Whether to drop English Literature (Year 11)

[Retrecir]

DD will be taking her GCSEs in under a month and we are in two minds whether to suggest she drops Eng Lit.

In her February mocks she got 9s in everything except English Literature. A couple of the 9s (including Eng Lang) were a bit borderline. However in Literature, she got a 5! She's hated English since she was little. She's a scientist to the core and cannot see the point of analysing poetry. In fairness, the 5 was a bit unexpected - she usually gets more like a 7, even an 8 on a good day, but we are worried that a rogue 5 or 6 on her CV could put paid to some of the most selective universities (Oxbridge, Imperial, Durham etc).

She's currently taking 10 subjects. Should she stick with the Eng Lit, bust a gut for an 8, but potentially neglect other subjects in doing so, and risk a couple of them also dropping to an 8? Or should she drop it, and focus on getting 9s in the remaining 9?

There's a bit of me thinking it's a completely pointless GCSE for her (almost certainly going to to study STEM at University) but on the other hand, I don't want her to learn that you should just avoid things that are hard.

Please advise!

She might as well sit the exam. I do see her point about analysing poetry though. I love reading but i don't see the point in analysing literature. It also feels stupid that you need to remember quotes. I just feel like english lit can destroy the love of reading.

I think that if she doesn’t take it then its absence would stand out like a sore thumb for universities. In normal circumstances the only kids that only do one English are those that are really low achieving.

As a graduate recruiter for a STEM subject discovering that someone had not taken a core GCSE because they were worried about doing badly in it would be a massive red flag. My job involves effectively solving problems that everyone else thinks are too hard and too scary.

I wouldn’t care at all about a 5 in Eng Lit - in my job interpreting poetry is about as useful as being able to back flip - I would care about the swerving of a difficult thing though.

in my job interpreting poetry is about as useful as being able to back flip - I would care about the swerving of a difficult thing though.

Agree on both counts. Running away from a potential problem doesn't look good.

I really don't like reading poetry. I find it so boring, although I don't mind the odd limerick. I'm such a philistine 😁

Gcse Eng lit isn’t just poetry! There are other texts and quite frankly, it’s a life skill! Scientific papers come to mind. They often need to be read and analysed. It’s a core skill and dc should recognise the skill it gives even if they are not keen on the texts. We don’t get to pick and choose everything in life. Occasionally we have to put in some effort at what we aren’t great at.

A 5 is a decent pass. Why would you drop a subject if you aren't failing it?

I don't think getting a 6 in English Literature will make a significant difference, if all her other results, especially for subjects she wants to study, and predicted grades at A level are really good. DS1 got a 6 - he got 4 9s (others 7 and 8) and got interviews for Oxford and offers including Warwick and other Russell Group universities.

She might well improve a bit on the mock grade - maybe just a look at feedback on her mock paper and any classwork, or at a course textbook with model answers and some explanation of what gets a pass mark like 5 or 6 for each question and what gets full marks - it's as much about understanding and responding properly to what's being asked as learning. Are there audio versions of her texts?

My first thought. Weird.

My second thought. If I was sifting through CVs, I'm looking for a 5 or above in Maths and English and whatever qualifications necessary for the job. If I don't see both English Language and English Literature, I'd be confused as to why both haven't been taken. I'd probably ask more questions about a missing GCSE than if she got a 5 in one and 9s in the rest.

All 9s is not the aim. I worry about the perfectionist mindset getting her to drop one would imply. It's ok to be less than perfect. As a child who had a father who withdrew affection on anything less than perfection in my exam results, it did nothing good for my mental health long term.

Unlike when I did them, both English exams are on the day performance nowadays and, with the raise of AI will stay that way, sadly. I think it's pointless them learning quotes etc but if she's able to learn them, she will probably get more than a 5 on the day. But it's also entirely possible that the Language paper is ridiculously hard or she just messes it up that day. Then she has no other English paper she's entered for.

Well, I have an update...and another dilemma.

She took the Eng Lit GCSE. She bust a gut for it - went to every revision session, practically lived in the English department, went to extra 1:1s with a lovely teacher who saw her efforts and scooped her up, wrote about a million essay plans. I was so impressed at her grit.

And... she got an 8!.

We were absolutely thrilled. I, personally, am more proud of that 8 than of anything else (strong 9s in everything else).

So now the dilemma! School have been in touch - they have suggested that we consider a review of marking because it's only 2 marks from the 9 boundary.

I am so torn. On the one hand... clean sweep of 9s has a certain ring... On the other, I think she should cherish that 8! I know if we go for a review and it comes back unchanged, she will be disappointed, and that would be such shame.

I've told her it's her decision, but she can't make her mind up - she's worried about the grade going down, which is unlikely but of course, not impossible.

Thoughts?

That is absolutely brilliant!
What’s she got to lose with a remark? Can the grade go down?

If at a top private school and wanting a very competitive course at uni, I’d expect anecdotally an extra 9 would be helpful.

Well done her for tackling a challenging subject and doing so well. She should be proud and I am glad she did this.

Honestly and despite what a PP says, an extra 9 will make no difference to her possible universities going forward. It really won’t.

To whom I wonder might “clean sweep of 9s” matter? And why? One of the few YP I know who got all 9s told most people she “got what I needed many thanks”.

As PPs noted on the thread, the quest for perfection is not a healthy one. Sooner or later something will not be perfect and it’s important to be able to deal with that. She worked hard at a subject she doesn’t enjoy, she got an absolutely excellent grade; I would leave it there and move on to A levels and enjoying those.

The grade can go down. Unlikely if it is only 2 points away from a 9. I worked one summer in a GCSE exam centre, checking marking. Sometimes marks hadn't been added up correctly, so we were moving papers from C grades to A grades and vice versa!

Congratulations to your daughter! She must have worked so hard.

Personally, I agree with your instincts that she should cherish that 8 - and I really admire how you’re instilling in your (obviously very bright daughter) the belief that trying hard is what matters and that perfection shouldn’t be the goal.

I think a “clean sweep of 9s” matters more to the school as it’s great for their publicity - I don’t think it will make an enormous difference to your daughter’s university chances.

In which case, cherish the 8!