GCSE Preferences - PE, DT or Computer Science

[Dragon22]

DS is choosing GCSEs. He loves chemistry and wants to do something with chemistry as a job/career.
The ‘core’ subjects he has to do are

• English language and literature
• Maths
• Separate sciences (3 GCSEs)

Then he gets 3 options
He’s chosen

• Geography
• Food Tech

But can’t make his mind up between PE, DT and Computer Science.

Anyone know which of these would be better for a career in chemistry? I can see how all of them could link in, PE has lots of biology which can link to the human/medical side of chemistry, DT has lots of materials science so links to chemistry and all STEM careers, and Computer Science has lots of programming which will be useful for most (all?) careers in STEM. All opinions welcome.

Honestly?
He should look at the syllabus and see how they are examined, and pick his favourite. None of them are going to make much difference at GCSE level, and he may well change his mind between y9 and applying for university.

Agree with Teen. None of them will be particularly beneficial or necessary for a Chemistry career. He should just choose his preferred subject.
As he's already chosen Food Tech, one thing to consider would be the volume of course work. If he chooses DT as well that's 2 coursework heavy subjects (which is not a problem in itself, just something to consider if he's happy to do that, or would prefer to do that).

PE will also have practical elements (some of which you may need to film out of school??) and CS usually has a practical element too (which has to be done but may not be part of the overall result these days????).

Computer Science is the most applicable one to a science career.

At this stage I would choose whatever he is most interested in.
Computer Science keeps a lot of links to STEM subjects but the others are just as valuable as GCSEs. For university the A Level subjects matter more. Best thing to do at the minute is get the highest GCSE grades he possibly can and he will do that by choosing a subject he wants to do and suits his learning style/assessment style.

Another thing to think about. Are all 3 you mentioned GCSEs? Or are some BTECs? I know at DDs school PE is BTEC sport and DT is BTEC Engineering. These have very different content to the GCSE versions taught at my DS school (yes, girls and boys schools and a lot of gender stereotyping unfortunately).
If he’s aiming for university I would stick with GCSES, that said, most universities won’t mind if you present 8 GCSEs and 1 BTEC. (And there is absolutely nothing wrong with BTECs but the content WILL be different).

I don’t mind which one he picks, he actually asked me which would be the best for chemistry later on. I’ll let him know it doesn’t matter what he chooses and to just pick the best of for him.

I think they are all GCSEs but I will check that with DS and have a look at the syllabus for all of them with him.

I’ll mention to him about the coursework with Food Tech and DT together.

Anyone have experiences of DC taking any of these subjects? What did they think of them? Did they enjoy/hate them? How did they cope with the workload/content? Anything else?

Think of Computer Science as being all about problem solving, and then apply this to a science degree - totally relevant.

It's difficult to see how DT or PE could replicate this.

Well if he really cannot decide, and after all none are bad options, then perhaps consider which would be needed to study A level. This may vary by school. We would take you for CS with a high maths grade, but would require DT and PE to have been taken at GCSE. I know he may not be considering any of these for further study at the moment but things can change. And if everything else is equal, leaving more doors open is a good idea.

DT and PE have zero relevance to Chemistry.

Computer Science is the best subject choice out of those.

DD is also doing the separate sciences and has chosen

• Spanish
• Computer Science
• Geography

She is very much a STEM brain who is also incredible at languages (English is her native and she’s pretty much at that level in Italian too, which is her paternal sides first language) and went for Geography as it’s her favourite subject.

Ds2 did CS and PE. Lots of his mates did DT and didn't enjoy it as much as they thought as there is a lot of analysis and not so much making.

Ds found CS a challenge; he got a 6 (lowest mark as he is bright) and I told him it was two marks off a 7, he was amazed and said he was surprised not to get a 5. His other marks were 6s, 7s, 8s, one 9 for context.

He really liked PE and did it for a level as well. He is doing a biology degree and they went together well. These were all GCSEs and FWIW he did the last examined set in 2019.

That's all a bit anecdotal but may help. What sports does Yr ds do? Ds2 played footy fir a team, comoeted for the county at athletics and his third sport was sthg in school. They do need to do at least one externally imo. Also at least one team and one individual.

What happens with PE if they pick up a serious injury?
(Asking for general interest.)

Thinking about my post there, I wanted to say that it is not meant to be any kind of boast about DS2's GCSe results - just trying to give context for the 6 at CS. Of course it may not be that CS is hard, just that he was perhaps not as engaged as with other subjects.

