them to also learn some piano. And similarly, I feel that all pianists of sufficient standard should also learn a "social" instrument. So that they all become well rounded musicians able to enjoy maximum benefit from their learning, wherever life leads them.

But there are many ways to gain piano/keyboard skills. I do think that being able to use a keyboard effectively is immensely helpful to learning and understanding harmony (which in ABRSM grades at least really only comes in at grade 6+ but needs deep understanding at that point). My eldest has ended up approaching / at / beyond grade 8 standard on 3 instruments and singing, but stopped piano at grade 4 by mutual agreement. But what her teacher did with her in her last term or two of piano lessons was around harmony and accompanying skills, including being able to sing against simple chordal patterns. I've been a grade 8 + pianist and never learnt those skills.

I'm not sure if all exam boards require composition but dd's did and it was a substantial part of the course. They also had to do a performance. The written exam was a very small part really of the exam in the end but the composition took hours and hours (and hours!)

My DD is just starting GCSE music, her syllabus is 30 per cent composing (2 pieces), 30 per cent performance (solo and ensemble) and 40 per cent is appraisal (that's the final exam). The school use a different board for A level but the percentages are the same.

@Frazzled2207 there is now no way of avoiding composition for either GCSE or A level music - whatever exam board you use.

Composition is always worth 30% of the total GCSE mark and can be between 25-35% for A level.

The same is true of performance (but the two combined have to add up to 60%.)

@fifthtime
Right ok quite shocked about that and happy to be corrected

@lanthanum good question, thanks. Head of music didn't suggest that and I don't think they'll have trouble getting enough takers for a viable GCSE group in her year. He was quite anti her doing it early but, in fairness, he did say that was partly because he'd be keen to have her in the GCSE group. I totally understand his position but it would be a way for her to fit in other subjects that she's really keen on while also being able keep the door open for A-Level music. Once you factor in all the sciences, english, maths and the now compulsory theology there's v little room left!

If she decides to go ahead, I will ask if she can sit the exam at the school with the year 11s because that would obviously be easier but also it would mean the school could include it in their results which (hopefully!) would be a good thing for them though I guess it could go both ways! But if they aren't up for that I guess I'll have to find an external centre for her.

@Malbecfan totally see your point re music provision in schools. My DC do absolutely take part in the music life of the school and, as I say, DD1 is planning to do ALevel at the school (and probably at university / conservatoire). So she isn't abandoning it in favour of other subjects, but I get that it would be much better for the school if she just stuck with following the normal course. Just not sure how else she can manage the options available to her.

@minisnowballs you're right re Trinity L offering GCSE unfortunately that would clash with her normal Sat JD. I did find an online course yesterday but it was also $$$$ and as we're looking for just for support with the 40% appraisal, it's probably not quite what we're after.

But if they aren't up for that I guess I'll have to find an external centre for her.

Sort out where she's going to sit the exam first - otherwise how will you know what exam board/syllabus to follow? Also, it's quite hard to find a space to sit as a external candidate so I really would nail this bit down first!

DS did theory grade 5 in year 5, and his first grade 8 in Y7. He is still finding GCSE music interesting and stimulating.

LemonWeb I'm glad to hear it - I wonder how much that is cohort-specific though...If you're the only one at your level and/or playing your type of instrument in a class it might be less exciting than if you're in a huge class of excited and talented students?

Anyhow, we'll keep going through to the end of Easter with the assumption she'll do it and see what happens. She's pottered off to school flute group today quite happily (which is new, because Covid meant no whole-school ensembles last year) so perhaps she'll start to see herself as a musician within school, which obviously she hasn't had the chance to do yet because Year 7 was ALL covid.

My DCs both did music GCSE. They got full marks on performance but one found composition a lot easier than the other and they ended up several grades apart. Therefore one can be a good performer but not find composition easy and I definitely wouldn't recommend starting the A level without the GCSE as your DD will probably find it hard to start composition from scratch at that stage when everyone else is already familiar with it.

Whereas sociology could easily be started from scratch at A level or university.