Doing additional GCSEs early - anyone here with experience of this?

[stuckinaGSCEloop]

I keep having a recurring argument with DH about DD who is in Y9 and has to choose her GSCE options this year.

Her school has a max limit of 10 GCSEs and she's already looking likely to do one outside of school at the end of Y9 because her school don't offer it as a language and she's already quite fluent.

He thinks she should take another optional subject early because she would probably be able to do it comfortably and because he thinks it'll "stand out on her CV". It's something she could probably do pretty comfortably this year but she doesn't want to do it because it's a subject she really likes and she wants to be part of the GCSE cohort at school.

I'm trying to see it from his perspective but every time we talk about it, it ends in a bit of an argument. He thinks I'm not ambitious enough for DD, that she's overly scared of failure etc And I think he's being pushy and that her reasons for saying no are valid etc. (NB DD doesn't know that DH and I disagree on this, I've tried to be even handed about it when talking about the possibility of doing another one early).

Anyone else have any wisdom to offer? Is it really a big asset having 12 GCSEs? Say she wants to apply to a top uni in years to come, will that extra, early GCSE make her stand out in the way he thinks? Anyone here whose DC have done early GCSEs and how has it worked out for them?

I feel really cross about the whole thing just at the moment but am willing to admit I'm wrong and am genuinely looking for different perspectives rather than people to just tell me I'm right.

Thanks in advance

@TizerorFizz

Which is a big argument for saying native speakers should be assessed separately and marked as such! There clearly is an advantage which diminishes the talents of others making the higher grades more difficult to achieve and turns off potential students.

If you look at the grade distribution for A-levels, you will see that in modern foreign languages, the proportion of top grades is abnormally high. I think they do their best to set the boundaries to be appropriate for non-native speakers.

But the number of native speakers is high so that’s reflected in the grades. The top grades in MFL don’t match top grades in maths.

OP, I’m a scientist; PhD in chemistry, ex-pat in pharma in Switzerland. I don’t even list my A-Levels on my CV, let alone GCSEs. Nor do any of my peers. In fact, if I see them listed on a candidate’s CV, I find it a bit weird. Everyone we recruit has an MSc at the minimum, most PhDs or MDs.

GCSEs make zero difference except to open doors to the next stage of further education.

Also, for languages, certification for a CEFR level is worth so much more than a GCSE. I got an A* in French and it was virtually useless when I lived in France and Switzerland, both in terms of utility and demonstration of level. It’s meaningless to non-British people. They want to know if you’re minimum B1 in a certain language for example and will ask for this.

My DD's school put all students forward for an additional GCSE in Year 10 and 11 GCSEs in Year 11 so everyone from that school has 12 GCSEs. So no, I don't think it will make her stand out but it does make the school look good.

DS' school encouraged them to take their MFL end of year 9 so they could fit another GCSE in. I wouldn't let DS take his Spanish early. Most of the early takers got a C, some Ds and Es. By year 11, DS got A* which allowed him to take it at A level and he's now studying Spanish at Uni. He intends to use his Spanish in his future career. That would not have been his path had he taken it early.

Schools had a lot to answer when allowing DC to take subjects early and get low grades. Simply not in the best interests of the child. Good on you for resisting.