Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Discussion and advice on GCSEs

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by loobylou »

Hi, I have a dd who will be in the 2019 cohort. Is there anyone else with children in year 9?
We have the options evening next week but dd still has a few weeks to decide.
Other than maths, 2 English and triple science she is thinking she will do:
History, geography, RE and music plus either French (been doing it longer therefore better at it) or Spanish (prefers it but not sure if she just prefers the teacher whom she has no guarantees of getting again!).
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by ToadMum »

Unless both he and I have completely misunderstood something, DS2 'only' seems to be taking 10, so will be continuing with History and Art alongside the main six and their compulsory RS and MFL. He would much rather swap the RS for Computer Science; in DS1' s day at the same school they only had to do the short course (the 'ethics' bit) and their sister (year 11, different school) doesn't have to take RS as an examination subject at all.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by loobylou »

No dd doesn't have to do it either but really enjoys it. It seems a shame to have so few choices. It must really narrow down the options for A level. Dd is fairly sure of her favourites but is well aware that could change.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by Guest55 »

Remember the GCSEs are linear now so the workload for 10 is enough. When O levels were around 8 or 9 was considered to be 'enough' ...
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by loobylou »

Guest55 wrote:Remember the GCSEs are linear now so the workload for 10 is enough. When O levels were around 8 or 9 was considered to be 'enough' ...
Yes when I did O'levels I think we mostly did 9. I did 10 but I did maths AO (?possibly. I have forgotten the name of it. We did it if we did Maths early)
But it seems we still had plenty of choice. Loads of my friends did just one science and you could pick chemistry or biology rather than just doing "science" - that meant they could still do lots of other subjects.
Dd is very humanities focused. If she only did 10 subjects then she would do history, geography and RS as her choices so she would just fit them in but not have space for anything else. However she would be perfectly happy to only do 2 sciences - this does not seem to be an option any longer? (I know double science exists but at their school this does not mean you can pick something else - just that the same number of lessons are taken up teaching/learning double instead of triple science). It seems that children who are planning to continue with sciences are better served by the school (DfE?) requirements.
Hera
Posts: 856
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by Hera »

The double and triple science confused me when my DS was taking his options too. With double science they still study all 3 sciences just not in so much depth. For us the school rather than the children decided who did double and who did triple a long time after the options had been selected.
russet
Posts: 243
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:46 pm

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by russet »

What is the difference between triple science and taking physics, chemistry and biology separately?
Dd is in year 9. Their school does GCSE over 3 years and most will sit 11, so they have picked already.
I think it is good to have at least 1 language. Also art can be very time consuming, so I would say it is only a good choice if it is one they are keen on and not if it is a "what to do for the last GCSE."
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by Guest55 »

Triple Science gives you three separate GCSEs ie GCSE Biol, Chem and Physics.
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by ToadMum »

Guest55 wrote:Triple Science gives you three separate GCSEs ie GCSE Biol, Chem and Physics.
And to add to that, Double Science leads to two GCSEs, Core Science and Additional Science, each being the product of testing knowledge in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. So the qualification is structured 'horizontally', so to speak, with a grade for each of two levels across all three subjects, rather than 'vertically' with a grade for each subject separately.

Although I think that in the past, when some students were put in for the Core Science papers in year 10 and the rest in year 11, it was possible to end up with 3 separate GCSEs, reflecting the same testing of the same knowledge as 'Biology', 'Chemistry' and 'Physics', but called 'Core Science', 'Additional Science' and (?)'Further Additional Science' instead.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
russet
Posts: 243
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:46 pm

Re: Children doing GCSEs 2019? Options.

Post by russet »

Is one considered more difficult or are they just the same? Also, is the content the same?
Sorry, cross posted. So is triple science just another way of saying they are doing Biol, chem and physics separately?
Last edited by russet on Thu Jan 05, 2017 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply
11 Plus Platform - Online Practice Makes Perfect - Try Now