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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

How many GCSEs is your child taking?

78 replies

Alpacasoup · 30/10/2022 11:57

My DD is in Year 11 and is taking 10 GCSEs. She is a bright girl but does not have a great memory and really struggled with the retention of information for her Year 10 exams and is already worrying about January mocks. I'm hoping that the actual GCSEs will be easier in some respects as even though there will be more content to cover, they will have longer to revise. For the Year 10 exams they were getting homework and learning new information right up to the exams so it was really tough for her as she needs time to absorb it.

Anyway, I was wondering if 10 is the norm? It seems like a lot, especially if it includes the three sciences. If it gets too much I'll be tempted to persuade her to drop one so am holding that thought in reserve at the moment. She's on track to get 6,7,8s.

OP posts:
savehannah · 31/10/2022 00:23

Grammar school here, everyone takes 10.5 but the half (RE) is taken in year 10.

WhatsitWiggle · 31/10/2022 00:36

Most on the GCSE Ebacc pathway take 9
English lang and lit
Maths
Science x 2
A humanity (history or geography)
A language (that they've been studying since yr 7)
2 choices from a list

60 students from a cohort of 240 are in the set for triple science making 10 GCSEs - this gets reviewed in November in year 10 so those who are struggling have the option to go down to double.

TeenDivided · 31/10/2022 06:04

Surely the only schools doing triple science as standard must be selective schools? I find it hard to imagine any comprehensive making everyone do triple science.

hoooops · 31/10/2022 07:06

It varies here - our comp is about 50/50 double and triple I think, decision based on what the teachers think each student can achieve. Another big comp near us has double science as standard and you can use up an option choice to do triple instead.

One of mine has just started a STEM degree and the other is also doing science A levels so they were happy to soak up as much GCSE science as they could. But then they do such a stupid number of GCSEs that it doesn't make a difference in terms of narrowing their chances to do other things.

Athenen0ctua · 31/10/2022 07:20

TeenDivided · 31/10/2022 06:04

Surely the only schools doing triple science as standard must be selective schools? I find it hard to imagine any comprehensive making everyone do triple science.

DS's selective gave the choice of double or triple as triple would restrict what other subjects students could do.

TeenDivided · 31/10/2022 07:24

Athenen0ctua · 31/10/2022 07:20

DS's selective gave the choice of double or triple as triple would restrict what other subjects students could do.

Show quote history

Yes, I didn't say that all selective schools would be doing triple as standard, I mooted that only selective schools would be doing it as standard.

(Sorry if I sound a bit jumpy, DD is sitting a GCSE today and last night was curled in a ball saying she couldn't do it. About to go to wake her up.)

AntlerRose · 31/10/2022 07:30

8 plus a gcse equivilent in a vocational subject

Original poster
Alpacasoup · 31/10/2022 09:03

@TeenDivided Good luck to your DD. I hope she was feeling calmer this morning. I feel for you both.

OP posts:
Klarwen · 31/10/2022 11:08

I hope your DD was ok this morning @TeenDivided.

At ours the standard is 9. Triple science students do 10, and those who get extra help in maths and English do 8. Both those options are quite common, though I expect some DC do both and end up back at 9.

Schools vary wildly in the amount of homework they set per subject, so it doesn't surprise me there is so much variation in number of GCSEs, but it must make university admissions a tricky task.

Dropping a subject is often more feasible than you'd think, if the school has somewhere the child can go for those lessons.

TeenDivided · 31/10/2022 11:12

Thanks both. Sadly she wasn't. Has gone in to do normal college day, no exams.

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 31/10/2022 13:09

DD is taking 8 GCSEs and a BTEC

thing47 · 31/10/2022 13:43

DD2 did 12.5! Bonkers. But her Secondary Modern operated a split year approach so they did 6.5 in Y10 and a further 6 in Y11.

There were unforeseen issues with this system and I'm pretty sure they no longer use it.

mumonthehill · 31/10/2022 13:46

11 here plus Welsh Bac. Normal comp. Elder ds took 12 a few years ago which was too many as one was done during lunch.

minisnowballs · 31/10/2022 14:46

DD1 is taking 10 DD2 10 plus a BTEC (this feels like too many...)

Bramshott · 31/10/2022 14:49

hoooops · 31/10/2022 07:06

It varies here - our comp is about 50/50 double and triple I think, decision based on what the teachers think each student can achieve. Another big comp near us has double science as standard and you can use up an option choice to do triple instead.

One of mine has just started a STEM degree and the other is also doing science A levels so they were happy to soak up as much GCSE science as they could. But then they do such a stupid number of GCSEs that it doesn't make a difference in terms of narrowing their chances to do other things.

Yes our school is about 50/50 too I think. Certainly lots of triple science classes. For the PP who asked what the point of triple science is - it makes the transition to A level sciences easier for those who want to do them. More content is covered, and it's clearer which concepts fall into which science (and therefore which one(s) the DC might prefer to take at A level.

RoseAndRose · 31/10/2022 14:56

Standard is 9

10 if triple science

Also, the best mathematicians do maths in yr10 and FM in yr 11.
There is some provision to use the school as an exam centre if a pupil wants to sit a GCSE in a home language - I think they usually do them in year 10
Those two provisions mean that no-one does more than 10 in year 11, but they can have 11 or even 12 in total

Dido2010 · 31/10/2022 15:41

@Alpacasoup , I know some students who have been through something similar, one in particular. This pupil was on the SEN radar but officially undiagnosed.

