The Student Room Group

Double Science vs Triple Science?

I'm in year 11 and am about to tackle my gcse's. I'm in an accelerated group for science, and I'd appreciate some advice about the Double Science and Triple Science awards!

Does anybody else feel pushed to achieve an unrealistic target?
Do we as the students have any rights to choosing our owns courses?
Is anybody else in a similar position?


I'd really appreciate you to read this whole post. I understand its long, but i really think it will apply to so many people!

A little background history to help you understand my situation:
I'm considered a 'bright' student, for my gcse's I am targetted A*'s across the board with a couple of A's
I was placed in top set science in year 8 (2006-07) and told we were the only set to be doing our SATS a year early, as a test group. We all agreed because let's be honest, SATS are pretty useless anyway (so annoyed we were the last year to do them before they were abolished!)
We were told that by doing them a year early, we'd have an extra year to concentrate on gcse's because they actually matter. We all agreed.
I got a grade lower than the majourity of my classmates in my science SATS, i got a 6 and most people got 7's.

At the start of Year 9, we were told that we were going to do a module of our science GCSE at the end of year 9. I was thoroughly confused at this, as we had been told we'd have an extra year to do our gcse's...not that we'd do part of it 3 years early! Our whole class had been set A* target's for the Triple Science award we had been entered for...even the ones like me who had acieved a 6 at SATS. After a term of GCSE science when i was just 13, i was struggling and asked to be moved down a set, or to change my target. I was told this was not possible, as the rest of our year were studying for SATS and i'd already done them. I argued they had been the one to enter me early in the first place, but they refused to move me down or change my target.

We did our module at the end of year 9, and i along with a number of others in my set achieved a B grade in biology, chemistry and physics, although the majourity of my class scored A*'s across the board. The school blamed my grade on that i can't of revised hard enough (which i argued is untrue, as infact i had worked really hard and would've completely failed otherwise. In fact i was very proud of having achieved B's, as that is what i had worked hard for).

We took another module of the triple science at the end of year 10, and i again achieved B's across all three of the sciences. I was flagged up by my school as an underachiever (despite being right on target for all of my other subjects) and told that it was revision techniques that was my problem (again untrue, as i worked hard again). I argued that my targets were too high, and i was simply capable of achieveing a B and that i had been set too early. What is the compulsion for school's to accellerate student's at such young ages, for my case i had just turned 13 when i sat a gcse module intended for a 16 year old!

So here's the stage i'm at now
-I have less than a week until my final biology module, and just over a week for my physics and chemistry.
-I have comepltely lost motivation for all of the science's. I have never had any intention of furthering my education in science to A Level and now i have even less intention.
-Despite this, i am on track for A*'s in all my other subjects and i intend to get them by working my arse off, and i have discovered i have a passion for the humanities, which is what i will be studying for A Level.

I'm aiming high, i'd love to get to Oxford but im realistic enough to realise that my triple sciene has really let me down. The set's below us are doing the double science award, and are ALL achieveing A's-A*'s. I feel that i was set far too early - and just because i'm good at humities doesn't mean i'm good at science - right? The subjects are completely different but it was assumed that I am just as good at science.

A few weeks ago, a boy in my class who is struggling like me was offered a chance to drop the course, and get a double science qualification. He said he wanted to continue witht the course as he intends to do it A Level. A few days ago, i realised - hang on? Isn't this what i've been asking for the past 4 years? Why haven't i been offered this choice? I've written countless letters to the school asking to drop the subject to concentrate other subjects, but its always come to a dead end where they assume i'm just lazy at science.

I approached the teacher a few days ago, and explained that i'd like to take up the offer of dropping the triple science. Sheepishly, she explained that it had meerly been a 'threat to make him work harder'. I countered that if he had taken up her offer, surely the school would've had to make it possible for him? She was lost for words. She said she understood why i was angry but she wasn't sure how possible it would be.

Is anybody else in a similar position? I feel like i've been in a constand battle with my school, and that I've been completely mis-regarded and ignored. Do we as the students have any rights to choosing our owns courses? I was told there was no other option to doing Triple Science, but now it sounds like there was the option of DOuble Science all along. It makes no difference to me either way, as doing science's early has left me completely unmotivated - for me, science is a compulsury subject that i just want to get over with, i have other priorities.

If i'm aiming for Oxford, then GCSE's really matter. I'm worried this may jepodise my chances, but has the school made a mistake in mis-representing what my course entail's and now i wonder if they've been concealing this other 'Double Science' option from me this whole time.

