GCSEs : How many do children take these days in the UK?

Question

My son is choosing his options for Year 10. It looks as though he will have to choose 12 (two of which are at AS level)! I did O levels and we used to take 8 or 9 and I found that quite hard. Are GCSEs less work than the old O level?

Also the school has told us that it is Government policy now that ALL students take a GCSE in RE and also that his school, having a "Technology" specialism means it is also compulsory that he takes a Design and Tech BTEC. Is this the case?

Can anyone help update my knowledge of the school system? I have asked the teachers but most of them are too young to even know what an O level is!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

i am in year 10 so i know the school system very well. We choose are subjects we want to do in year 9 and in year 10 the work towards the gcse's start. Almost, all coursework is completed in year 10 and then year 11 it's purely working for the exams.

At m y school RE is compulsory. However, we only half to do the short course RE GCSE. This means that we only do the RE exam, there is no coursework. It's worth finding more about if the school your son is at does short course RE. Also, if your sons school specialises in DT then it will definietly be compulsory. however, there are a range of technology's he can choose from such as resistant materials or graphics etc.

I am surprised that he iis doing 12! I don't know a school that does that many. The average i'd say is about 9/10/11. I'd ask the school if thats correct - if its true, id advise cutting down a few gcses because sixth forms and colleges tend to look for really good grades - if there are too many gcses your son is taking then it can affect his grade. personally, i'd rather do less GCSE'S and get better grades than lots of gcses' with not so good grades.

GCSE'S are pretty hard exams - whether they are harder or easier than the O levels i dont know.



hope this helped!

Answer 2

I am doing 13 at my school. They are:

Maths

English Language

English Literature

Biology

Chemistry

Physics

ICT (Double Award)

RE

German

Design and Technology-Textiles

Latin

Geography



Maths, English, and Science are compulsory in UK

RE is compulsory in our school, but I'm not sure about the rest of the UK

ICT is compulsory at my school.

We also had to choose a language, a Design Tech and two more options of our choice (one can be a second foreign language).

Really, when you consider all the restrictions, you aren't given as much choice as you would think you would get. I don't see why we have to do a DT, ICT and RE.

Answer 3

i am in year 11 about to do my GCSE's. the normal amount of GSCEs taken are 9 or 10. any more and it is quite hard to cope with all the work and coursework. i have a friend who did 11 and she is very clever and she ended up having to drop one seeing as there was too much work.even if your son is very clever and can handle alot of work, he should also consider the fact that in the summer term he will not have as much time to revise his subjects if he will have 'extra' subjects. also only certain schools allow students to take 12 GCSEs because it is not that common (he will probably have to do lessons out side of school ) so if his school allow it and he is confident with handling work and so on then i think he should go for it! also in september (2008) most GCSE courses are changing becoming a bit harder so if his school has decided to change the courses he should think carefully seeing as most subjects require alot of time. Good luck!

Answer 4

Well at my school.

Im year 10 by the way, so I just choose mine before the summer holidays 2007.



Compulsary lessons:

Maths

English (English literature comes under that)

Science

R.E

P.E

ICT was also compulsary but we had to choose it in one of our option blocks.



We were allowed 4 options and the compulsary lessons. We could choose from:

BTEC Sport

BTEC Dance

Business studies

DT Graphics

DT Woodwork

DT Cooking

DT Textiles

Music

Art

Drama

Media Studies

And we were allowed to pick 3 of those, the BTECS took up 2 option's though, so if you choose BTEC sport or BTEC dance you have to choose ICT aswell so you only get one more choice.

Answer 5

well by law you are to take:

English (1 GCSE)

English Lit (1 GCSE)

Maths (1 GCSE)

RE / IS/ Citizenship (1 GCSE or 1/2 GCSE depending on paper)

Applied science (2 GCSEs) / Double Award Science (2 GCSEs) / Triple award science (3 GCSEs)



Specialist colleges will make you take their course e.g. if they are a technology college then they will make you take a technology and ICT.



More and more schools now require students to pick a language.



