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 ?

my son who is so far predicted to get A at maths gcse is doing the btec it and business course. shall i tell him it's a waste of his time then?

Message from our DS grammar school is that 10 is plenty - quality not quantity - and that it's important to take them in one sitting. Only one set is allowed to take maths early and they have to be solid A* to do that. More important that they are old fashioned academic subjects. Someone told me that you list your GCSEs in grade order on UCAS form and that they didn't look beyond first six.Is that right?
So much pressure on our DC it's ridiculous....

No, you don't have to list your GCSEs in grade order on the UCAS application!!!

But there is nothing to stop you if you want to...

When I was at uni, there was a guy on my course who had 9 or 10 GCSEs and 6 or 7 A levels - he'd done 3 of them when he was 16 (rather than extra GCSEs), and it meant he got an unconditional uni offer (because he already had those results). Not sure how practical it would be for most people, but the idea of doing extra study at a higher level (rather than just more subjects at GCSE) seemed very sensible to me.

I find that bright Y10s and Y11s grasp their GCSE material very quickly and are ready to move onwards and upwards. They would not be served well by just doing more of the same.

At my dd's school they are only allowed to take 10 - a lot take 9 - because they are also expected to do Duke of Edinburgh, music exams, do old lady's shopping, be Sports leaders, volunteer for things and generally make a nuisance of themselves in the local community at the same time.

Very sensible. Having no hobbies or interests because you are doing 15 GCSEs will look terrible on your UCAS form and make you a veyr stressed and boring teenager.

My ds1 is doing 14.5
But doing 3.5 this year
All hefty academic
He's happy and wanted to do double engineering
I said no.
The school say as he is sitting some a year early he's ok.
He is aiming for Oxbridge