GCSE History & Classics?

[LondonHOPDad]

Hello

Our DS in Y8 will have to choose his GCSE subjects early next year, so we are trying to research before then. He has to pick one of Geography or History, and then can pick from a list of options in addition to the core subjects and 1 or 2 MFL.

He loves History at the moment, but is also really interested in Classics GCSE. Assuming both are allowed, would this combo be too heavy writing / research wise?

He liked Geography last year, much less so this year but is not sure if that is due to the teacher and / or 'more boring stuff' they are covering this year.

His school enable you to do both Geography and History if you want. So he could do:

Geography and History
Geography and Classics
History and Classics
History and something else entirely eg drama, PE, photography or the extra foreign language.

I also wondered if he wanted to do Classics for A-Level if there would be an advantage or disavantage in doing it at GCSE in terms of being bored with repetition or having an advantage having already covered some areas (I'm assuming there must be some overlap but don't really know).

I hope that makes sense - I guess main question is History and Classics too much together at GCSE or great for a child who likes History.

Hi OP

I would say, it doesn't really matter. As long as he doesn't give up anything he really loves (an MFL once dropped is pretty hard to restart for example) then all is good.

Is classics actually class civ - study of classical times (so kind of history but very focused)? Or is it actual classics ie Latin or Greek? either way tbh if he enjoys it then happy days.

I presume he will be taking 2/3 x science, 2 x eng, maths and MFL as well? pretty rounded tbh. Is he sporty? Then take PE. Does he enjoy performance and group work? Drama is good. Is he interested in Greek and Roman history? Classics sound spot on. No point in a sport-hating child (he may not be that obvs) taking GCSE PE when something else would suit much better.

Thanks @clary .

Yes it's classics as in Roman and Greek civilisation. He's interested in it and has looked at a quick intro into the subject.

He loves sport also, is pretty academic but doesn't like creative stuff like art or creative writing. He did drama in primary but has lost some interest in it now.

He is doing two MFL now but wants to drop one. Yes doing all the normal core stuff as well as one of Re or Citizenship.

Thanks!

My DD is GCSE year now and is doing history and classics. She loves it. I'd say for GCSE that they should be choosing subjects they enjoy. They usually have a good spread of subjects so the options really should be what they like to study or have an interest in.

Thank you @HavfrueDenizKisi , really helpful. Is the workload ok as always assumed history type subjects were quite heavy?

She's not found the workload too much at all. In one way she prefers straight history as it's more essay based and she likes getting stuck into that whereas the classics is not as much. She'd say there's more to commit to memory for classics as they study plays etc and have to compare them so she needs to revise the characters and quotes etc. she's definitely choosing history for A level and not classics though. But more because she felt they are too similar at that level.

I’ve heard geography is quite easy to do well in and not essay heavy

Lucky DS going to a school that offers Classical Civilisation! It's a really great curriculum. Ancient History is also very interesting if they offer that. Less literature, more war and more Near East stuff too.

Just to say, if he continues to love it, when we were looking at University, DS loved the idea of doing classics. Not many offer it but those that do require either Latin or a foreign language to study at degree level.

You can do class civ at uni tho and even if they want you to pick up a classical language, you can do it ab initio.

Thank you everyone, this is all really helpful.

dd did both- classics isn’t incredibly content heavy and she found it fine.