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Drama GCSE - easy or hard? Boring?

My sister is nearing the end of Year 9 right now, and she has said that she will pick drama as a GCSE. I'm a person who always wants her to do well, and I remember seeing somebody here saying that it's very difficult to get an A/A* in drama. Is this the case?

Would appreciate views from anybody with experience in drama GCSE! :-)

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Reply 1

buttons_andbeads

I got an A* in drama, can't say I remember it being too stretching!
Surely it's better for her to do a subject she will really enjoy and want to do well in, than one her sibling told her to because it's easier for her to get an A*?

Reply 2

liss31d

I got an A in Drama at GCSE. It's a great subject to do at GCSE due to its combination of practical and writing skills. Concerning how hard it is, I'd say it's like any subject - it really depends how good you are at it and how hard you work!

Reply 3

orangesalohcin

buttons_andbeads

Although I didn't expand upon it in my message, that's why I added 'boring?' to the title...she gets bored very easily.

Reply 4

buttons_andbeads

orangesalohcin

Although I didn't expand upon it in my message, that's why I added 'boring?' to the title...she gets bored very easily.

Drama definately isn't a boring subject. Well for me it wasn't, it entirely depends on the person :smile:

If she enjoys literature/performance chances are she won't get bored. If however she prefers more 'academic' subjects such as maths or science, she probably won't enjoy it as much and will get bored much more easily.

Reply 5

cfc1992

I'm doing it at the moment. The coursework is quite long but fairly easy, the best side about it is that there is no written exam. I'd say middle, but it's more 'easy' than 'hard'.

Reply 6

de.novo

I had a written exam for Drama but it wasn't terribly difficult. Just learn how to write really fast. Given the amount of preparation that goes for the written examination it shouldn't be too difficult.

Drama isn't boring. It certainly helped having a eccentric drama teacher who was theatrical, melodramatic and all together just a fun person. And Drama is basically English Literature with acting and theatrical/dramatic terms thrown in. It isn't too much of a stretch to get a A*/A. Unless your sister can't act. That might pose a severe problem. But otherwise, let her do it. She'll have great fun and most people tend to excel in subjects they enjoy.

Reply 7

vioxx

Hmm I'm really an academic person but I chose drama.

Drama is like many 'arty' subjects where its very hard to get an A*. An A is do-able, but its a lot easier in other subjects...

If all she wants is A*s/As then picking drama may not be the right option; if she wants fun and a laugh she should pick drama.

Reply 8

nothingspek

I took it, absolutely hated it, too much writing, too little 'acting'.

Reply 9

solihp

My school is very strong for drama, everyone got predicted high A*s and they got near enough 100% in the performance. No one ended up with more than a B, and this has happened for a few years. It sounds like the marking of the exam is REALLY bizarre.

Reply 10

Crystaltears

nothingspek

I took it, absolutely hated it, too much writing, too little 'acting'.

I agree!! And the coursework was really hard. I think I got an E lol!

Also, the final performance which is worth quite a significant amount (something like 40%) is either really stressful because you don't think you will get it finished, or reeeeeeaaally boring because you finished a month early and have to go over it a million times.

Then again, some lessons were fun and I think would prefer a C in a sometimes fun subject like drama, than an A* in something I would find soooo boring like Geography. :smile:

Reply 11

Fillette

I got an A in drama. It was really badly taught at my crap school, but I enjoyed it . There were six pieces of coursework, which may sound daunting but it was on interesting things like "gender" and "stereotypes" to "Stanislavski and Brecht" and then another was review of Russel's musical "Blood Brothers". Being a big geek I preferred doing the courseworks to the actual acting! But the acting was fun, too- 2 performances, one a recorded play on a set topic and another an improvised play in front of an external examiner. It was interesting and stimulating, and putting in the effort really does bring the top grades. I remember my teacher saying about my courseworks that they contained too much writing and I needed to do more visual things- but I got an A* on the coursework section and A on the acting. Shows how much she knew :rolleyes:

Reply 12

hannah_dru

If she likes it then I say she she do it, regardless of grades. I didn't think it was difficult at all and I got an A.

Reply 13

hazzypants

orangesalohcin

I'm doing Drama GCSE at the moment. It really depends which exam board she does but we do Edexcel at my school and it's not too difficult. The coursework is just 12 pages long :smile:

and is 60% of the course. If she likes english/ is good at writing, then the courseowkr should be a doddle for her.

From what I've heard to get an A* is very difficult, and I agree that like many arty subject A* is very hard. I'm predicted an A*but I don't think I'll get it. I'm a bit of a nerd, but unlike History or whatever, you can't cramm for it, as there is no written exam, you just have to have that extra spark in your practical examination, which can be very challenging.

However, it goes well with English and Music, and helps develop confidence and speaking and lsitening skills. Basically if she wants to have lots of fun acting and sinigng and taking part in school plays and stuff, then she should take it, it's a very diverse subject.

Personally I lvoe it, and it's great great fun!

Reply 14

the ORIGINAL abyssgirl

I'm in Yr 10 currently and I was forced to pick a Performing Art as one of my GCSEs - Drama was the one I eventually picked. I can't say that it's one of the most riveting subjects (I, myself, pass most lessons curled up with a book in the corner of the room) but nor can I say that it's particularly easy.

My advice would be to only choose the subject as a GCSE if you feel that you are a talented student in that field. Don't just go by what you think - get the professional opinions too - ask your teachers how you're doing and what your expected grades would be if you took it.

~ KJ

Reply 15

The Black Knight

provided u have a decent teacher/good pieces/talent, its a piece of piss.

Reply 16

username163092

With the board I'm with for my GCSE course, you have to get roughly 93% to get an A*. So far, over all 6 pieces of written coursework and the two all day workshop exams, I have dropped the grand total of 7 marks, yet my teacher says I am "on track for getting an A"....kind of disappointing with the tiny number of marks I've dropped.

It is fun, provided you're in a class that took it because they want to take drama further and not because they want to doss around. I'm in a class with a few of each. My exam is on Thursday and my group would still rather play football with a sponge ball/lock year nines in the drama cupboard as the teacher walks in than rehearse...

If she likes drama, is good at it and goes to a decent school where the teachers are going to care about your grades then she should go for it. But in my opinion, it really can be quite tough because you grade is directly affected by the people you work with. However, on the whole, the course has been fairly is easy and enjoyable, as long as she is careful how she works with/gets a teacher into shocking everyone into working at lunchtime and after school to rehearse(my group are now settling down after some home truths from the drama teacher), then she should have lots of fun.

Reply 17

CHEESE!

i found the essays easier than the article - its just the technique you have to master

Reply 18

hazzypants

steffi.alexa

Yeh, I agree.

If she ends up in a class where people don't care, that can affect her grade. I really had to choose carefully the people for the group for my finally piece. It is the only subject where 40% of your grade depend on 2 other people turning up to rehearsals and being arsed basically.
Several people in class got shocked when after the mocks, they ended up with Es for their pracs when they're getting As in everything else, so they're finally beginning bother, instead of dossing.
We've got a great drama teacher at our school, and we did Les Mis as our school play, so I'm happy :smile:

Reply 19

Mia:x

yeah, it does depend a lot on the class, spesh for the final exam
it's quite hard to get an A*- you can only drop a few marks, but if you have a smidge of natural talent and are willing to do at least a bit of work, you can get an A pretty easily :smile: