Good GCSE subjects to take?
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So I pick my GCSE's really soon and just want some advice on 'good' subjects to take. So basically they are the ones that are well respected and open up lots of options. I know the general strong subjects (Maths, English, Sciences, History, Geography, Languages) but are there any others you recommend? Also, could you say (if you did them or are doing them) how enjoyable they are, how difficult they are, and what the workload is like please. Thanks!
So I pick my GCSE's really soon and just want some advice on 'good' subjects to take. So basically they are the ones that are well respected and open up lots of options. I know the general strong subjects (Maths, English, Sciences, History, Geography, Languages) but are there any others you recommend? Also, could you say (if you did them or are doing them) how enjoyable they are, how difficult they are, and what the workload is like please. Thanks!
Original post by Elijah Wilkinson
Posted from TSR Mobile
So I pick my GCSE's really soon and just want some advice on 'good' subjects to take. So basically they are the ones that are well respected and open up lots of options. I know the general strong subjects (Maths, English, Sciences, History, Geography, Languages) but are there any others you recommend? Also, could you say (if you did them or are doing them) how enjoyable they are, how difficult they are, and what the workload is like please. Thanks!
So I pick my GCSE's really soon and just want some advice on 'good' subjects to take. So basically they are the ones that are well respected and open up lots of options. I know the general strong subjects (Maths, English, Sciences, History, Geography, Languages) but are there any others you recommend? Also, could you say (if you did them or are doing them) how enjoyable they are, how difficult they are, and what the workload is like please. Thanks!
For GCSEs in my opinion, the reputation of subjects doesn't really matter.
I took my subjects (history geography business German) thinking "oh my God this is going to look so impressive on a CV in a few years" but really... No one is going to care. Ensuring you get good grades is key, but.. Avoiding taking say art drama media graphics cos of course that narrows your options a lot
Imo choose what you enjoy, do a mix to keep options open, if you're arty maybe take like graphics, art, etc as like a... More enjoyable subject, however some of my friends that take art spend hours and hours every week on homework it seems very stressful. The only thing I'd definitely say is take at least one language and at least one humanities - counts to the English Baccalaureate or something iirc. Looks good.
In terms of workload - depends if you want all subjects or just the ones you haven't named...
Business - I enjoy. Year 10 was pretty easy a lot is common sense and key terms but focusing on exam technique. 11 is a little more difficult and more enjoyable.
Latin - broke me. But I came out with an A so happy days haha
Original post by Elijah Wilkinson
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So I pick my GCSE's really soon and just want some advice on 'good' subjects to take. So basically they are the ones that are well respected and open up lots of options. I know the general strong subjects (Maths, English, Sciences, History, Geography, Languages) but are there any others you recommend? Also, could you say (if you did them or are doing them) how enjoyable they are, how difficult they are, and what the workload is like please. Thanks!
So I pick my GCSE's really soon and just want some advice on 'good' subjects to take. So basically they are the ones that are well respected and open up lots of options. I know the general strong subjects (Maths, English, Sciences, History, Geography, Languages) but are there any others you recommend? Also, could you say (if you did them or are doing them) how enjoyable they are, how difficult they are, and what the workload is like please. Thanks!
Don't bother with Business GCSE as an option unless you decide to take it. Based on what I've read, unfortunately: companies/Uni tend not to care unless it's AS/A business.
Original post by AdamCee
For GCSEs in my opinion, the reputation of subjects doesn't really matter.
I took my subjects (history geography business German) thinking "oh my God this is going to look so impressive on a CV in a few years" but really... No one is going to care. Ensuring you get good grades is key, but.. Avoiding taking say art drama media graphics cos of course that narrows your options a lot
Imo choose what you enjoy, do a mix to keep options open, if you're arty maybe take like graphics, art, etc as like a... More enjoyable subject, however some of my friends that take art spend hours and hours every week on homework it seems very stressful. The only thing I'd definitely say is take at least one language and at least one humanities - counts to the English Baccalaureate or something iirc. Looks good.
In terms of workload - depends if you want all subjects or just the ones you haven't named...
Business - I enjoy. Year 10 was pretty easy a lot is common sense and key terms but focusing on exam technique. 11 is a little more difficult and more enjoyable.
Latin - broke me. But I came out with an A so happy days haha
I took my subjects (history geography business German) thinking "oh my God this is going to look so impressive on a CV in a few years" but really... No one is going to care. Ensuring you get good grades is key, but.. Avoiding taking say art drama media graphics cos of course that narrows your options a lot
Imo choose what you enjoy, do a mix to keep options open, if you're arty maybe take like graphics, art, etc as like a... More enjoyable subject, however some of my friends that take art spend hours and hours every week on homework it seems very stressful. The only thing I'd definitely say is take at least one language and at least one humanities - counts to the English Baccalaureate or something iirc. Looks good.
In terms of workload - depends if you want all subjects or just the ones you haven't named...
Business - I enjoy. Year 10 was pretty easy a lot is common sense and key terms but focusing on exam technique. 11 is a little more difficult and more enjoyable.
