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Secondary education

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Original poster

How many GCSEs?

64 replies

3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 13:10

So my daughter's grammar school has 10 GCSEs as the norm.

How many do schools usually do? Is it better to get say 8 or 9 good grades than 10? Or will 10 with a few lower grades be okay? I like the idea of breadth but with content heavy GCSEs just wondering what people's experiences are.

For example another local school does 9 and often 2 of those are BTecs or similar so less focus on end results (I think) which makes getting "8s and 9s" easier.

This is all pretty hypothetical as she's doing 10 but presumably dropping to 9 wouldn't be the end of the world if necessary (other than timetabling).

OP posts:
SweetChilliGirl · 07/03/2023 13:24

My daughter is at a state school. The standard number is 10 but the top science set do triple science, and the top half of the top maths set also do further maths. So my daughter is doing 11 GCSEs plus further maths.

SheilaFentiman · 07/03/2023 13:27

DS1 is doing 10 plus additional maths (private school)

It’s unlikely your DD would be allowed to drop one as she would then have unsupervised free periods.

PartnersInCrime · 07/03/2023 13:30

Maths, English x2 Triple science for the top 2 sets and then 4 options

Original poster
3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 13:34

I'm not particularly after my daughter dropping one currently - it was more idly thinking if she did would it be an issue numbers wise.

Interesting that some schools do more as I thought the trend post GCSE reform was to do less. I know of another school like Partners where they do 9 as standard or 10 if triple (how do they timetable the extra content!?)

OP posts:
froomeonthebroom · 07/03/2023 13:34

I'm a TA in secondary and the vast majority take 10 (a few ehcp students take 9 and have interventions during the 10th subject).

Btecs are at least as much work as gcses, if not more. I support in Music, Perf Arts and IMedia and the coursework is really hard and involves a lot of self motivation to do work at home. They are very time consuming and some have final exams too.

Original poster
3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 13:35

Interesting re further maths. Our school doesn't offer that!

And for the state school doing 11 and further maths! Wow. That's much more than. The grammar here (all do triple science.)

OP posts:
Original poster
3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 13:37

Oh completely agree the Btecs are hard work. I wish our school offered them though as I think the coursework/performance can be a welcome break from final grade exams. When I was at school my drama gcse was completed before the exams started! There wasn't even a drama exam in those days!

OP posts:
clary · 07/03/2023 13:40

My dcs school did 9, or 10 if chosen (based on ability) to take triple science. This allowed a bit of a range - ds2 had to take MFL and humanity but then at least had two free choices.

GCSE grades not so key (4s and 5s in non a level choices fine, whatever you read on MN) unless applying to top unis (in which case likely to get higher grades anyway). Mate of ds is at Cambridge with a 6 (the horror)

Original poster
3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 13:45

Thanks Clary. I went to a Russell Group uni and had mostly As. I used to feel embarrassed about my "B" which is ridiculous looking back!

It was then (in the dark ages) not uncommon for private schools to do 8 and aim for v high grades but didn't know how it worked these days.

My musing was that a 5 in textiles or drama for example would still have been a useful course to have taken even if it brought their average down.

OP posts:
JamesGiantPledge1 · 07/03/2023 13:46

2 children at different state schools. One did 11 plus further maths, so 12 in total. Interestingly (or bizarrely), further maths was taken a year early and so before the normal maths GCSE. The other child did 11 in a different state school. The only subject where there was a problem with getting through all the content before the exam was geography. Personally, I’d avoid that subject if it’s not passion and the child is doing 10 GCSEs as it’s a large syllabus and has 3 exam papers.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 07/03/2023 13:49

My dd was at a state comp and did 10 plus FSMQ (an extra maths thing). I think that's pretty standard, isn't it? It's a perfectly manageable workload in our experience, and dd was pretty busy with extracurricular stuff as well.

Original poster
3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 13:51

9 GCSEs seems standard at the other comprehensives near me. It's interesting to see how it varies.

On a complete aside home schoolers often do far less - or the 5 required for 6th form!

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MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 07/03/2023 13:58

3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 13:51

9 GCSEs seems standard at the other comprehensives near me. It's interesting to see how it varies.

On a complete aside home schoolers often do far less - or the 5 required for 6th form!

I think 5 or 6 is too limiting, personally.

DD would have struggled with option choices if limited to 9. As it was, she was gutted about having to give up a second foreign language in favour of doing triple science.

As it's a grammar with presumably bright kids, I should think they will easily take 10 in their stride and still come out with mostly 8s and 9s in any case. And having the extra subject does help them to keep their options open for a bit longer, so I think it's a good thing overall.

Maybe not so good for kids who are less academic and need more time to focus on fewer subjects. Ideally, I think comprehensives should be flexible about the number that kids take... but who knows, maybe they usually are?!

Dodgeitornot · 07/03/2023 14:00

8-9 is the norm around here. 6-7 for kids with SEN. More than that is really hard logistically once you have exams, even if you can handle the workload. Each subject has 2-3 exams each and they're long. It's much more exams per subject than the old GCSEs.

Fallulah · 07/03/2023 14:00

I did 10 in the 90s. The students at the state school I teach at do 8.

Original poster
3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 14:09

Fallulah and Dodge - that's what I thought was the norm currently 8 or 9.

Oh I don't think schools should only do 5 just an awareness many homeschooling have a wide curriculum but only take the necessary to progress in exams. But that's a completely different thread.

Really interesting that 8 or 9 GCSEs in the norm in some areas and yet 10/11 in others. That's a huge difference in workload.

OP posts:
MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 07/03/2023 14:13

I agree - the difference between 8 and 11 is substantial!

Can't help but feel that the switch into A-levels after only 8 GCSEs would be a bit of a shock to the system? DD found it quite a bit increase in workload after doing 10 GCSEs plus FSMQ!

DibbleDooDah · 07/03/2023 14:13

High performing private school:

  • You can do between 8 and 11 GCSEs
  • The great majority do 9
  • Outside maths, English x2 and science, the choice of the other four (or three if doing separate sciences) is totally free

The school do this as

  1. Even Oxbridge only look at your top 8 GCSE results

  2. They would rather you got 9 grade 9s than 10 grade 8s

  3. You are more likely to do better in subjects you enjoy than being forced into choosing a language, a humanity and a creative subject

Seems totally sensible to me!!!

Original poster
3littlebeans · 07/03/2023 14:15

Dibble that makes sense to me!

OP posts:
Saisong · 07/03/2023 14:16

Ours can do 8 as a minimum (not sure about SEN though). They also offer a small range of optionals to bump it up to 9 (classes after school hours). Then top set science do the triple. A few do further maths. So 8, 9, 10 or 11!

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 07/03/2023 14:16

It would be a more level playing field if the number was standardised across all schools tbh. Or if there were at least standardised pathways for pupils with different levels of ability. The system doesn't seem that fair as it stands.

TheTeenageYears · 07/03/2023 14:44

We did 8 GCSE's at a grammar back in the day - only the very top students did 9. There was another post a few days ago about choices and that was for 11. No one needs 11 GCSE's. I'd be interested to know the number of teaching hours per subject in schools depending on how many are taken. Much like it's better to focus on getting the best grades possible for 3 A levels rather than 4, surely it's better to concentrate on 9 than spread teaching more thinly across 11. Triple science & more than one language (for example) would be so many exam papers never mind all the other subjects.

Dodgeitornot · 07/03/2023 14:57

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves Not sure the amount of GCSEs is a good indicator of how well they do at A Level. I think the shock with A Level is how in depth you have to go into for a particular subject. It can be a little boring and repetitive. If anything I think doing less GCSEs but getting used to spending more time on them is better preparation.
However, it's a bit depressing that the jump between GCSE and A Level still hasn't been sorted even with this curriculum change. It's madness and not fair on the kids. Many agree their degrees are easier than A Levels.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 07/03/2023 15:14

Dodgeitornot · 07/03/2023 14:57

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves Not sure the amount of GCSEs is a good indicator of how well they do at A Level. I think the shock with A Level is how in depth you have to go into for a particular subject. It can be a little boring and repetitive. If anything I think doing less GCSEs but getting used to spending more time on them is better preparation.
However, it's a bit depressing that the jump between GCSE and A Level still hasn't been sorted even with this curriculum change. It's madness and not fair on the kids. Many agree their degrees are easier than A Levels.

I guess it's different for everyone.

DD didn't find the focus on fewer subjects boring or repetitive. She really enjoyed her other GCSE subjects but welcomed the opportunity to go into much greater depth at A- level. It helps that she really likes her chosen subjects, I'm sure!

It was mainly the increase in workload which hit her at the start of Year 12. She coasted through GCSEs quite easily and didn't find it particularly challenging, whereas A-levels required more consistent effort.

I agree that the jump between gcse and A-levels is too big. And you might be right about some degree courses, though from everything we have heard about dd's chosen path (medicine), A-levels might be the easy bit!!

Dodgeitornot · 07/03/2023 15:18

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves That's really interesting. It sounds like your daughter is clever and found secondary school a breeze. People always hit a ceiling though and this is often in sixth form for the clever kids. Up until that point they never really had to study so they don't know how.
When I tutored dyslexic children, a lot of them found A Levels much more manageable than GCSEs and many only took 7 of them but spent a lot of time learning how to revise, apply knowledge and remember. That serves you well in A Levels as a lot of it is a significant amount of content, but in 3 subjects, so you're not jumping from topic to topic like you do in GCSEs. People often choose A Levels that kind of go with each other too, so there's some overlap in knowledge.