Better to do options in Y8 or Y9?

heytheremumhere · 2022-03-22T14:21:02+00:00

Do you think it is better to do GCSE options in Y8 or Y9? I'm interested to hear opinions. What are the pros and cons of doing them earlier/later. Thanks

DoorLion · 22/03/2022 14:25

I feel really strongly about this and I think it is much better to choose options in Year 9, so you are studying them in Year 10 and 11. I was so cross when choosing a school for DS2 that every single school in our area makes them choose at the end of Year 8 (apart from the grammar school).

I feel year 8 is far too early to make that choice, and year 9 is far too early to narrow down the curriculum and get rid of a whole host of subjects. Also I feel doing the GCSE curriculum in three years will just mean loads of repetition - personally it would have bored me to death especially in English, studying the same books for three years, shoot me now.

DS2's school has actually changed it for this year and they are back to choosing options in Year 9, because of Covid - DS is in Y7 and I really hope this lasts until he gets to Year 9.

Plumbear2 · 22/03/2022 14:26

Its year 9 or 10 when they start. My son started in year 9 it was right for him as he knew the options he wanted and benefitted from the extra year. But that doesn't make it right for all students.

Comefromaway · 22/03/2022 14:32

I think it's much better to choose them in Year 9, however I do know a school that does partial options in Year 8. The students can choose up to 3 creative/tech subjects from a list instead of having to carry on with everything or they can take up a 2nd language. They still carry on with all humanities etc until the end of Year 9.

Ilovewillow · 22/03/2022 14:34

My daughters' school do a mixture of both so in Yr 8 you choose Foundation Options so keep Geography, History, MFL, RS, but choose 3 subjects from the remainder. Then in Yr9 choose the final options from your previous Yr 8 choices plus an extras which are available i.e. statistics. Seems to work well but saying that she is Yr9 so time will tell.

pralinee · 22/03/2022 15:21

My understanding is that quite a lot if schools are now moving back to Y9 from Y8, because Ofsted aren't in favour of narrowing the curriculum too early, but I could be wrong on that.

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 22/03/2022 19:13

DD's school choose in Y8

For her it is brilliant - she has a narrow range of interests and has really wanted to focus on those since she was about 7...

She can now drop quite a lot of the subjects she has zero interest in and take up some new ones that she's really keen on. She's not entirely thrilled by some of the mandatory subjects, but I have pointed out that she might prefer to at least have a passing knowledge of the sciences.

I was similar - knew what A Levels I wanted to do from when I was about 10 and it was a pain having to spend years studying things I didn't enjoy and had little interest in.

My siblings on the other hand didn't want to give anything up and were much better suited to the IB (my worst nightmare).

So depends a bit on the individual child.

SergeiL · 22/03/2022 19:30

Year 8 at our school, with lots of options including vocational. I think it’s a good in some ways because a lot of kids know what they definitely don’t want to do! But tricky as well. Overall, I am happy with the approach as I know the 3 year study will benefit my DD.

pralinee · 23/03/2022 07:42

I think the one of the arguments is that it there are benefits to studying subjects you don't like or find hard, because different subjects teach you different things. Hence having to do Maths and English until GCSE even if you hate them. (In our case, my kids both have no interest in art/DT, but I'm still glad they have to do them until the end of Year 9, because they provide different skills from their other subjects, and give a good balance.) Also, the earlier you narrow the curriculum, the harder it is to maintain less popular subjects. Look at what happened to foreign language teaching when the government dropped the requirement for a language GCSE - the numbers taking it fell off a cliff. Which now means that many schools really struggle to fund a decent languages department, which means that language options aren't necessarily available for those who do want to do them. If schools started doing Year 8 options en masse, then that would make it even harder for those subjects to survive.

Pinkyxx · 23/03/2022 08:36

My daughter's school has them make choices from limited tech / creative options & add new languages in year 8 (they must continue at least 1 foreign language). It's quite flexible which allows a lot of scope to suit different tastes as well as broaden access to different languages. Its been a good experience for her to think about her studies, a stepping stone if you will to GSCE choices next year. She's delighted to drop a couple subjects she has no interest in & the time she will gain to focus on those she wants to excel in. She's had a clear view of what subjects she wants to do at both GSCE & A Level since she was about 10 so the choice was simple for her. The parents seem to like the approach for the most part, likely because it's so flexible.

TattiePants · 23/03/2022 12:21

DS is now in year 11 but chose options in year 8. It worked really well for him as he has SEN and struggled with the breadth of subjects he had to study. Being able to narrow down the curriculum and focus on lessons he was interested in really helped. His cohort were the last year to do a 3 year GCSE course and the year below reverted to a 2 year course.

TeenPlusCat · 23/03/2022 13:10

@Comefromaway

I think it's much better to choose them in Year 9, however I do know a school that does partial options in Year 8. The students can choose up to 3 creative/tech subjects from a list instead of having to carry on with everything or they can take up a 2nd language. They still carry on with all humanities etc until the end of Year 9.

My DD2's school was like this and I think it worked well.

If DD1 had had to choose in y8 she might well have dropped MFL. A year later and she chose to do 2 for GCSE and they ended up being her best subjects.

lljkk · 23/03/2022 13:19

it has worked out well when DC chose options in yr8 & started finishing GCSEs in yr9. Options aren't fixed in stone. They can change minds again late in yr9 & yr10.

