Anything we should know before choosing gcse options?

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Just that really, is there anything to consider for choosing options? Anything you’d recommend or not?

Do the subjects they like.

If your child is academic then encourage at least mostly academic subjects.

What @LittleBearPad said. There is no better advice than that.

if they don’t like any subjects, then do the ones they have to do and then the ones they dislike least.

Don't chose things because they like the teacher or their friends are doing them... chances are it won't be that teacher, and their is in a different class.

Think about next step... if they have a plan, make sure they have the right subjects for that plan.

Try not to do several that all need a lot of extracurricular activities in order to do well.

Be aware of those with a large coursework element, they may well not want to do loads like that! The dc school have a pretty free choice over options, but advised no more than 2 from art/3d design/graphics etc due to the time commitment on the coursework. They were less worried about the more academic combinations that are 100% exam.

Definitely choose the subjects they like.

Make sure they're doing triple science if they want to do anything science-y at university.

If they're academic and can't decide which subjects to do, look at the school's last couple of sets of exam results and pick the ones where the students scored best.

Choose the subjects they enjoy most. You might want to consider exam-based versus some with coursework etc.
One thing I was unaware of - if you're looking at a selective 6th form, some require an average point score based on a child's top 8 grades, and some subjects they deem to be less academic may be excluded. There should be a list of subjects on their website if this is relevant to you. Most 6th forms do not require this, the example here is a top grammar school.

Your young person may not get all their first choices because timetabling is very complicated so they should be clear about what they “really really want” as opposed to “would quite like”.

If they’re a high achiever and might want to go to university, make sure there’s some old-fashioned academic subjects amongst the ‘ologies’ and ‘studies’, but don’t be snobby about the ‘ologies’ and ‘studies’.

Yes this. Art coursework was really time consuming and if your DC works quickly that's fine but if they don't it can become very pressured.

But do what they like and have a talent for.

Be aware that the arts subjects now carry quite a heavy amount of writing and are not as practical as they once were.
My students have found computer science and sport much hard than anticipated as well.
but ultimately I’d agree with the above, choose what you enjoy

The actual "choice" bit is actually quite limited. It might only be 2 or 3 subjects, or having to choose between A or B.

Yes choose what they enjoy.

It’s fine to do sociology if it's offered and they would like it. Or media studies ditto. Or business. No university will care, I promise. PE GCSE also fine.

If triple science is an option (as opposed to being done as a fast-track in the same lessons as double), that's quite a good way to do it – if interested in science. If not interested in science then double is fine. Subjects like drama, PE, food tech can offer a welcome change of pace. Music is ideally only if they already play an instrument.

But yes, it’s likely they won't be able to actually choose that many. My DS2 had to pick between history and geog and then had two choices.

Thanks you all so much, this is incredibly helpful!

Make sure they're doing triple science if they want to do anything science-y at university.
That may not be a choice of course. Some schools only offer double and those that offer both often tell pupils what they'll be doing rather than ask them. To be honest, I'm not sure it matters that much. My DC went to the highest performing non selective state school in our area and did triple, like most of their peers. Only the lowest sets did double. The other sought after state school in the area only offers double. Looking at science A level results and leavers' destinations there's actually very little difference between the two schools. I think the pupils that do very well in science A lrvels at our school would almost certainly have done very well at the other school too. I can see that it might be a bit more difficult if you switch schools for A level and the new school had done triple whereas you'd done double as the teacher may assume knowledge that you don't have, but even that's not insurmountable. A science orientated pupil might prefer to do triple but I don't think it's the end of the world if it's not what's offered.
I agree with the PP who said be prepared for the fact that there might actually not be a huge amount of choice Our school does 9 GCSEs and expects that pupils capable of taking the EBacc qualifying subjects do so. So the majority have Maths, English Lang, English Lit and 3 Sciences as compulsory, then a choice between History and Geography and between French and German. So that only leaves one real free choice, and even then it has to be something that fits in with timetabling constraints.

Im hoping with the scrapping of ebacc ours will loosen up on the history vs geo.
As mine prefers another subject.
its actually a really hard decision as art is a lot of time and work.
She likes computer science but im not sure re the coding. And im not sure about that continuing to alevel later etc as need maths alevel really. Ideally we would do
the main ones
art
RE
comp sci
2 mfl

but obviously dont have that many spots.

i think what they forget in forcing history geo is that if a student isnt into that subject its one less alevel choice later. So if they arent keen on the core 5 and some kids then not keen on hist/geo or the lang, theyre left with only 2 subjects that they chose.

Luckily in some ways mines crap at some subjects so a lot fewer to choose from

Choose ones they enjoy. Dont do too many coursework heavy options as it gets quite stressful with all the deadlines.
Have a look ahead at any A levels that require it at gcse. For example at our school you can’t do DT A level if you didn’t do it for GCSE so whilst they may not know what path they want to choose at least having an oversight of it is probably helpful.
But having had 2 children go through gcse in the last 2 years, overall let them choose they ones they enjoy not the ones you think look best, I promise it makes all the difference.

We're currently helping dc choose his options. He has a good idea of what he wants to do in the future so we've had a look at what will benefit what he wants to do in college/uni. He only gets to choose 3. I got to choose 5 when I was doing my GCSEs, so I feel bad they seem to be quite limited in their choices.

By the time you have accounted for the compulsory subjects (usually maths, English literature and language, double science, some schools insist on a language or at least one humanities subject), they only usually have free choice for 2-3 subjects.

Let them do what they want but do check they understand how much course work their choices entail.

The syllabus outline, and the coursework to exam ratio.

eg. Geography. Is often mainly human geography. Not great if main interest in it is volcanoes. History - only a handful of periods. If they’re all of no interest it’ll be hard to engage.

Art is an absolute ball ache and no matter how good an artist they are, annotation is key. And they have to show a "journey" - there are other subjects where it is easier to get an 8/9. They might slog their guts out for two years, only to get a 5. Then end up hating art they once had a passion for.
And yes, I was told all this.
And yes, I ignored it.
Big mistake? Huge!

Beware of Art. It is generally reported here as a time eater and can kill off love for a relaxing hobby.

Look for balance. Think about revising for everything at the end and the number and intensity of exams. History & Geography & Triple Science will give a massive revision load if all taken.

For even the most academic child no one will care if there is a lighter / slightly less traditional academic / BTEC in the mix as a last subject.

Go with subjects they enjoy and will stay motivated with. If they have any challenges like dyslexia etc try and mix up ‘academic’ subjects with more practical ones. Also look at the course content - how much is coursework v final exam? Think about how much revision will be needed all at the end of yr11? My son chose an easy relaxed animal care course because it gave him more headspace to try and pass English and science which were harder for him.

This is all really helpful for me as eldest DS is choosing his soon as well.

DS doesn't know what he wants to do but does know what he doesn't want to do, which does bring the choice down further!

They won’t do well in stuff they don’t like. Come revision its hellish if they find a subject or topic boring. Year 11 is a year of revision on and off all year