Honest opinions on GCSE options - drama or DT

[hubbabubba80]

It's that time of year when GCSE options are looming. DD will be submitting her GCSE choices soon (she will do the sciences, maths, humanities, music etc) but is not sure about which subject to drop between DT and drama. She enjoys boys and seems to get roughly the same (good) grades in both.

She's probably going to opt for maths, chemistry, biology, English at A-level and so I wondered which would be the more useful if she were to continue down the science route, or do the GCSEs don't actually make that much difference, given she will not continue DT or drama to A-level?

Thanks in advance.

Both of my sons actually did both drama and DT GCSEs. They enjoyed both, but if you have to choose, I would go for drama. They both now work in public facing roles (one is a police officer) and have both said that they found the experience of GCSE drama useful in role-plays and other scenarios. Lots of people seem to have difficulty with getting into a character, projecting their voice etc and they've already been through all of that.

Both my DDs have done both. One is still in Year 11. GCSE Drama was/is a real source of joy for them in the middle of a pretty dry set of GCSEs. It's still academically rigorous but they loved the creative side of it as well. If she's going to do English A level she will no doubt enjoy the textual focus of it too. The only thing I would say is that there often seems to be a bit of stress in those classes with the groupings for performance work - a poor group could affect the outcome. DT is obviously creative in a different way and if they have good practical skills they may really relish the NEA . Both mine found the content pretty straightforward in terms of revision etc but were less interested in and skilled at the NEA project work. They did Textiles for this and Im still not convinced DD2 can actually sew!! Some kids produce amazing things though.

Ds is having to choose between food tech and drama, he would love to do both but it’s not possible. He’s choosing drama and I think that’s the right choice.

I did not. Much preferred drama.

Check what course the DT actually is. My DS did DT - Resistant materials which was great, although a lot of work. My DD started what the school called DT, but actually turned out to be Design, which was part of the Fine art curriculum, so far less technical and a lot of work in terms of a constant portfolio having to be put together.

DD did drama, which again is a lot harder than most people think. There is the practical side (again check what your school allows - the syllabus allows students to adopt different paths, not only acting so costume design, lighting etc but DDs school only allowed the acting option). There is also the constant writing up of their log of progress made etc. Then there is the more academic side to studying the plays which is more similar to Eng Lit, although required a different emphasis in the analysis.

Drama is fab. Hard to get high grades tho!

Drama is different to her main line - so I'd go for that
Breadth , public facing skills

GCSE drama often involves assessed group work. This is fine with a class who are prepared to take it seriously and work hard, but can be rather frustrating if the class is full of students who took drama as the "easy option" and just want to mess around. Worth considering which scenario is most likely to apply with your DD's cohort.

There is a significant written component to GCSE drama so if your DD is good at English this will be to her advantage.

Hi OP make sure you check out exactly what DT is, as a PP says. It changed for the year ds2 did GCSEs (exams in 2019) and is now very different from what it was (obvs I don't know when pps' dc took it). His mates who were initially keen on it were a bit disillusioned by the end of the course as there was very little of the making of what they made if that makes sense.

My DD took drama (old spec tho) and really loved it. I was initially doubtful but in fact I am so glad she did it - she made lasting friends and it was a bright spot in her timetable. That said, it does somewhat depend as a pp says on your group working well together (hers did obv) as a good deal of it is coursework ie actual assessed drama pieces and everyone needs to be up for the work.

Overall I would suggest she chooses drama but do check what is involved as specs vary.

Btw - four A levels is not needed now and is a lot of work. Those four choices are all heavy as well. Eng lit is a bit of an outlier - would she insist on that? Maths marries well with both bio and chem. DS did maths and biology A levels studies bio at uni and says now (second year) that the maths he did is still a big help. Anyway there is time for her to consider all that for sure.

re Drama v Eng Lit.

In Eng Lit if you study a play, e.g. An Inspector Calls, in the exam you analyse the words of the play.

In Drama if studying the same play, in the exam you would write about anything but the words. So you'd be talking about staging, or costumes, or sound effects, or pace/tone of delivery etc.

However I agree with comments re group work. My DD1's drama teacher had to work hard to find a group my DD could fit in with. Drama teachers however will try to put people together with similar work ethic who they gel with.

Choosing one she really wants to do is the main thing for their "final" choice GCSE I think. If Drama's going to build her up and she can manage the group work then great, but it can be really miserable for some kids so not one to push a reluctant child into IMO.

Having something less bookish is fab for breaking up the week, even for the most bookish children. Either choice would do that.

Drama teachers however will try to put people together with similar work ethic who they gel with.

Drama teachers should do this, but unfortunately in my experience they don't always.

