What GCSE subjects to take?
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Unless you hate science, I can't recommend triple science enough. You really get so much more out of each science and if you choose to further one, you are at an advantage.
I would consider a language, but only if you're confident.
I would put history over geography and I don't advise music/art, they're so much work and not worth the hassle.
You don't want to be taking more than 9/10. A higher Percentage of A* is better than a high number of A*.
I would consider a language, but only if you're confident.
I would put history over geography and I don't advise music/art, they're so much work and not worth the hassle.
You don't want to be taking more than 9/10. A higher Percentage of A* is better than a high number of A*.
Original post by >Username<
DON'T choose a language. People may say it's good to have and whatever else. The work load is massive. Whatever you don't DON'T choose a language.
I.T is a good GCSE to have. But it's extremely boring.
Separate Sciences... Again the workload is massive. And if you hate Science, it will bore you to the extreme.
I.T is a good GCSE to have. But it's extremely boring.
Separate Sciences... Again the workload is massive. And if you hate Science, it will bore you to the extreme.
Some people find languages hard but for some it comes pretty naturally. If you don't enjoy language and culture etc, then by all means don't take it. But, on the other hand, I don't think it's right to say "whatever you do don't choose a language." For instance, I didn't find the workload massive for French and I don't find the Spanish workload unbearable either.
Although, I am probably very biased seeing as I love languages but still...
I will second that ICT is very boring. I didn't exactly do ICT GCSE but I did the ICT OCR Nationals Level 2 in Year 9 and hated every minute of it. I don't know if you cover different stuff in the actual GCSE qualification though...? However, my friends who picked ICT as an option finished the entire thing in Yr 10 and some have already finished their GCSE - they all said it was a decent course and some really enjoyed it.
I think if you are still unsure of what you want to do at uni/ for a career etc separate science will keep the science route open to you... However, if you really hate it and find it difficult, then not having all three of biology, chemistry and physics is fine as well because you wouldn't want to go into the science profession anyway.
OP, as a lot of people have said, it's mainly based on personal preference I think. Do you know what subjects are compulsory at your school? When I was choosing my options, we only had 3 or 4 because there were already 7 subjects everyone had to take
(triple science, french, maths igcse, english lit igcse, english lang igcse)... that kinda limited our choices. Original post by jojo10834
I am choosing french for a language
I loved taking French.
It's a really pretty language. Plus, the course (at least with the OCR exam board) covers a lot of very current issues and topics on culture which are interesting to learn about. (I'm in Year 11 but I took the GCSE a year early - our school had a "fast-track" set and we were made to take it in Year 10...) Kind of a bummer that we didn't get any literature but oh well. It's really not that hard and I think a language is a good subject to have at GCSE. If you like languages, I'd recommend it a lot. Personally, I prefer Spanish. (i.e. French is great but Spanish is even better... 
) But that's just me. 
Good luck with your subject choices!
Original post by StarryInk07
I think at are school we have to choose a language and my set have only been learning french where was even the set below have been learning 2 different languages so thats why I'm choosing french
Original post by jojo10834
Thanks for this I was going to take a language cause because people are saying it's good and in my school I think you have to choose at least one science and in my school we don't take R.E very seriously it's mainly history and geography
It's okay.
. Truthfully. A language is a good GCSE to have. However with the Ebacc introduced a lot more people will be choosing a language therefore whilst people say "you will be rare" you won't be, considering a lot of other people are choosing it.
The course mainly consists of you memorising 1/2 pages of French. And that is not even an over exaggeration. I can explain that further if you want.
.Original post by >Username<
It's okay. .
Truthfully. A language is a good GCSE to have. However with the Ebacc introduced a lot more people will be choosing a language therefore whilst people say "you will be rare" you won't be, considering a lot of other people are choosing it.
The course mainly consists of you memorising 1/2 pages of French. And that is not even an over exaggeration. I can explain that further if you want..
. Truthfully. A language is a good GCSE to have. However with the Ebacc introduced a lot more people will be choosing a language therefore whilst people say "you will be rare" you won't be, considering a lot of other people are choosing it.
The course mainly consists of you memorising 1/2 pages of French. And that is not even an over exaggeration. I can explain that further if you want.
