How many gcse is the norm at your dc school?

[Starfishyellow]

our dc school used to do 7 but now it looks like it will be reduced to do a minimum of 5 and they constantly have staff changes or temporary teachers so I think it’s due to this.

8 minimum and 10 maximum

12 is also very unusual, despite what you read on here! I'm always surprised by how many posters say their child's school offers this number as in 2024 only 390 children in the whole of England sat 12 or more GCSEs - out of 667340 entrants. Large numbers were of course much commoner prior to the latest changes to the curriculum, and further back when GCSEs were modular I know of schools that did even more. But these days it's rare, and as you say, unnecessary.

Five seems very restrictive: English, plus double science and maths takes up four.
my DD’s school was nine minimum.

I think those who do 12 often do one like Statistics or RE (or their native language?) in Yr10, so it won't show in those stats.

9 for double science, 10 for triple science. Some children with special needs don't do MFL so the time can be used for interventions so they might only do 8 GCSEs.

8 is most common and includes some level 2 BTEC which are GCSE equivalent.

Some kids do triple rather than combined science, further maths or speak a language at home which bumps up the number.

Yes, that will make some difference, but if you look at the numbers doing 11, and even 10 at one sitting there would need to be an awful lot of pupils doing one or more exams early to make 12 anything other than unusual.

Most students do 9. Combined science, English Language, English Literature and Maths are compulsory with 4 free options.

Some students do 10, as able mathematicians may be entered for Further Maths and able linguists can take an extra language or Latin. I don’t think they can do both of these extras though due to time.

As a default, 10-11 GCSEs at our school (11 if doing triple science), though RE or Citizenship (all pupils have do select one of those) is taken in Y10, so it's 9-10 GCSEs in Y11

DS1 did 11, he got 8&9’s plus one 6

ds2 is doing 8, he is capable of similar marks to his brother, but has ADHD and dyslexia. It’s harder for him to get the information out of his head and onto the paper, he and the school think this it the right balance for him.

Eldest school did 8 on average. Some did more, some less.

5 outside of a special school is low

Maths, english, english lit and double science i am guessing?

Lots of level 3 courses require a minium of 5 gcses grade 4 or 5 to tackle them so this would give access to the next step. But others will have specific subjects requirements.

Wow five is very few. Which five? That’s worrying unless for lower ability. So narrow.

My DCs’ school did nine, 10 if taking triple. The commonest two numbers in England now are nine and eight, between them IIRC approx 60% of candidates. Schools local to me now seem to offer eight or sometimes nine with triple.

ETA Five is just compulsories - maths Eng x 2, science x2. No options at all!

5 is very low and really limits choices for post year 11.

One of my ds did 12 , the other did 11- I think it’s more common in Welsh medium schools where they do Welsh Lit and Lang on top of the English Lit and Lang, and Maths is 2 separate results (maths and numeracy), then there’s 2 or 3 sciences and our school allowed 3 additional options. Top set maths also took additional maths.

9 but also did stats a year early, which will be the norm for the school from now on. So 10 overall if not doing separate sciences

9 plus an extra thing like a Silver Art Award or Business Studies or some Math (which isn’t a GCSE at the school). But the minimum was 8, max 10, which was usually their native foreign which they took in Y10. Some also took Further Math GCSE as an extra.

5 but my ds went to a specialist SEN school.

What benefit is 8 or 9 GCSEs?

8 or 9 at son's school
9 or 10 at daughter's

Don’t know about minimum but at our secondary they encourage 9, with mfl done in year 9 so only actually 8 in years 10 and 11

I do feel more able kids should be allowed to do more, 8 feels pretty limiting

some options can be replaced with other qualifications

I did 12 in the 90s

If you do 2 English, 2 science and 1
maths like most kids do that’s 5. If you want to keep your options open to do anything other than those subjects at a level then you need more GCSEs. So for example something like geography/history, an MFL, perhaps an arts subject or extra science, ends up as a broad curriculum and a good mix when it comes to picking a-levels or whatever else you want to do next

It was 10.5 (separate science and RS)
9.5 (Combined science and RS)

Now it is 9.5 or 8.5, although some students may do less.

They have to study far too many subjects. English literature should not be compulsory (I know some students drop the subject).

I’d question any school routinely offering less than 8. I work in a school with a large number of disadvantaged students and the vast majority do 9. Some do 10 or 11 if they do triple science and/or a ‘home’ language (e.g Polish, Russian etc not taught at school but spoken at home). Very, very few do less than 9.

10 -12
10 if combined science
11 if triple
12 if triple and further maths
Every one does 2 Eng, 2 science maths RE and 4 options
I think it's a lot.
DD1 did 27 exams last year

Nine. If doing triple science that counts as one of your 9 subjects.

Doing less than 8 limits options later on, Universities look at the scores of your top 8 subjects. I'd be moving schools, it's obviously failing.

10-12 depending on the child, in a rural non-selective independent.

10, NW Eng