I'd really appreciate everybodies opinions on this. I'm sure there are many more like me who feel pushed and pushed and pushed to achieve something so out of reach. Thankyou.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
DOUBLE ALWAYS.

you will NEVER need triple for anything trust me


btw i didnt read the post cos it was too long
maybesBABY
DOUBLE ALWAYS.

you will NEVER need triple for anything trust me


btw i didnt read the post cos it was too long


Triple is more interesting, and just looks good on paper.
Reply 3
Awesomesauce
Triple is more interesting, and just looks good on paper.


if you don't like science...no it definitely is not.

and i doubt the uni's actually give a toss whether you did double or triple as long as you had A's (for the top 10 unis).
Reply 4
God, little things like this do not matter whatsoever. In 2 years time you will look back and cringe at how much you thought GCSEs mattered. Learn that.
Reply 5
for me, it was either triple or Btec science :/ you on AQA for biology? i'm crapping myself for friday, we haven't finished being taught the specification yet D:
if you want to do any sciences in A levels you should surely do triple as you will have more experience with the seperate sciences
Reply 7
Ellytea
If i'm aiming for Oxford, then GCSE's really matter.


Not as much as you might think. A few of Bs at GCSE are not a problem for Oxford, especially if they are not in relevant subjects. It's your A-levels that matter.

Your school's approach does seem rather strange - there's no real point in taking GCSE modules early.
Reply 8
Ellytea
Does anybody else feel pushed to achieve an unrealistic target?
Do we as the students have any rights to choosing our owns courses?
Is anybody else in a similar position?
Of course they do have rights to choose whatever.

... SATS are pretty useless anyway
Useless as an indicator of [potential] ability, yes. They may both overestimate and underestimate one's abilities.

i got a 6 and most people got 7's.
Like that matters.

as we had been told we'd have an extra year to do our gcse's...not that we'd do part of it 3 years early!
I'm sure they intend for those who haven't achieved A*s to give the option to re-sit later on.
We took another module of the triple science at the end of year 10, and i again achieved B's across all three of the sciences. I was flagged up by my school as an underachiever (despite being right on target for all of my other subjects) and told that it was revision techniques that was my problem (again untrue, as i worked hard again).
Or maybe your 'techniques' were indeed problematic. GCSEs are a little different from SATs and you need to adapt accordingly.
accellerate student's at such young ages, for my case i had just turned 13 when i sat a gcse module intended for a 16 year old!
So the best ones finish some of their GCSEs early to do more stuff later on and those others who haven't achieved enough re-sit.

-I have less than a week until my final biology module, and just over a week for my physics and chemistry.
-I have comepltely lost motivation for all of the science's. I have never had any intention of furthering my education in science to A Level and now i have even less intention.
Do that, it's mainly memorisation to be honest.
-Despite this, i am on track for A*'s in all my other subjects and i intend to get them by working my arse off, and i have discovered i have a passion for the humanities, which is what i will be studying for A Level.
Sciences at GCSE are very different to sciences at A Level. I found GCSE relatively boring compared to other subjects whereas A Level was far more interesting.

I'm aiming high, i'd love to get to Oxford but im realistic enough to realise that my triple sciene has really let me down.
Triple Science is not a single subject. Double Science is. You might end up with A* in Physics and Bs in Chemistry/Biology.
The set's below us are doing the double science award, and are ALL achieveing A's-A*'s.
Maybe they have better teachers? Maybe they're revising more efficiently than your set, who sound to be high-flyers but forget that they have to do things in a more compatible way?
I feel that i was set far too early - and just because i'm good at humities doesn't mean i'm good at science - right? The subjects are completely different but it was assumed that I am just as good at science.
Being great in GCSE subjects has pretty much nothing to do with being great at subjects themselves. You might be great in science but still **** up your exams, to be honest.

A few weeks ago, a boy in my class who is struggling like me was offered a chance to drop the course, and get a double science qualification. He said he wanted to continue witht the course as he intends to do it A Level. A few days ago, i realised - hang on? Isn't this what i've been asking for the past 4 years? Why haven't i been offered this choice? I've written countless letters to the school asking to drop the subject to concentrate other subjects, but its always come to a dead end where they assume i'm just lazy at science.
You need to ask through your parents. My school was full of crap in terms of anyone asking to do what they want to do (even at A Level). They're just too lazy to make a few phonecalls, re-arrange timetables and such... Or just too paranoid that you'll have an 'empty' lesson unlike other students whose day is filled.

i've been in a constand battle with my school, and that I've been completely mis-regarded and ignored.
Fight more then... go there every day, offering slightly varied propositions so they can't simply say "go away".

I was told there was no other option to doing Triple Science, but now it sounds like there was the option of DOuble Science all along. It makes no difference to me either way, as doing science's early has left me completely unmotivated - for me, science is a compulsury subject that i just want to get over with, i have other priorities.
Of course there was, but it seems that you've left it way too late, given your exams are now.