.Yes plz
Original post by Ham22
Horse Studies.
??
Original post by >Username<
Well firstly your school will have certain subjects which you'll have to choose. You do have a choice in which GCSE's you pick, but really you don't. With the Ebacc being introduced as well... You'll most likely have to choose a language and Geography or History.
My recommendations:
DON'T choose a language. People may say it's good to have and whatever else. The work load is massive. Whatever you don't DON'T choose a language.
History is also hard. And in my school both classes are resitting...
R.E would be a good GCSE if the teachers at your school take it seriously. People think it's just about religion, but it's much more than that.
I.T is a good GCSE to have. But it's extremely boring.
Separate Sciences... Again the workload is massive. And if you hate Science, it will bore you to the extreme.
My recommendations:
DON'T choose a language. People may say it's good to have and whatever else. The work load is massive. Whatever you don't DON'T choose a language.
History is also hard. And in my school both classes are resitting...
R.E would be a good GCSE if the teachers at your school take it seriously. People think it's just about religion, but it's much more than that.
I.T is a good GCSE to have. But it's extremely boring.
Separate Sciences... Again the workload is massive. And if you hate Science, it will bore you to the extreme.
I honestly wouldn't listen to this person. I did both french and history for GCSE. History is quite hard at first but once you get your head round it, it's fairly straight forward. A language is an extremely useful GCSE to have, so I would highly recommend it. Also, I wouldn't really call IT a good GCSE to have, the exam board say you will get 4 GCSEs but the people who took it, few even got one. I didn't take separate sciences but the course isn't that different to double science, which I did. Separate science just has one more unit. With the workload, I wouldn't really any GCSE has a 'massive' workload tbh. Hope this helps and feel free to ask me anything else if you have a query
Original post by pink pineapple
I honestly wouldn't listen to this person. I did both french and history for GCSE. History is quite hard at first but once you get your head round it, it's fairly straight forward. A language is an extremely useful GCSE to have, so I would highly recommend it. Also, I wouldn't really call IT a good GCSE to have, the exam board say you will get 4 GCSEs but the people who took it, few even got one. I didn't take separate sciences but the course isn't that different to double science, which I did. Separate science just has one more unit. With the workload, I wouldn't really any GCSE has a 'massive' workload tbh. Hope this helps and feel free to ask me anything else if you have a query
Thank you so IT isn't the best subject to take then i was wondering if you know if graphics is a good choice?
Original post by jojo10834
Thank you so IT isn't the best subject to take then i was wondering if you know if graphics is a good choice?
I don't know much about graphics but I would've thought that's a good choice. I did art but graphics is technical drawing so is completely different. For my options I had two academic subjects (french and history) and two creative (art and drama) so graphics would be quite a good option but like I said, I don't know anything about, does your school not give you a booklet with all the information about the courses because that's what we got.
Original post by pink pineapple
I don't know much about graphics but I would've thought that's a good choice. I did art but graphics is technical drawing so is completely different. For my options I had two academic subjects (french and history) and two creative (art and drama) so graphics would be quite a good option but like I said, I don't know anything about, does your school not give you a booklet with all the information about the courses because that's what we got.
ok i'm not sure if they give us booklets
Original post by jojo10834
Thanks for this I was going to take a language cause because people are saying it's good and in my school I think you have to choose at least one science and in my school we don't take R.E very seriously it's mainly history and geography
Dont listen a language requires little effort. Especially cause of controlled assessments.
Original post by pink pineapple
I honestly wouldn't listen to this person. I did both french and history for GCSE. History is quite hard at first but once you get your head round it, it's fairly straight forward. A language is an extremely useful GCSE to have, so I would highly recommend it. Also, I wouldn't really call IT a good GCSE to have, the exam board say you will get 4 GCSEs but the people who took it, few even got one. I didn't take separate sciences but the course isn't that different to double science, which I did. Separate science just has one more unit. With the workload, I wouldn't really any GCSE has a 'massive' workload tbh. Hope this helps and feel free to ask me anything else if you have a query
May I ask when you did your GCSE's? Because the specification changes... I'm not specifically saying someone shouldn't choose French. I'm saying that it's a massive work load and you don't actually learn French you just memorise stuff.
