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Are some GCSEs worth more than others?

Just a thought here but are they?
eg. is Latin > Music or ICT or is German >Media studies because when people say they have 10 A*s everyone thinks "wow" but if they aren't good subjects then it isn't that impressive. Sorry for the thread i'm just bored of revision

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Reply 1

YuDunno

acm345

Aww.!

Take a break :smile:

Reply 2

Bakerbaker

awww lol

Yes and no: i dont think you can say 10A*s isnt good, considering there's some subjects they have to do that are quite difficult to get * eg english.

However, i would always consider a hard subject eg latin better than RE etc.

Reply 3

charrrlotte.ox

LATIN SHOULD BE WORTH THREE GCSES.

i still maintain this.

Reply 4

acm345

YuDunno

Aww.!

Take a break :smile:

thanks i'll take a nap now

Reply 5

acm345

Bakerbaker

yeah but i chose latin and german and find those quite easy so isn't it relative to how hard they are? also would universities think that?

Reply 6

<3 biology!

charrrlotte.ox

LATIN SHOULD BE WORTH THREE GCSES.

It really should. :yep:

Reply 7

darkmatterii

|I think it is far more evident at A-Level, since we assume that at GCSE you will do Maths, English, Science, a DT, a Modern Language, etc.

At A-Level you could do anything, and for instance, I am doing English Lit, Maths, Computing and Modern History (looking at 3 Bs and a C at the end of my A-Levels) - whereas someone in my English Class is doing English, Photography and Politics. We are both doing Law next year, but due to here getting 2 As and a B as an easy aim (Every single person in our year got an A in their politics paper in January) she has much brighter University choices...

it's my fault for taking hard ones I suppose :P:

Reply 8

charrrlotte.ox

<3 biology!

It really should. :yep:

we only ever talk on here when we're slagging off latin :L

Reply 9

Bakerbaker

Latin is far harder and i believe unis do consider it more worthwhile....however, having said that, even latin has become far easier recently with about 40% getting A*s...

Reply 10

username244734

I think some things are worth more (History, Geography) but others may not be considered so great... But 10A*s are great no matter what the subject XD

Reply 11

acm345

CityOfMyHeart

I think some things are worth more (History, Geography) but others may not be considered so great... But 10A*s are great no matter what the subject XD

Yeah but does 10A* look any better than like 7/8 A* if they are in worse subjects?

Reply 12

username244734

acm345

Yeah but does 10A* look any better than like 7/8 A* if they are in worse subjects?

Nope. But generally speaking, if you were to say "I have 10 A*s" or "I have 7 A*s" people would still be impressed.

Reply 13

Hravan

To be fair you need the best grades in the core subjects at GCSE : Maths, English and Science. It's at A level where the whole "hard" and "soft" subjects thing starts to appear. (I don't agree with it btw.)

However, as far as I'm concern my B grade GCSE Astronomy is worth more than my 2A*s and 5As combined. Reason? a) only around 300 people take in the UK (well in the year I did it) and only half of those are school pupils (the rest are mainly amateur adult astronomers), b) it wasn't an option as part of my school time. I did it after-school on a Friday. On a Friday! c) I only had a third of the usual teaching time and d) the exam was on my 16th birthday!. So that B is pretty damn good :cool:

Reply 14

sundance_kid

acm345

Yeah but does 10A* look any better than like 7/8 A* if they are in worse subjects?

7/8 A* is hardly bad. :rolleyes:

And I doubt it would come down to comparing merits of individual GCSEs, there are other (more important) things like AS + A2 module scores.

Reply 15

laurenlodge

charrrlotte.ox

LATIN SHOULD BE WORTH THREE GCSES.

i still maintain this.

Agreed x like 1000.

More work required in exam leave than the rest of my subjects put together. :indiff:

Reply 16

Αξιολογος

Bakerbaker

Latin is far harder and i believe unis do consider it more worthwhile....however, having said that, even latin has become far easier recently with about 40% getting A*s...

Does that not have something to do with self-selection, i.e people only take Latin to GCSE if they are good at it? This also feeds into the whole idea that subjects are only 'hard' if you're not good at them.

I don't know if it's getting easier, it's a fair while now since I sat it.

Reply 17

MathsHamster

Bakerbaker

Latin is far harder and i believe unis do consider it more worthwhile....however, having said that, even latin has become far easier recently with about 40% getting A*s...

Thing is, most people doing latin are private school students with a greater chance of success or bright state school students who have taken it as an option because they like it and want to do well in it. This means a higher proportion of people get A*s than in a subject like english, which everybody takes regardless of intelligence.

Reply 18

ildoanything

seriously... if u r thinking about doing a levels... ur gcses wont matter at all afterwards :smile:

i stressed so much over them... got A's and B's (not record breaking i know but it was good for me... i worked HARD!) but once u start AS levels they are COMPLETELY forgotten about. so long as u get minimum requirements for sixth form/college, dont think it matters WHAT they are... :smile: