Another GCSE choice one

[WhisperingAngelisnotbad]

My DC has to choose 10 GCSEs

Compulsory are
English Language
English Lit
Maths
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
RS

She is recommended to choose

ideally a language
ideally one of history/ geography
one of music/ computer studies/ design technology (others, but those are the ones she likes)

She would like to do a language and likes CS and music and DT.

She likes history but not as much as the other options (though actually their particular course sounds very good in all sorts of ways).

I think that one reason the school recommends history/ geography is to get practice in writing factual essays for A level. DC doesn't like writing essays so much and is quite mathsy. I guess English and RS would involve essay writing.

I can see the benefit of CS so is it reasonable to effectively swap that for history and then have a creative subject?

I have been thinking with her, where does she think she might go in terms of choices for A level and after, and it might be more maths / ??science, and possibly some DT.

Does that sound reasonable?

There may be timetable restrictions.

School will recommend one of Geog/History because of their Ebaac stats rather than because it benefits your DD particularly, RS will give the same essay skills. Although apparently the government is supposed to be "scrapping "the Ebaac measurement as it was affecting the number of students entering arts subjects, no idea when though.

Does the school publish any timetabling or "blocks" in advance? Ours does. This makes it slightly easier to narrow down as you can see which combinations are possible.

Her choices sound fine to me esp as RS is a compulsory so ticks the "humanity" box.

As long as she won't want to take history or geog A level then her options sound fine. Bear in mind tho as @OccasionalHope says, the school may need to mandate the hist/geog option due to timetabling, or it may not be possible to take two from the third list.

ETA yes hist/geog tick the ebacc list too but a) it’s irrelevant for students (except to ensure a good spread of subjects, which your DD has there) and b) it's being scrapped as a measure of schools.

Who would have thought, forcing children to fill their timetable with science options they wouldn't do as many arts subjects.

Language, CS and DT sounds fine if she’s more likely to be heading science-ward and away from humanities at a level, and RS will give good “constructing longer answers and presenting arguments and data” skills. But as others have said, you need to see if there are timetabling blocks restricting things.

FWIW not all schools have compulsory RS at gcse. I find it strange that it varies so much - how come it’s compulsory for some but not others? Ours absolutely don’t do any RS if they don’t choose it at gcse - i can only guess that they cover a sliver of it in “citizenship / life skills” type lessons, if there’s an element that is compulsory? I’m glad it wasn’t compulsory as a gcse as it allowed them a choice of 4 options, not 3.

Is the RS definitely a gcse as there is a course (not sure of actual qualification) that some schools run alongside. If it is a GCSE then yes I would encourage her to choose subjects she enjoys just beware they may not fit in schools timetabling.

RS in some form is compulsory but a lot of schools cover it in PSHE or assemblies. Others take the view “may as well get a GCSE” then. My old school used to offer the short course (= half a GCSE) but AFAIK that no longer exists.

If she is more mathsy choose geography rather than history if she isn't wanting to write essays. There will be a written NEA but it's generally more of a form of a report rather than extended essay like history. Plus the exams tend to be short answer format opposed to history essays

Op says she doesn’t want history or geography but AFAIK there is no NEA in either at GCSE unless you are in Wales (or anyway doing WJEC). Certainly AQA is all exam based for both subjects.

Oops yes it was A level for history and geography. My DS did both!

Thanks for all the answers.

yes, definitely a GCSE, school thinks "we have to give time to this, so might as well make it a GCSE and big up the ethics and philosophy side".

There is a science degree level discipline called "materials science". They look for maths/physics, possibly chemistry/further maths or DT at A level. I am wondering whether that sort of thing might suit her. or possibly CS or maths.

Early days yet, of course.

What are the actual option blocks for her school?
You say "She would like to do a language and likes CS and music and DT" but also the school is recommending one of "music/ computer studies/ design technology". That makes it sound like those are an option block so she could be timetabled into a maximum of one of those. You need to clarify the option blocks before you go any further.

Ah yes, I studied a bit of materials science at university. There’s a great video about it on the Imperial college website - watched it with my son a couple of years ago when he was trying to figure out all the different science / engineering type options. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate/2026/materials-science-engineering-meng/

Could be a v interesting one to study. There are also a few design engineering courses out there as well which lock on very well to DT. I found the imperial site a good one for useful videos about different types of engineering regardless of where she might be thinking of applying.

Computer science always going to be useful to get started in coding etc, though there’s lots of other stuff in the syllabus too (I think the syllabus may be changing for CS but not sure when).

We went to an evening about this at her school, combined with a Y9 parents evening. They didn't mention subject blocks in the talk about options.

I asked DD if she had thought of doing engineering, yes she has.

She does really like making stuff.

I guess we need to see how she gets on with GCSE physics and chemistry, as it is early days with the separate sciences, though she is doing well so far.

She looks pretty good for the maths side.

It is a shame to be giving up music, but I guess she can still do it as a hobby.