Agree that the focus of analysis is different in English LIt and Drama. The advantage of good English skills for the Drama written exam is the ability to think critically and write clearly. My understanding from DS's school is that the grade boundaries for the GCSE Drama written exam are quite lenient as the average standard of written work in the subject tends not to be high.

DD2 did Drama and it really boosted her confidence. She did struggle with the group work because there were two members of her group who weren't doing the work, but the other three kept being vocal about this to the teacher, who pulled the two into line and the group did well. It isn't easy to get high marks in, but it complements English very well and can really bring someone out of their shell. DD isn't at all worried about presenting her degree work in front of a group now (Marine Bio), just gets on with it.

Both my DDs did Drama gcse and did very well A. Old syllabus though! However it’s a subject where teaching and other students matter. At their school nearly all got A. They had a wonderful drama dept, a theatre and lots of opportunities for acting. My DN messed about, exasperated his teachers and didn’t do well. Few at his school got above a 5. So look at track record.

DT syllabus matters. However it is not a group activity as far as I know. Also drama is useful for confidence. DD1 is a barrister. Speaking in public comes readily to her. To others it doesn’t. Her Inn Of Court had a course run by RADA to help student barristers with this. As DC is already doing music, is another arts subject necessary? What might career ideas be? I also agree that English and sciences look slightly mismatched unless considering law (and 4 are not necessary).

Not sure why that was bold. DDs got A star. ( star symbol: Maybe that’s why it went bold? )

One of my dc did both.
Where I would warn against drama is that you are reliant to some extent on the other people doing drama with you. My dc's cohort didn't seem to have people (or at least the people they were grouped with) who wanted to put the effort in / commit, and that effects all group work. Group work can be very frustrating when it is going to affect your exam grade.
I think if you have a good set of results with all the core subjects and a good range of subjects, it wouldn't matter one iota if a single GCSE were a lesser grade though (in terms of future employees, or University criteria - it might to the pupil if they were a perfectionist.

Also, if they are really keen on both, they are likely to be able to find a drama group outside of school, but it is much more difficult to learn the DT skills outside of school. Which is another reason to go with the DT, IMO.

If I had my time again, I'd do drama. The reason is that some activities need plenty of other like-minded people at a similar level of confidence and with the energy and available time to achieve great things together. Your school years really are the best years for this - with university coming a close second. Drama is a subject that almost requires that sort of setting to get the most out of it.

DT knowledge and skills can always be caught up later, either in evening classes, or even alone in a garage studio or workshop or at a PC. Can't do that with drama. The Am Dram scene is really fickle, with the gap between "so cliquey they won't accommodate a newcomer" and "so amateurish it's pure cringe" being very very small indeed.

Is it actually DT - our school doesn't do DT anymore. You have to pick from product design, textiles etc.

Dt is a STEM subject. Across all disciplines. I taught it for 26 years. It has lots and lots of materials science, forces etc in it.

You opt for DT, the different individual areas as such don’t truly exist anymore. You may opt for say a textiles strand, but all areas study a very difficult theoretical core.

Agree that the focus of analysis is different in English LIt and Drama. The advantage of good English skills for the Drama written exam is the ability to think critically and write clearly. My understanding from DS's school is that the grade boundaries for the GCSE Drama written exam are quite lenient as the average standard of written work in the subject tends not to be high.

This is total twaddle. I used to hang out with drama teachers. Their complaint was that drama is seen as a soft option but the analysis of plays was hard, and people were just shoved into drama because it’s ‘easy’

All areas of study are subject to the the same areas of rigour. One doesn’t get marked leniently because it’s drama😂

@hubbabubba80
I think, correctly, that a number of people have commented about the quality of other pupils doing drama. This can be a worry. However to try and determine what the situation is in your school, I strongly suggest getting tickets to drama productions. What is Dc doing to get a part? Has Dc had parts? Look at drama exam results? 9s, 8s, 4s? What do students achieve? Is drama flourishing? Are the teachers keen or jaded? Is there LAMDA or other exams on offer? Does the school value it? If you can say “yes” to some of these then it’s a good option. If it’s a backwater with poor results, I would avoid it.

Whichever they prefer but not both as they are both very labour intensive.

@WinterFoxes My DN preferred drama as he could mess about with mates. You really want to avoid this. As Dc already has music he might like performing.

If it makes a difference to his feelings there is virtually no actually cooking in GCSE food tech. My DD is doing it and only 10% of the grade is cooking. It's more food science / nutrition.

There are a lot of people struggling in her class who were obviously expecting a more practical course.

DT is more STEM. So I’d do that as she may decide to go more engineering by doing a bit of DT. My youngest DD did. She thought she wanted pure Comp Sci, but now is wanting to do Robotics..which is an engineering degree.

On A levels, no reason for her to continue English. She can get into oxbridge with Double Maths, Chemistry and Biology, or RG with just Maths, Chemistry and Biology.