GCSE Choices?

[June3]

Hello,

Firstly we live in UK but I didn’t study here. So I need your advices. Thank you in advance🫶🏻
Our child would like to do Maths, English, Science, Drama, PE, Art and Spanish. - she loves drama (also does grade 6 lamda lessons at school) and really like art, textiles. In the same time she is loves sport. She is in netball team in her school and loves swimming and tennis. She will do GCSE Greek (additional - as it is her second language so she will not take any lessons in the school for Greek GCSE). She would like to do Spanish as well. But she is not sure if needs to do RE instead of Spanish?
She doesn't want to do History or Geography. - do you think this is an disadvantage?
She doesn’t know what she wants do to in A level as she has so many favourite subjects right now and didn’t decide yet.
Thank you 🫶🏻

Art, drama and PE is a lot of creatives and a good deal of non-exam work. Art is a big thief of time and a student needs to really love doing it. Drama also involves a lot of rehearsal in groups and devising of performances. PE is less of an issue IME f your dc does the sport anyway. But together that’s a lot and I’d be surprised if the school would allow it tbh.

No need to take RE GCSE unless the school mandates it. No issue with not taking history or geog either, in terms of future uni courses etc. School tho may insist she does one of those two.

Personally as she is already taking a GCSE outside school (I assume that’s modern Greek?) I would scale back on the creatives and sub history or geog for whichever she liked least.

She will be required to sit Maths, English and Science and, usually a MFL such as Spanish. Religious schools often also insist on RE

the rest will be choices, often in columns, that she has to pick (one from each column or group). Usually history or geography are one or the other (or both) choices so young people end up with, in reality 2 (3) actual choices - which for her could be Art and Drama.

school should hold an options evening to explain this to parents and students nearer the time

A lot of the options are very much school dependent eg my DS's school mandates that they must do one of either Geography or History, whereas some schools say that they've got to do an MFL but ours doesn't. Would be worth finding this out before any decisions are made.

What does the school say she has to do, and then how many optional slots does she have and what does she want to do in them.

Depends on the timetabling as to how options are available or clash. Don't assume Greek will be straightforward to self study. Languages often include literature and culture elements, so do check the detail of the curriculum and what essay writing is required. Likewise a large element of Drama is written analysis rather than performance.

Yes so much depends on the school. My DS had to chose one language, one "creative" subject, one from History, Geography or RE and then one completely free choice from any of the remaining subjects. So unless you know the school offers completely free rein, your DD may be limited. Schools usually hold option information evenings In Jan or Feb - have you had yours yet?

This.

When I was at a school, I had to do either History, Geography or RE. Thankfully, I didn't have to do a language.

DDs new school doesn't make pupils take a language, but triple science is mandatory.

There are so many different variations between school curriculums.

That’s a good point wrt her Greek GCSE. Even if she is fluent, she will need some guidance around the exam, technique etc, I doubt there will be a literature element at GCSE but she will need to know how the speaking exam will be conducted and other factors.

And it might not be the same as the Spanish GCSE – that is likely to be AQA spec (the most popular) but I cannot see that AQA offers modern Greek GCSE so she will probably have to take Edexcel – nothing wrong with that, but it’s a different spec and she may need to investigate what is needed herself or with the help of an external tutor (which I would recommend tbh).

You actually don't get very much choice. By the time all the required GCSEs are in, you only get to select three, maybe four, and the choices are limited by the way they are set out on the options sheet for your school.
Let them choose the subject they most enjoy but be mindful of workload with creative subjects.

You need to talk to the school OP. To start with, how many subjects do they do - 8 to 10 is usual.
Maths, English Language, English Literature and Science will be compulsory but science may take up 2 or 3 slots depending on school policy.
There's a thing called the English Baccalaureate (usually shortened to EBacc) which is a group of subjects that includes a modern foreign language and either history or geography in addition to the compulsory subjects. It isn't a qualification in it's own right and it isn't mandatory but it is one of the measures that schools get judged on - the percentage of pupils achieving the EBacc subjects is one of the factors in the government league tables. So some schools are very keen on all the pupils who can pass those subjects sitting them and this may limit other options. But school policies vary a lot so you need to ask your DD's school for information.
Adding a practical/creative subject would give a good, broad range of subjects and leave a lot of options open for her when it comes to A levels. As others have said, those types of subject do tend to have quite a bit of coursework so I think most people would advise choosing one, or at the most two, of that type or it could become a bit overwhelming, especially if she's doing the Greek as an extra too. None of my children did art but I've heard from lots of people that the coursework for that in particular can be very time consuming. Timetabling may also be an issue. Most schools ask pupils to choose their subjects from a series of option "blocks" and the creative subjects may be in the same block, forcing her to only pick one. But again, it varies.
Generally speaking, a broad base at GCSE is a good idea, especially if the young person isn't entirely sure what they want to do next. If she thinks she'd want to go on to University, most are more interested in seeing good grades across a range of subjects and don't really care aboyt specific subject combinations at GCSE, so picking a range that she's likely to enjoy and do well in is a sensible approach.

