GCSE help. Art or RS

[TigerIamNot]

DC will start GCSEs in Sept in a specialist school (Sehm needs, no learning needs).

They spent part of year 8 and most of year 9 out of school with very little education (the LA threw her under the bus and dragged out the EHCP in the name of saving money). The school then will start in has only limited GCSEs option and DD needs to decide between RS and Art. She isn't very arty but not sure about RS either. She is very good in English, analysing texts and writing suits her. She wants to do well in science, maths and English and wants a 6th subject which will be as easy as possible. GCSEs will be had as she missed so much school so there is a lot of catching up to do. So she wants an 'easy' 6th GCSE subject.

Would you pick RS or Art in this scenario.

Art is a known time eater.

RS (depending on spec) can be very interesting, and far less content than History or Geography.

DD's course had Christianity beliefs & practices 25%, Islam beliefs and practices 25%, then 4 topics for the other 50% - family, justice, war&peace and one other I forget. These topics covered eg differing views on abortion, just wars, prisons etc.

There is an awful lot of work to do at home with art. Given that she likes English and she’s not arty she’d be better going for RE.

RS

Thanks, RS was my gut feeling too. will go with that one..

Glad you have gone that way. DS says it is one of his life regrets taking art for GCSE (he is slightly prone to the dramatic). He swapped from drama (ironically) to RS at the beginning of the GCSE course and has absolutely flown with it. He is predicted an 8/9 (compared to the 3/4 for art 😣) and is planning on doing it for A level.

RS is a decent choice. You don't have to be arty for Art but it helps if you really enjoy it as it is time consuming.

Thanks all. Did not realise it was so time consuming (art). It's absolute not for DC as they have lot of catching up to do. RS seems to be the better option.

Yes RS. Really structured questions in the exams and not a huge amount of content to cover.

This. In Art they have to produce huge portfolios of work. It takes a disproportionate amount of time. If DC likes English and writes well will do well in RE.

RS is relatively easy if they are good at writing, memorizing and formulating arguments. Much simpler than history or Eng lit for example. So I would do that given she isn’t super arty

Another vote for RS. My eldest DS is very good at art but ended up dropping the GCSE as he felt totally swamped by the amount of time he had to spend on it. He wishes he'd done RS or Business. Good luck whatever you decide.

RS also v useful for life knowledge and learning how to write / develop arguments. All useful for sixth form.

Glad you opted for RS, OP. Sounds like the best option all round.

My DS initially wanted to do art and I was really worried about how much time it'd gobble up. I'm so relieved he eventually changed his mind!

Sounds like RS would be best as art is very time consuming outside of school hours. They have to put a lot of work into their portfolio projects that all go towards the final grade, we’ve been told to expect homework on portfolios to be at least 3 hours a week and do more if they’re aiming for the higher grades. Some of the portfolios we viewed at the options open eve were absolutely immense!

With art you can put in as little or as much time as you want. If she likes writing / deciphering old texts (medieval manuscripts are fascinating) she could do calligraphy, learn techniques like gold leafing, and do a ‘book of days’ that’s relevant to the coursework brief. On the other hand if she’s not keen on art, then RS is probably a better option. Have to admit neither option sounds ideal for her.

DD did RS, a late choice after her education was mucked about (missed year 10 and 11, has studied 3 GCSEs in a year).

She enjoyed it - there's not a huge amount of content, a lot of it (the second paper) is debate around themes.

She read how much work was required for Art and backed away rapidly!