Should DD drop GCSE Art to focus on other subjects?

[basilbrush]

DD is in Year 11. She is extremely talented at drawing but is way behind on her coursework / portfolio. This is partly her own fault due to time management and making the most of the time she did have available over the summer and partly not her fault at all (she has been in and out of hospital since beginning of Year 10 and is still suffering with health problems as well as associated stress caused by it)

She is currently doing 11 GCSEs (standard at her school). For Art, they are expected to go in every lunch break and an evening once a week after school. It takes up by far the most time of any individual subject. We both agree that dropping Art would be give her much more breathing space to concentrate on the other subjects.

The only things that she's hesitating about is that she might want to do Art A level. But I suspect that if she's not passionately attached to it at GCSE, then she wouldn't enjoy it at A-level either where I have heard to takes up a huge amount of time / effort.

She has been predicted eight 6s, two 7s and one 8. So not stellar but should be OK to do A levels.

She has not decided on her A levels yet - at the minute they fall into two routes, either Business / Marketing / Languages route (she saw Art as a possible A level here) or Nursing / Vet Nursing / Animal Behaviour route (in which case she would do Biology, Psychology A levels plus something else)

Am I right in thinking that she should drop GCSE Art now?

Drop it (if she’s allowed to) since it’s not crucial for either of her planned paths unlike say if she thought she might want to do architecture - she can always do art on the side if she wants to keep up with her passion for it, without the stress and time commitment. Might also boost her other grades.

What does her school say?

If she has ongoing health problems, you might be better to have a wider look at the workload that is appropriate for her and whether her range of subjects needs to be dropped.

Art doesn't have to take up a huge amount of time - you can just focus on a few key pieces.

@Bluevelvetsofa I haven't plucked up the courage to ask them yet!

I didn't do GCSE Art but was allowed to pick it up for AS in final year to help with my university applications. I didn't feel like I suffered for not studying GCSE.

If she is not too good at time management a subject with a large coursework component is probably not a good idea.

Although it seems straightforward to drop a subject and therefore have more time for other subjects, it may depend on whether there is somewhere for your daughter to go during the Art lessons and whether there is anyone to supervise her. Maybe, if there’s a library, she could go there, but the logistics will need to be considered.

Eleven is too many and doesn't help with university entry.

And nationally, her grades are extremely good. Don't let her feel inferior because she goes to a selective school.

Eleven is more than normal.

If she is struggling with workload she should def drop one.

Does she want to drop art or does she want to drop a different one?

Poor her, sounds like a lot on her shoulders (11 subjects +regular visits at the hospital are a lot on her plate). I think she should discuss with her school and drop it. Even if she chooses Business / Marketing / Languages routem, Art is not a necessity so..

NB. My DD's selective school (y11 as well) pushes for 9 great GCSE grades rather than 10 / 11 average ones. DD is doing Art (and I follow closely , because it is so easy fall behind schedule week after week) and it really is time consuming, even if you are excellent at time management.
I don't agree with mentions on here saying that time for this subject can be simply reduced (if they want a good grade): building a portfolio, researching ideas, artists does take up a lot of time...
Good luck to you both!🍀🙂

If she agrees drop it. If she loves to draw etc she can always do that in her own time.

I would say in my experience it’s not usually for students just to be able to drop a GCSE! For one thing, Y11s don’t have free periods so what does she do during that time - she will need to be registered and supervised (even if notionally, there will need to be someone in charge of her whereabouts). She may well be very trustworthy but many 15/16 year olds aren’t, hence they readily ally having a full timetable! Plus, once one student is allowed to drop a subject, it opens the floodgates and everyone wants to, especially if they think they’ll get free lessons as a result.

I would see whether she can up the output over the Christmas holidays and catch up. I would have a meeting with her tutors and discuss - it may be she can drop some of the requirement focus on the rest and still pull off a decent grade.

Personally having had a daughter who did art (and music) at gcse and A level I would advise dropping art if she has no desire to study it at uni.

Dd had all of her joy for art leeched out of her by studying it. It became a hated chore. Too much coursework needed (to get a good grade). She hasn't picked up a pencil/paintbrush since school. (Now final year English at uni)

@AtomicBlondeRose yes, I agree with you that usually students are not allowed to drop subjects this late on. I would have to make a case for special circumstances given all the health problems she's had this past 12 months (she's missed a lot of school)

I’m not sure about the dropping GCSEs, there are several kids at my DC’s school who have dropped a GCSE (often language), and in fact school have suggested it as an option for my DC. But this is a very big mixed state school.

We had a similar situation. Gcse art is massively time consuming and I know my dd regretted taking it. She just scaled back the effort to concentrate on her other subjects. She let the grade slide from the predicted 7 to a 5. My dd went to a normal comp where only 7 GCSEs are standard, so we felt she couldn't afford to drop one.

Does she need to have GCSE art to do the A level? When I was at college many moons ago that wasn't the case.

I was in the same situation as her at A level - adults / teachers of academic subjects saw art as an 'easy' option and ignored that it took probably 3 times the amount of time as an academic subject, at A level it's even stuff like going to galleries and buying materials, takes up days on end. I ended up dropping art and definitely wouldn't have got such good grades in other subjects if I hadn't.

So i think your instincts are right.

I had same but at A level. Now in my 30s and I never drew again. The volume of work you need in your portfolio to get a decent grade is vast and unless you're a genius who can bang out loads of pictures and paintings and studies which are perfect first time (there would be 4 duds for every 1 that even made it into my portfolio) it takes sooooo longgggg

Dd had all of her joy for art leeched out of her by studying it. It became a hated chore. Too much coursework needed (to get a good grade). She hasn't picked up a pencil/paintbrush since school. (Now final year English at uni)

Same here! I agree with PP’s, if she really doesn’t have a passion for Art then drop it, the pressure is ridiculous and I know the only ones that didn’t fall behind with their coursework were the artists with the natural flair and talent for it, unlike my DD who wasn’t a natural artist and had to work that extra hard to keep up.

Art is time consuming at A level. At GCSE it is Manageable. But if she has missed a lot of school I can see that would be difficult.
One benefit of Art is there is no revision. So once the 2 day exam is over in early May its one less subject to revise but with 11 that's not much of a win.
My DS is studying fine art at degree. His Art over the years has taken many more hours on a day to day basis than his academic subjects. But it's out of the way early.
And studying art is NOT the same as 'doing it for a hobby'.

6s 7s and 8s are very good, that's Bs and As.

It's difficult, what do they think? I loved gcse art and was unimpressed at my mum not wanting me to take it (esp at alevel) but I did find it relaxing but it took soooo much of my life at weekends for coursework.

Talk to her/tutors etc and make a team decision. I still got into medicine/ 9*s/9as/1b (self taught) whilst getting an A in art. It can be done it's just v time consuming unfortunately

Ds2 has been in and out of hospital since Y10 (attendance around 85% atm) and he's dropped down to 7 gcses, so maybe she needs to drop more than 1? If they're ill they need rest time too.

As for art A level, don't do it unless you would spend all your free time doing art anyway.

I would go and discuss with school. My DD fell behind in art in Year 10 but spent the whole summer catching up and it was a slog. Christmas if she has mocks in the new year you wouldn’t have the time. I would drop 2 GCSEs art and her lowest grade/most effort - history and/or a language are the most common. A lot of schools prefer you to drop anything you won’t do well in, doesn’t look great in their results! Many people drop GCSEs even at a late stage.