MerryMarigold · 23/03/2022 13:21

My DC go to two different schools and both choose options at the end of Y9. I think this is good. I want them to do things like 'food tech' for longer as it teaches them so much but they wouldn't do it for GCSE. I also don't understand how a GCSE course takes 3 years to teach. It would get boring and is reflective of lazy teaching/ school obsession with grades. I assume Y11 would be basically revision ie. revolves around teaching to exam technique rather than teaching for skills or knowledge.

minisnowballs · 23/03/2022 14:09

This is one of those things where I thought I wanted one thing in theory and it turns out that in practice my children needed something different. I would have liked them to pick in year 9- but at their school most are picked at the end of year 8.

I wanted them to have another year of breadth - but it turns out that wasn't what they wanted at all. In practice, one couldn't (and the other can't- she's picking now) wait to be in classes with children who have actually chosen to be there in subjects like music, drama and dance (pre options music is a subject where it's very hard to satisfy all levels). The older one (now year 10) felt that school really settled down once options were taken and everyone knew where they stood.

They don't pick between history and geography or decide on triple science or not until the end of year 9, so there is still some breadth. They're quite happy to pick the rest early (but then they knew what they wanted, which made it easier!)

00100001 · 23/03/2022 14:37

What an odd post and question and username

this is a "Discuss." post in disguise.

at least off your own opinion OP ...

DoorLion · 23/03/2022 15:24

I want them to do things like 'food tech' for longer as it teaches them so much but they wouldn't do it for GCSE.

I was going to say that I am glad I got an extra year of what we called home ec then, rather than getting rid of it at the end of Y8. I also would never have taken art as an option but would have missed it if I had to stop. Also, I couldn't wait to drop sciences like a hot brick (we had to choose one, I did biology) but looking back I am quite appalled that I learned no chemistry or physics after the age of 14 and I can't imagine how little I would know if we had stopped at 13. I know they do combined science now but it must be the same if you do double instead of triple science, you are missing out on a year's worth of teaching.

Newnormal99 · 23/03/2022 15:28

My daughter did a mix. They choose options subjects in y8 and start in y9 but they don't drop anything apart from the 'art' option for that year. At the end of y9 they then make their final call and they drop the ones they don't want. I like this approach as essentially if it's a new subject they have a taster year but then could fall back to standard subjects. So as an example she started sociology on y9 but if she didn't like it instead of doing history and sociology gcse she could do history and geography as she has t yet dropped it. Only stipulation was you could not start a new options subject in y10 that you were not doing in y9.

PastMyBestBeforeDate · 23/03/2022 15:40

Our school picks in Y8. It worked best for dd who's autistic as she struggled with the KS3 curriculum. Moving into KS4 early meant far more engagement.

Bramshott · 23/03/2022 15:48

I used to be very against this, with the thought that it's much better to preserve as much breadth in the curriculum as possible for as long as possible. And kids do change their views - eg. one of mine nearly didn't choose History for GCSE and in the end ending up doing it at both GCSE and A level.

That said, our current school, like a PP's, does 'foundation options' in Y8 and then full options in Y9 and it's worked out well.

2anddone · 23/03/2022 15:52

My son chose in year 8 and is now in year 11 he has really appreciated the extra year as meant they could cover subjects more in depth and get rid of subjects they had no interest in. Dd won't choose til year 9 though as they changed it

pointythings · 23/03/2022 16:40

I don't think there's an answer. Picking in Yr 8 was great for my kids because it meant more time on things they were passionate about (science, History) and less time on things they hated (music, DT, ICT as it was then). For others the extra time is useful for developing a sense of what they want and make choices that work. There just isn't a one size fits all here.

bellinisurge · 23/03/2022 16:57

Discussed this with Year 10 dd recently. She chose in Y9. Other local schools choose in y8.
Her view was that she would have made stupid ill-informed choices in y8.

MerryMarigold · 23/03/2022 17:05

more time on things they were passionate about (science, History) and less time on things they hated (music, DT, ICT as it was then)

Don't you think it's great for them to spend some time on these even if they don't like them? One of my DC school doesn't have compulsory language GCSE meaning many children would only spend 2 years doing an MFL, which is not good. One of my DC doesn't like ICT, but I'm glad he has to do it as I think it develops skills he will need.

Many children (like mine) base their 'passion' for a subject on how good the teacher is and whether they like them or not! Especially subjects like History vs Geography or French vs Spanish. I think the extra year helps cement the likes and passions away from teachers and onto subjects.

Springandsummerarecoming · 23/03/2022 17:23

I like the year 8 choosing that mine got. Meant they could drop drama and geography and DT which they didn’t enjoy and focus on the ones they did. Also it gives two years to teach the curriculum and a final year of revision. Perfect.

TizerorFizz · 23/03/2022 18:31

I’m not sure it’s perfect for bright DC at all. 3 years with a narrow curriculum really means a narrow education. I think y10 should be start of GCSEs and not earlier. Why is it that DC just say they “hate” something and it’s ok to ditch it early. No wonder we need skills from people who are not British.