I also wanted to add that PE GCSE esp A level were not taken by the most academic students at DS2's school. He was clearly the most able in his A level class, while he was very much not the most able in, for example, his maths A level group. So the people that picked PE at A level and even at GCSE were those with a real passion for it. It was always going to be non-negotiable for DS2 to take it - he is mad about sport of all kinds and over the years has played many different sports to a genuinely decent standard, before settling in KS4 on footy and athletics. So i think it is a subject that does benefit from a passion for it - if your DS is a bit umm-err about it, then CS may be a better choice.

oooh good question @TeenPlusCat. The practical element is in fact less important than formerly. But DS2 was injured for most of yr 11 summer season; luckily he had banked decent performances in athletics the previous year (and to be fair, for a summer sport you would have to go off yr 10 efforts as yr 11 summer (late April on) would be a bit late. is footy was also sorted from the winter. But if he had picked up an injury in, say. sept of yr 11 that prevented him playing footy (goalkeeper so concussion and hand injuries are not infrequent for him) II don't know. I guess you have to go with best effort so far.

I think some students go into CS not realising what it is all about.

When I was teaching, I had a student who wanted to do some kind of computing at Level 3. He loved video games, and had some notion that CS was a way to play games for a qualification. Like many teenage boys, he lived inside his devices.

I was teaching in a tiny school with very little careers advice. I had my DD, who was doing A-level CS to talk to him and his mother. She was quite straight that CS was a problem solving qualification. You have a consumer need/want and you use CS to solve it.

On listening to her testimony, he realised that CS was not for him.

I have taught A level chemistry and agree with the other posters that it won't make much difference either.
At dds school, it was only possible to take one technology subject so a combination of Food tech and DT wouldn't be possible.

If he is very good at Maths then Computer Science would probably be a good fit.
If he is better at Biology and likes sport then PE would probably be a better fit.

Check if the syllabi for Food Tech and DT run in parallel. At DC school, the two subjects shared an exam paper with certain core content then there was specific content for each subject. Plus to get a high grade in DT, the portfolio and project will take up a significant amount of time.

Computer science I would suggest

Honestly, how good at sport is he?
Does he play rugby for a local team/swim for the county/dance 3 times a week or does he like a kick about in the park with his mates on a Saturday afternoon but only if it’s not raining?
GCSE PE really needs them to be doing one sport at a decent level outside of school - they will do their other in school lesson times but to get a good mark they really do need to be pretty dedicated!
I would suggest Computer Science as working best for a future career & balance with the other subjects

Another vote for computer science.
Computers are used in every science....including chemistry so a basic foundation in code and operating systems, etc would be useful.

But that said, none of the choice will affect his chances for entry to top A level sixth forms or universities, so he should pick his favourite or whichever will be the easiest to get a high grade in.

Posted to soon. For example my brother was an olympic fencer and did PE GCSE and he went into biochemistry and works on vaccines.

My son is in year 10 and doing both computer science and food tech. He's enjoying both. There's a fair bit of theory work in computer science but that seems fine with him.
He loves cooking so good tech works for him, although the school recipes are sometimes a little basic/strange.

DT and PE have zero relevance to Chemistry

I used to teach DT. It has lots of chemistry. The chemistry of dyeing fabrics is really interesting. The chemistry of print pigments is also interesting.

Glues and how they bond
I could go on. DT is a STEM subject and connects absolutely to science and maths

Wow. Thanks all. Some really good things to think about.

We’ve looked at the specifications from the exam board and the options book sent from school in a lot more detail.

I think DT is out. It’s BTEC engineering (which is probably why there’s no problem with choosing DT as well as Food Tech?) Anyways, he’s been a bit put off by it he’s not that into it now he’s realised what’s involved.

Still looking at PE; he does do sports, plays rugby for a local team, does the running club at school, goes rock climbing every 2 weeks with the rock climbing club and goes weekly to ballroom dancing with his dad. All of this can be assessed for GCSE PE according to the specification.

Ive read the comments about computer science to him and that hasn’t put him off. He likes the idea of the content of the course. And is interested in it. He is good at maths so that shouldn’t be too bad for him. I agree with many that is seems the logical option, but, I am going to leave it entirely up to him.

We will discuss more about these two. Think I’m going to get him to talk to some teachers about the subjects and try get him to speak to some Y10/11 who are doing the subjects and he can get a better idea about what’s involved.

I would suggest computer science.