How many GCSEs is 'enough'

[Katiestar]

At my DS s school they have to do a minimum of 10 but can do more.When does an additional GCSE add no more value ?
Do GCSE s contribute to UCAS points or is it just A and AS levels now ?

I don't think they count towards much but are handy as an extra. I did 2 extras and it bulked up my otherwise sparse Record Of Achievement I guess when it came to it they would pick a 12/13 GSCEs & x A levels over just 10?

I would say 9/10 is enough tbh

dd did 11

the grades of important ones is more important I think
some unis look at results of maths and science gcses if relevant to subject at degree level

That sounds loads to me. It used to be you needed 5 including english and maths to get into anything. I guess not now then.

Makes me feel old!

this is mumsnet choc

note to self: must hide education threads

I did 11 (back in the day) which was about right- but then i thought that was how many you had to do

Ahem,
obviously I was talking by the end of junior school, we did far, far more by the time we finished senior school.

I think 10 is ample for most things. It is certainly better to get top grades at 10 subjects, than to get lower grades on 12.

Also, if they have stacks of extas, then that's extra homework, coursework, revision, exams to eat into their freetime.

The only exception I would make is you need to do a good whack in one go. If your school do early entry in yr9 or 10, then I think it makes sense to do some extras in yr11.

Ds1's school is already talking about early entry Maths, Science and MFL; then moving on to do AS levels or even A levels in yr10 and 11. I'm a bit personally, as I'm not sure I see the point.

Nowadays, you need English, Science (double award) or the separate sciences (biology, chemistry and physics) and maths all at C or above. Any thing else is unnecessary. except to make the total up to "5 good GCSEs or above" which is the usual rquirement for entry to 6th form with any chance of success.

Mind you, in my youth, (Days of the dinosaurs) I needed the above plus 2 languages to get into Oxford to study Chemistry

There is to much emphasis on getting lots of GCSEs, let the rest of the curriculum be freer and not all geared towards lots of exams

We only did 8 when I was at shchool.

I thought I was ace for having done an extra GCSE at the same time as A levels,

DD just put in her options, I worked out that the most they could do was;

3 x Science
2 x English
5 x ICT (they will do 1 this year so 4 in the GCSE years)
1 x Geography
1 x History
1 x Maths
1 x RE
2 x Other (options - including languages, technology etc)

So, if they wanted to, they could come out with 16 GCSEs, seems a bit much IMO (unless GCSEs have got a lot harder than when I was at school!)

DD decided she would only take 12 which seems a sensible idea to me!

dd is doing

Maths, English Lit, English Lang, Spanish, History, Triple Science, Drama, Business Studies.

She has German and ICT short course and PE short course (equivalent points value to half a GCSE each). She's also doing German Asset Level 3 (whatever that is)and Critical Thinking AS. I think its quite a lot

Blimey, we could only do 9 O Levels and that was at a Grammar School (about 100 years ago). We had to do 1 hour of sport a day and/or community service though... I think good grades across a range of subjects is the important thing, maybe with some time left over to do other things?

, of course I meant to say "(unless GCSEs have got a lot easier than when I was at school!)

I have 9 which was great the year I did them - it was more than most because music was split in two.

How on earth people do more in the same school day with coursework...

I would say that if you are doing A levels you need to do enough to cover those, plus the maths and english you will need. The extra time would be better spent playing sport, reading a book through choice rather than only doing the syllabus, playing a musical instrument and having a life outside school.

Our system is different and I would be happy for ds to get the minimum points and be a rounded individual with lots of other interests.

I read in the paper about one very bright boy who had enough points to go to uni a year and a half early so he went to live in Germany for a year, because he wanted to do German at Uni. Technically he was still enrolled at his very flexible school. in the wrong school (for him) they would have had him getting a million pointless credits.

It wasn't until I had a family that I realised that if I was going to continue to study I had to accept that merely being good would allow me time to enjoy ds and dh, whereas being excellent would have taken all my time.

Very old grammar school girl here and we did 8 O levels plus one in lower sixth plus another one in upper sixth plus S level (harder A level). I thought that was hard but it sound wimpy compared to the numbers now!

People my age (v.v.old) used to do 9. Then it got ridiculous and pupils starting doing 14/15, some in daft subjects. Now it's gone back to 10 as the norm. Quality not quantity counts.

I think 10 is probably about enough for a bright child to prove themselves.

The key is to be broad and balanced.

5 ICT? Crazy - not worth the paper they are printed on. One is fine... but five?

i would have thought to gain a good pass in English, maths, a couple of sciences, a language would be all a university or colege or employer would be looking at more than 20 gcse which include several passes on the one subject.

Some of these courses that are worth 2, 3 or even 5 GCSEs (eg CIDA and DIDA in ICT or COPE or NCS) are simply not equivalent to rigorous study of 'academic' subjects.

To the people that matter these sort of subjects and mega-qualifications are worth little or nothing depending on the context.

Now, if you tell me you've got a As in History and French, for example, then we know what you're talking about. Those qualifications demonstrate a certain commitment on your part to serious study and hard work, and prove that you've achieved a certain level of competence.

[NCS is a useful qualification, but it's "equivalent value" in terms of GCSEs is just nonsense.]

5 gcses in ICT is (apparently) the equivelent of an A level education so taking it would mean you could go through to Uni with an ICT A level equivelent and spend your actual A level time on something more suited to your course.

Or so I was told.

I thought it was hogwash, so did DD and her Dad so she is not doing it!

DD did 11 (in one sitting) but that did include Triple Science which was an extra one to the standard 10.

10 is common, 9 is plenty, especially if all sat in same exam period.

UCAS points are all from A/AS levels, but Cambridge have a points sytems for GCSE's (see Appendix C here )

Hi
Thanks for your reply.
WRT the ICT 5 GCSE thing , we were told whennwelooked round a comp that this is a bit of a fudge so that less academic children can get 5 GCSEs .I don't know how a prospective university would view it ?

All children have to do

English Lang
English Lit
Maths
French
Biology
Physics
Chemistry
and Engineering or a DT subject

and as options he will choose
Spanish
Music

I think as many have said that is a broad and balanced base. I would much rather he got good grades in these subjects .They have to get a minimum of 7 Bs to get into the 6th form

I think that is an excellent choice of GCSEs leaving your DS plenty of options as to A Level choices and beyond. There is no need to take any more subjects which will only cut into his remaining leisure time. DS2 did similar subjects and though not tremendously academic, has got 5 UCAS offers from reasonably universities.