Original post by jojo10834
Yes plz
Okay. GCSE French AQA. The course will usually run for 2 years. I.e Year 10 and Year 11. Or over the course of 3 years because FCSE has been scrapped. Either way the work will be the same...
•
You will have 2 writing exams and 2 speaking exams. This is how the exams will work: You will do work in class. The teacher will already know the questions you will be asked in your exam... Therefore she sets you work similar to those questions. By the end you will have prepared work for your exam. Then you must memorise ALL that work. So for the speaking exam I had 20 paragraphs to learn. And in the exam I say that word for word all 20 paragraphs. Therefore you are not really learning anything... You are just memorising and getting graded on that.
•
You will then have a Reading and Listening exam. Considering you spent all your time on your Speaking/Writing (because that is worth 60%) it'll be hard for you to adapt and learn the techniques needed for the Listening/Reading exam.
I hope that helped.
. Don't hesitate in asking me anything else... .Original post by StarryInk07
Some people find languages hard but for some it comes pretty naturally. If you don't enjoy language and culture etc, then by all means don't take it. But, on the other hand, I don't think it's right to say "whatever you do don't choose a language." For instance, I didn't find the workload massive for French and I don't find the Spanish workload unbearable either.
Although, I am probably very biased seeing as I love languages but still...
I will second that ICT is very boring. I didn't exactly do ICT GCSE but I did the ICT OCR Nationals Level 2 in Year 9 and hated every minute of it. I don't know if you cover different stuff in the actual GCSE qualification though...? However, my friends who picked ICT as an option finished the entire thing in Yr 10 and some have already finished their GCSE - they all said it was a decent course and some really enjoyed it.
I think if you are still unsure of what you want to do at uni/ for a career etc separate science will keep the science route open to you... However, if you really hate it and find it difficult, then not having all three of biology, chemistry and physics is fine as well because you wouldn't want to go into the science profession anyway.
OP, as a lot of people have said, it's mainly based on personal preference I think. Do you know what subjects are compulsory at your school? When I was choosing my options, we only had 3 or 4 because there were already 7 subjects everyone had to take (triple science, french, maths igcse, english lit igcse, english lang igcse)... that kinda limited our choices.
I loved taking French. It's a really pretty language. Plus, the course (at least with the OCR exam board) covers a lot of very current issues and topics on culture which are interesting to learn about. (I'm in Year 11 but I took the GCSE a year early - our school had a "fast-track" set and we were made to take it in Year 10...) Kind of a bummer that we didn't get any literature but oh well. It's really not that hard and I think a language is a good subject to have at GCSE. If you like languages, I'd recommend it a lot. Personally, I prefer Spanish. (i.e. French is great but Spanish is even better... ) But that's just me.
Good luck with your subject choices!
Although, I am probably very biased seeing as I love languages but still...
I will second that ICT is very boring. I didn't exactly do ICT GCSE but I did the ICT OCR Nationals Level 2 in Year 9 and hated every minute of it. I don't know if you cover different stuff in the actual GCSE qualification though...? However, my friends who picked ICT as an option finished the entire thing in Yr 10 and some have already finished their GCSE - they all said it was a decent course and some really enjoyed it.
I think if you are still unsure of what you want to do at uni/ for a career etc separate science will keep the science route open to you... However, if you really hate it and find it difficult, then not having all three of biology, chemistry and physics is fine as well because you wouldn't want to go into the science profession anyway.
OP, as a lot of people have said, it's mainly based on personal preference I think. Do you know what subjects are compulsory at your school? When I was choosing my options, we only had 3 or 4 because there were already 7 subjects everyone had to take
(triple science, french, maths igcse, english lit igcse, english lang igcse)... that kinda limited our choices. I loved taking French.
It's a really pretty language. Plus, the course (at least with the OCR exam board) covers a lot of very current issues and topics on culture which are interesting to learn about. (I'm in Year 11 but I took the GCSE a year early - our school had a "fast-track" set and we were made to take it in Year 10...) Kind of a bummer that we didn't get any literature but oh well. It's really not that hard and I think a language is a good subject to have at GCSE. If you like languages, I'd recommend it a lot. Personally, I prefer Spanish. (i.e. French is great but Spanish is even better... ) But that's just me. Good luck with your subject choices!
