Looking for a recommendation for good but cheap laptop for GCSE work

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That's it really, for my DS who is in his first year of GCSEs and currently using his phone to do his homework

Does a Chromebook work?

What's his future plans? My DD is very into music technology so we got her a MacBook. John Lewis does some good ones on 0% finance. If not for that than I'd have just stuck with her Chromebook. Worked great.
Desktop PCs tends to be cheaper.

Does the school tend to use google classroom or Microsoft? How do they set homework etc?
If Google, get a Chromebook, otherwise a cheap Windows PC.

Homework is set on Satchel 1, so not Google Classroom but not sure if that means MS. Could anyone recommend a cheap and decent laptop brand/make? Thanks

You can consider Acer Aspire 5. If you always need to carry it around and prefer something lightweight, you can consider a 14" screen model such as Intel i5 / 512GB SSD. GBP549 at Currys. If you want a bigger screen and do not mind something a bit heavier, you can consider a 15.6" model such as AMD Ryzen 5 / 512GB SSD. GBP649 at Currys. These are good budget options.

My daughter used a cheap Acer one (£300ish) which was a waste of money as 2 years on it got so slow. I think you're better off going into the higher price range to ensure longevity.
www.johnlewis.com/acer-vero-514-chromebook-laptop-intel-core-i5-processor-8gb-ram-256gb-ssd-14-inch-full-hd-iron/p109961002?sku=109852846&irclickid=z1E0jTWtLxyNW5USCqUqpx-5UkAUSfUxmUjMQY0&irgwc=1&tmcampid=99&s_afcid=af_221109_Content&tgclid=0c010017-2f98-413c-ab00-10fc63fde981

Something like this would be good. Just a warning, the MacBook we bought less than a month ago is now £300 more expensive. Electronics seem to be going up in price by the day.

We went for an iPad with a keyboard and e-pen. Then added Office 365 and Grammarly. Worked out cheaper and is much lighter weight than laptops were.

DD uses it in school as well (she has hypermobile fingers and severe dyslexia so touch types for everything and uses spellcheck) so weight and a camera function were important.