Last minute panic - number of GCSEs?

[Ilikecheeses]

I’m about to submit the secondary form and a friend of mine mentioned they weren’t putting ‘x’ school and ‘y’ school because they only do 8 GCSEs and have one free option. I’ll admit I had a look at what range was offered to make sure it was balanced between academic/practical/some vocational but I didn’t look in detail at the number of GCSEs they allow their pupils to do so it’s come as a bit of a shock to me that the nice ranges of subjects I looked at is completely pointless.

School 1 - 8 GCSEs
English x2, maths, Science x2, French, history or geography, one free choice.

School 2 - 9 GCSEs
English x2, maths, science x3, French or German, history or geography, one free choice.

School 3 - 8/9 GCSEs
English x2, maths, science x2/3, an EBacc subject from french, German, history, geography or computer science, 2 free choices.

There are some other schools which offer 9 and have 2 free options. But the ones on my list, which are the ones mentioned above, all seem pretty similar to me. School 3 is more flexible and doesn’t insist on EBacc, the other 2 insist on EBacc. Does it matter? Or is this pointless worry? Should I stick with what I originally planned which was chosen based on other factors?

I had to choose between Phys&Chem OR Biology.
I think the system of combined is really good as it in theory teaches everyone core amount of all 3 sciences as part of their 'general' education.

Some schools do allow less than 3 single sciences, but mainly timetabling / staffing don't allow for it. (There may be EBacc calculation rules against it too?)

This was me and I didn't do physics (didn't hate it but wanted to do more MFL). what a disaster - I really wish double science would have been available then. I would have had a decent grounding in all three, and since I did not intend to take them post-16, less content and 2 O levels (which is what I have anyway in science!) would have been fine.

I often regret my lack of physics knowledge beyond the very basic work we did in what is now KS3.

hahaha @TeenDivided snap!

Mean to say, some schools, mostly private IME, do offer a choice of single sciences. A friend's DD didn't take chemistry GCSE at one. Not a good plan IMHO (as per previous post).

dds school had a similar system to your school 3 and it worked well for her.
Not having the EBacc isn't a problem for the children, it can affect the school though.
I suspect that by the time pupils starting Y7 in 2023 take GCSEs, Ebacc is unlikely to be around.