Okay, maybe I am being slightly biased towards one side. It's only because I don't want someone to choose something thinking they'll be learning about culture and learning a different language when they won't be. That's all.
. OCR Nationals is really basic and really straightforward you should have no problem with that. However if you want to continue I.T into college then it's probably better to do it as a GCSE because that covers more specific work. (I'm doing both that's how I know).
Oh right... That's why I'm saying this and your saying that. Because my exam board for French is AQA...
Original post by TanishaBellum
Totally disagree.
Taking a MFL has approximately the same or even less workload than an Engish Language GCSE, which everybody does! I would strongly recommend taking a language as it will allow you to qualify for the English Baccalaureate Award and plenty of top universities prefer you to have taken a language at GCSE other than English. You may be put at a disadvantage against other candidates who have got a French or Spanish GCSE so to prevent yourself from that, pick a language.
Again History IMO is such an amazing subject, if I could take 5 AS levels my fifth option would be History! The reason why I didnt pick it having gotten an A* at GCSE was because Im pretty sure I dont want to go into History in the future and needed to pick other subjects to go into the field I am thinking of. I was very low in confidence with Hitsory at the beginning of year 10 and especially when i found that I got a B in my Med through time paper but nonetheless, I kept trying and when i resat my exam in year 11 I got 100% in that paper. Along with that I managed an A* in my coursework and A* in American West. History was my weakest subject in my opinion at the time but because I revised and tried my best to do well I got what I deserved!
Hope this gave you some help x
Taking a MFL has approximately the same or even less workload than an Engish Language GCSE, which everybody does! I would strongly recommend taking a language as it will allow you to qualify for the English Baccalaureate Award and plenty of top universities prefer you to have taken a language at GCSE other than English. You may be put at a disadvantage against other candidates who have got a French or Spanish GCSE so to prevent yourself from that, pick a language.
Again History IMO is such an amazing subject, if I could take 5 AS levels my fifth option would be History! The reason why I didnt pick it having gotten an A* at GCSE was because Im pretty sure I dont want to go into History in the future and needed to pick other subjects to go into the field I am thinking of. I was very low in confidence with Hitsory at the beginning of year 10 and especially when i found that I got a B in my Med through time paper but nonetheless, I kept trying and when i resat my exam in year 11 I got 100% in that paper. Along with that I managed an A* in my coursework and A* in American West. History was my weakest subject in my opinion at the time but because I revised and tried my best to do well I got what I deserved!
Hope this gave you some help
xI do agree as choosing a language will help you because you'll be eligible for the Ebacc however... It is a massive workload and you don't specifically learn French.
ask your school, especially as they've introduced new rules about which subjects are compulsory (I THINK cos of the english bacc thing??)
Definitely pick History if the topics will be about Black American history, Nazi Germany and Apartheid in South Africa.. It was the most interesting topics ever! I learnt so much and got an A* in my coursework . But then I got a C as my overrall grade 
. Which shows the exams are pretty tough.
And try Textiles in Design Technology. The practicals will be tough work, but during a practise exam I got an A*, even though I was asleep for most of it *covers face*. Which shows the exams are pretty easy.
Good luck!
. But then I got a C as my overrall grade . Which shows the exams are pretty tough.And try Textiles in Design Technology. The practicals will be tough work, but during a practise exam I got an A*, even though I was asleep for most of it *covers face*. Which shows the exams are pretty easy.
Good luck!
(edited 12 years ago)
I'm doing the IGCSE, or did it last year, and am almost done with final board exams.
At our school we had to take:
English Language
English Literature
Math
French
And as my electives I chose
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
and I also did History and Economics for self-study.
I would greatly recommend Economics. You really learn a lot, and it's very interesting.
At our school we had to take:
English Language
English Literature
Math
French
And as my electives I chose
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
and I also did History and Economics for self-study.
I would greatly recommend Economics. You really learn a lot, and it's very interesting.
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