Everyone in all schools has to do maths, English and science.

Most schools offer a choice of either double science (less content) or triple science (more content and only really needed if she is planning a levels in science)

Beyond that schools set their own rules. Some make RE compulsory.

In practice the choices are often fairly limited.

If she does a lot of drama outside school then that might be one to drop as it's not needed even if she decides she eventually wants to go to drama school.

There's also the issue that the practical part involves team work and if you end up in a team where some pupils are much weaker or less inclined to do their fair share that can be stress inducing for others.

I would probably pick one of Art or PE, and do history or geography instead of RE unless she particularly loves RE.

Generally though you are restricted by timetabling and option blocks as to what your realistic options are.

yes true she required to sit Maths, English and Science but not MFL or RE. She is in GDST girls independent school and her teachers said she can choose whatever she likes - they will manage to the timetable for each girl.

Bit of a gatecrash on the thread, but would posters class Computer Science as a science, language (phython) or creative? DC is taking it and has suggested giving up the language instead - doing triple science already, but it is also the only "soft" subject, if it can be explained as that, as no art, drama DT or PE being picked...

If the teachers have said this then go with that. Some schools do mandatory RE/theology, some insist on a MFL and some allow single science rather than double or triple. Most insist on a humanities such as either geography or history. No one else but your school will be able to explain their requirements.

CS is usually classed as a science. It's not a soft subject but then I reject the idea of soft subjects. Art is a massively challenging GCSE. It's certainly not an MFL haha.

If school are OK with him giving up MFL and he doesn;t want to take it further he should pick what he enjoys. FWIW my DS who took CS ended up hating the GCSE. That's just one person tho.

Thanks, I assumed due to it's name it was counted as a science but I don't think it is seen that way if you wanted to do double science, with the main 3 for example? DC trying to convince me it is a language as apparently the GCSE focuses more on the Python coding than the history they've been learning (no one enjoys Babbage!) so I just wanted to get opinions and we don't know what the course content is yet. Why did your DS not enjoy it? Mine loves coding and gets Gold/Distinction at Bebras, so I am hoping the GCSE doesn't kill that enjoyment!

Computer Science is on the list of science subjects which count towards the EBacc so I'd say it's definitely a science!
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-baccalaureate-eligible-qualifications

Will she have a teacher for the Greek GCSE? If all modern languages are the same (I think they keep requirements fairly consistent across the languages), it's important to know what hoops she needs to jump through to get the highest grades - perfectly accurate work is not enough if she hasn't included enough tenses or more complex sentence structure. It may well help to be doing Spanish in school, as then she's likely to be well-drilled on what to include in her speaking/writing.

Thank you! Strongly suspect DC just wants to give up their language...but the argument about Python was quite convincing. Interesting it can be THE science with EBacc though!

Sorry for minor derail OP. Hope it all makes more sense for you now!

@clary my daughters teachers said Art GCSE needs lot of work, talent and it is the one of the most difficult subject to get top grades.

@NordicwithTeen thank you

Yeh there is no way that CS is a language but that's fine. There's no requirement in life in general to take a language GCSE (and it's my subject so I am obvs a fan).

Think DS found it dull tbh. Also there was some kerfuffle about the coursework which after all did not count (I can't recall now!) so he was a bit disenchanted. He got a 6 and was one mark below a 7 - when I flagged this to him he said "Well I was afraid I was gonna get a 5 so I am more than happy with the 6."

He's not a coder tho, more of a biologist so I am sure your DS will get more out of it.

Yeh like a PP none of my DC took it but I am pleased about that tbh. Friend of DD's who is very smart got 6 x 9 and 4 x 8 - one of her 8s was art.

Another peer of my DC told me in about Jan of year 11 that she hated art so much, when it had been her absolute favourite subject in year 9. So just a couple of anecdotes. It's still a great GCSE if it's your passion or you want to pursue it later of course.

I would only add that I wouldn't advise taking anything like a BTEC or similar - I very unwisely left my son to choose his options (after we'd talked about them in depth) and he blindsided me by choosing two BTEC subjects. I wasn't particularly concerned at the time as one was his main interest (Sports) and one was one of my main interests (Catering, so I thought good life skill etc). I only found out last week that his preferred sixth form college don't count BTEC's towards their entry requirements for A-Levels as they're vocational qualifications. So they're almost useless unless you're adamant of that specific vocational path and they might actually cost you a college place depending on requirements and grades in other subjects. I won't be taking as much of a backseat when my other son is picking his options subjects!