Start talking to the school and keep talking to them about your concerns. Talk positively and ask for their help with the work. Show them that you respect their approach and are doing your best. Eventually, they may relent – a bit – in the New Year. Schools sometimes do this, especially if they see the pupil has really tried up to January Mocks but genuinely struggled with some subjects or with the volume overall. Don’t be surprised if your daughter does better than expected in those Mocks in her ‘worse’ subjects and worse than expected in her ‘better’ subjects. And work back from likely career or university course: what ‘minimum’ combinations are needed at GCSE to facilitate those A Levels and university course choices in the future? I would NOT take a subject and let it slide or withdraw: all the grades for all public exams must be entered on university applications and some outcomes will need an explanation. Your school knows this. Especially in the context of SEN, universities commonly adjust how they assess an application; they will be fine with 8 or 9 GCSEs. Their focus will be on the A Levels being studied and the predicted grades.

The student I know struggles with their memory and just can’t do certain subjects well enough. They have just started a strong Technology course at a good London university college. They gained unexpected grades – high and low – at GCSE and at A Level. Their journey has been challenging. The school was both tough and kind at different times yet now student and family are happy and optimistic.

JaninaDuszejko · 31/10/2022 22:28

YerAWizardHarry · 31/10/2022 00:06

The concept of triple science seems mental to me as a standard thing! What’s the need for it?
I did 8 “standard grades” (Scottish equivalent at the time I went to school!) with only 1 science. How do they fit that many subjects into a timetable?

I did 7 Highers including 3 sciences. Most people I know did at least 2 sciences at O grade (apart from my SIL who was so expensively educated she did no science at all and boy can you tell). I completely disagree that triple science is unnecessary, I'd say our world is so dominated by technology that a good understanding of science is essential and since many English children will do no science post 16 (unlike in Scotland) it's even more important. Agree lots of subjects are unnecessary, but DDs 9 subjects are very similar to mine and she's doing the English Baccalaureate subjects so a decent spread between sciences and humanities.

YerAWizardHarry · 31/10/2022 22:30

@JaninaDuszejko You did 7 Highers in one sitting?

YerAWizardHarry · 31/10/2022 22:32

Although the fact you did O Grades means your experience of education is probably quite far in the past.. my mum was in the last cohort to do O Grades and she’s 50..

WaggledMyAerialAndWolfedMyCustardCreams · 31/10/2022 22:34

DC has already done GCSEs. They did 12 and most in the school do 10 or more.

Klarwen · 31/10/2022 22:40

TeenDivided · 31/10/2022 11:12

Thanks both. Sadly she wasn't. Has gone in to do normal college day, no exams.

Ach poor love. I bet there's been a lot of work and heartache to get her that close

Klarwen · 31/10/2022 22:46

stealthninjamum · 31/10/2022 00:00

This is an interesting thread, I just counted up and dd I’d doing 10 GCSEs, possibly 11 if she does Religious studies.

She has autism and adhd and I am really worried she won’t meet her potential.

meet her potential in what sense? DS is autistic and we think maybe he should be doing fewer than the norm. I think he'll cope better that way and have more time to work on social skills. But, maybe we can't afford for him to reduce options right at the start of Y10, knowing any subject can get too overwhelming.

It's so hard to know what to do for the best.

DominoBlue · 31/10/2022 22:53

13 that includes Welsh Baccalaureate🙄8, compulsory RE😡, Welsh language and Welsh literature as a first language (not MFL so very intense). Triple science, 2 English, 2 Maths and 2 choices.

I hate them being made to do RE especially as its very CoE and not about all religions. Same with Welsh Baccalaureate, compulsory, only good if they want to go to a Uni outside Wales.

VeronikaYourMathsTutor · 02/11/2022 08:41

I can see a variety of choices for the amount of GCSEs being taken amongst students who I tutor maths.
One quite often scenario is top graders aiming to do many (up to 10/11,…) GCSEs with high grades for all subjects (also some of them plan to be taking one or two exams in Y10).
Then there are students who just focus on GCSEs they need for their chosen college or career path - often that means “just” 4/5 for their Maths and English and one or two more subjects that their college program of choice requires.
(There are also home educated students who would sometimes take only maths and English - or different combination, and not always at the usual age of 16, some take the exams later and some early - even by several years!)
And then there are a lot of “in between” goals - such as students who need “5 subjects with grade 6 or higher”, so they focus on taking more than 5 GCSEs with the aim at least 5 will be at (or over) the desired grade.

As many mentioned here already, universities often look at the 8 best GCSEs (A level, etc. aside) so there shouldn’t be much pressure in general to do too many GCSEs at the top grade. But if a student is capable and wants to push themselves (reasonably), then why not support them in their goal. But with realistic thinking - if you already know the preferred career path, perhaps have a look at the baseline so if the GCSEs won’t go quite as expected, there’s no unnecessary stress. Although there might be some disappointment which is natural but it’s good to know that even results below the expectations don’t have to be the end of the world (there are also resits possible if really needed).