If i'm aiming for Oxford, then GCSE's really matter.
A Levels are far more important.
I'm worried this may jepodise my chances,

If you're outstanding, you'll get in.
but has the school made a mistake in mis-representing what my course entail's
Hang on, you said you preferred humanities.. Fix up right there!
and now i wonder if they've been concealing this other 'Double Science' option from me this whole time.
You probably had a chance to ask for this double option before your timetables were all set quite a while ago?

I'd really appreciate everybodies opinions on this. I'm sure there are many more like me who feel pushed and pushed and pushed to achieve something so out of reach. Thankyou.


How I see it: optimise your studying and revision and make sure you squeeze out every bit that you can. These subjects are separate (curricula might have changed, so pardon me if I'm wrong here), so I'm sure it won't be a problem. Triple science only has a little more content, but is pretty much the same as Double science otherwise. Just work through it and you'll get your grades. GCSEs = mainly memorisation in most subjects, to be honest.

I'm very sure you can't change anything now since exams are coming very soon and changing to double science (which might be possible with late entry and missing your triple exams) will make things far worse than they already are. You'd know that double science really isn't easier, it only has less content.

Universities will place much more weight on your A Levels, personal statements, entrance tests, your engagement and the like (grades... they're not everything, believe me). Well, and your spelling and grammar, if you're planning on taking yourself into humanities.
Reply 9
double double double double
Wow, OP you talk too much :\ I read the first sentence at most.
Yeah got a bit bored of reading that but my whole year is like the "guinee pig" year of my school and we all had to sit an ict gcse in year 9. We had one 30 minute period a week and were only told half way through year 9 so of course we had all just being messing around up to this point and nobody had put in any effort into the "projects" that turned out to be our coursework. Needless to say the majority of my year performed extremely badly and the year below us did not have to do the gcse. Ah well I got my A.

Anyway your situation is a bit worse than mine I guess because your sciences are more important than my stupid ict but you can't really change the situation you are in now so just try to hardest to do well in the upcoming exams to bring up your grades a bit higher. Just try your hardest and remember your gcse grades are not everything and if you want to do something unrelated at uni your science grades will not be the be all end all.

I don't really know what else to say you are in a crappy situation and your school sounds particularly unhelpful but sadly there's not much you can do but try to perform your best in your exams.

Good luck
maybesBABY
if you don't like science...no it definitely is not.

and i doubt the uni's actually give a toss whether you did double or triple as long as you had A's (for the top 10 unis).


Yep your right tbh. I just personally enjoy triple more as I am a science-maths guy.
Ellytea

my science SATS, i got a 6 and most people got 7's.



That doesn't matter one bit lol. I got 6, and many got 7 in my class, but now I would consider myself one of the top students in my science class getting better grades than most.

In year 9, I didn't know what revision meant. Anyway gl hf. :woo:
Triple helps a lot bridging the gap between GCSE and A level.
Reply 15
I think triple can depend. I did my core science in January of year 10, half of my triple science summer of year 10 and the other summer of year 11 and I really liked this. It allowed me to spread it across a bit. I liked triple because it meant that I could stuff up one science and do well in the others which I thought was good because I always saw myself at being worse at physics. In the end up it didn't make a difference as I got B's in them all. So for me doing triple took some of the pressure off. (I go 6 in my SATS...they dont make a difference to be honest on what you are going to get but most subjects at first when going into GCSE's will look at them for targets as they might not know your ability. I was in the top set though for my side of the year I think).

As for targets. Ignore them. Most of mine at GCSE's were wrong. I was predicted all A's and A*'s and then came out with well look in my sig. It doesn't matter if you don't reach you predicted grades and it also does not mean that you weren't working as hard as they thought you could. Things like that are hard to predict so they are going to get it wrong every now and again.

Good luck anyway!
Triple is interesting, it looks good on paper and gives you more knowledge for A-level/IB. Double looks less impressive (to me anyway) since my class doing triple covered all the additional content for double in one term and took the exams in January, while the sets doing double are learning it through the entire year and have the double content exams in June.
If your really interested in science... i would still go for Double, from experience: Universities dont give two ***** about your GCSE's unless you applying for an extremely competitive course.
Triple Science is a no brainer.Gives you options later.

I did Bio, Chem, Phys & GStudies at A level. I could have done any science, geography, business studies, politics, economics and loads of others at Uni with those. I know someone who got into Japanese Studies on that combination too ;-)

Actually Phys, Chem, Maths is the "Lock Key" combination.

Anyway, boredom aside - these subjects will keep you flexible. They get you to think and are numerate. Take them as far as you can. Don't close doors before you have to.
Tl;dr.

I did Triple Science, didn't have a choice in the matter - I've been in Set One for Science since starting secondary school, and everyone in Set One has to do Triple Science. I can't recommend it or tell you not to do it, seeing as I really don't care about it. I get three GCSEs instead of two, which is cool, but I'm not doing any Sciences at college, so I don't really need it, it's just an extra GCSE.

Quick Reply

Latest