There are now things called GNVQs VGCSEs and BTECs, which are worth more than just 1 GCSE



The average amount of subjects taken is 8/9, but some subjects are worth more than 1 GCSE

I took nine subjects and came out with 13 GCSEs



and to the answer above, that programme was fake. i took my GCSEs last year, and not one of my papers was a multiple answer question, they were ALL written.

Answer 6

I'm from the O-level era too.I saw a programme in this.They were testing people on O-levels then equivalilent GCSE's and it worked out that although they got higher percentages in GCSE's-when they got an A in a GCSE they'd get about a C in an O-level cos it was worked out differently then.In O-levels it was worked out that only a certain percent could get a particular grade.The standard has DEFINATELY gone down.They also do most or all by multiple choice aswell now so it's basically the equivilent to CSE's.

The fact they're taking more topics aswell tells us that they're not going into as much depth either!

I've actually been thinking of doing afew GCSE's now(on modern subjects to keep up) as they are gonna be so easy to pass and get a good grade on stuff like computing which we didn't have when I was at school!!



I'll let you know that it was not a fake and some of them don't have multiple choice.It's just a FACT that they are alot easier than O-levels!!!!It's been tried,tested and proven!

Answer 7

it depends on the skool

i am taking 11 GCSEs

but 1 is the RE short course and another is an extra half GCSE in ICT

so it really depends on the skool some of my friends are taking 9 others are taking lots (they go to a private skool) lol



and no theyre not gettin any easier, every1 keeps askin that and it really annoys me becuase i put lots of work in to them and for someone to say that i get gd grades coz theyr easy tests is really annoyin, my parents both did well in there O levels and neither of them understand or can do alot of the work im doing.

Answer 8

We do nine at our school. The standard sort of formula of subjects is:

English

Maths

Science

Religous Studies

Technology (Food, Graphics, Electronics, Resistant Materials or Textiles)

Language (NVQ German or French, German, French or Spanish)

Two other options (Music, Art, An additional language, Georgraphy, History, Buisness Studies, IT, Certificate/Diploma in Digital Applications)



Twelve subjects sounds really intensive.

Answer 9

I 've studied in Uk and I took my graduate in 2003.

I chose these subjects in my GCSE:

maths, English language, English literature, Biology, Physic, chemistry, ICT, history , french, Art,latin and Spanish.



Maths, English, Science , ICT, and french were compulsory.



We also had to chose a language (Spanish, Italian or German) an art (Art and design, Music..), Two humanitis( latin, history, Geography or RE)

In my school I was able to choose twelve subjects.

Answer 10

Altogether I am doing 12- 3 I have already done, the other 9 in the summer.

Answer 11

No i does not, the older i'm getting and the extra of existence I see the extra i think of that to be undemanding is superb, human beings circulate after action picture star, yet have they have been given a extra suited existence? there are merely some chuffed relationships among them, extra advantageous than sufficient addictions and psychological wellbeing themes, their seems are continually held up for grievance, they are the two too fat, too skinny advert nauseum, and in my journey new child prodigies are many times bloody unhappy grown-ups.

Answer 12

I'll have done eleven and a half by June. I didi do one last year though and I'm doing two of the three A-Level French Moduals too. Sciences at GSCE are Modual so you can forget it after the exam!

Answer 13

1

Answer 14

English Lang

English Lit

Maths

ICT 1

ICT 2

Citizenship

History

Food

German

Science

Answer 15

things have chenged a lot since the old o levels and school in general isn't as hard which sux because people need to be challenged more but he still should only have 9 or 10 options.I'm taking English(compulsory),Maths(compulsory),English lit which my new headmistress has only just made compulsory, French, Art, Music,R.S.(R.E),dual award science because i cant fit seperate in because of eng lit....that's the general idea

Answer 16

between 9 and 11, yes GCSEs are easier then the old GCE's

Answer 17

Well Now its changed..

Year 9's do there GCSE's now..As they choose there option Year 8-SUMMER.

As before it was year 9 - Summer .