Latin - broke me. But I came out with an A so happy days haha
Thanks for the advice, just for more info, I'm getting 5 options (one has to be applied - BTEC or extended project) and I'm thinking of doing Triple Science, History, Geography, French and BTEC Business Studies. What are your opinions on History, Geography and Business? And what is your opinion on my options as a whole (I know they're all quite 'academic' so would this get stressful?)? Please get back to me, thanks again!
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Original post by Elijah Wilkinson
Thanks for the advice, just for more info, I'm getting 5 options (one has to be applied - BTEC or extended project) and I'm thinking of doing Triple Science, History, Geography, French and BTEC Business Studies. What are your opinions on History, Geography and Business? And what is your opinion on my options as a whole (I know they're all quite 'academic' so would this get stressful?)? Please get back to me, thanks again!
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Depends on your exam board to be exact, but from what I do..
(OCR) history - It's not easy that's for sure. I enjoy it, but there are quiet a lot of essays involved so prepare to write a lot. My homeworks a few weeks ago are about 4-5 pages of questions :/ however I find it interesting and as long as you're relatively analytical should be fine. We're doing Weimar Republic (Nazi Germany), Russian revolution, Cold War and British Depth Study. All of which I enjoy except the British Depth Study which isn't really my thing lol. GCSE I think is very different to like lower school history. Not sure about you but our topics were pretty dull and I hated history in year 7 and it wasn't until the end of year 8 I started to think that it's alright. So if you're liking it now, should love it GCSE
(AQA) geography - I'm not a fan of geography. The only reason I took it is because I thought it would look impressive on a CV. As I later found out, bad mistake. Human geography is relatively easy and links well with business - that's more exam technique and explaining your opinions than concrete facts. Physical geography I struggle with as it's much more factual. So you need to know a lot of definitions, how things work, how things are formed, etc. It's pretty much what you do in year 7/8/9 just a little more complex, so if you enjoy it now, you should enjoy it at GCSE
(AQA) business studies - my best subject and one of my favourite. Links well with human geography. Two units in our course (if yours is BTEC may be more vocational? I guess so) so we have small businesses and larger businesses. Unit one is a combination of new words, common sense and exam technique. Unit two takes more knowledge and I find much more interesting... However we have 4 9 mark questions in the GCSE and they're horrible to do.
Overall I think they're a great combination. History and geography go together well, business and geography go together well, and they're all very broad so you aren't restricting yourself at all. They are quite academic and I think it depends on your stress levels tbh. I literally finished my mocks 5 hours ago and it wasn't easy but it was definitely doable. As long as you enjoy the subjects and you're motivated, you'll have no problem with homeworks and revision.
Original post by AdamCee
Depends on your exam board to be exact, but from what I do..
(OCR) history - It's not easy that's for sure. I enjoy it, but there are quiet a lot of essays involved so prepare to write a lot. My homeworks a few weeks ago are about 4-5 pages of questions :/ however I find it interesting and as long as you're relatively analytical should be fine. We're doing Weimar Republic (Nazi Germany), Russian revolution, Cold War and British Depth Study. All of which I enjoy except the British Depth Study which isn't really my thing lol. GCSE I think is very different to like lower school history. Not sure about you but our topics were pretty dull and I hated history in year 7 and it wasn't until the end of year 8 I started to think that it's alright. So if you're liking it now, should love it GCSE
(AQA) geography - I'm not a fan of geography. The only reason I took it is because I thought it would look impressive on a CV. As I later found out, bad mistake. Human geography is relatively easy and links well with business - that's more exam technique and explaining your opinions than concrete facts. Physical geography I struggle with as it's much more factual. So you need to know a lot of definitions, how things work, how things are formed, etc. It's pretty much what you do in year 7/8/9 just a little more complex, so if you enjoy it now, you should enjoy it at GCSE
(AQA) business studies - my best subject and one of my favourite. Links well with human geography. Two units in our course (if yours is BTEC may be more vocational? I guess so) so we have small businesses and larger businesses. Unit one is a combination of new words, common sense and exam technique. Unit two takes more knowledge and I find much more interesting... However we have 4 9 mark questions in the GCSE and they're horrible to do.
Overall I think they're a great combination. History and geography go together well, business and geography go together well, and they're all very broad so you aren't restricting yourself at all. They are quite academic and I think it depends on your stress levels tbh. I literally finished my mocks 5 hours ago and it wasn't easy but it was definitely doable. As long as you enjoy the subjects and you're motivated, you'll have no problem with homeworks and revision.
(OCR) history - It's not easy that's for sure. I enjoy it, but there are quiet a lot of essays involved so prepare to write a lot. My homeworks a few weeks ago are about 4-5 pages of questions :/ however I find it interesting and as long as you're relatively analytical should be fine. We're doing Weimar Republic (Nazi Germany), Russian revolution, Cold War and British Depth Study. All of which I enjoy except the British Depth Study which isn't really my thing lol. GCSE I think is very different to like lower school history. Not sure about you but our topics were pretty dull and I hated history in year 7 and it wasn't until the end of year 8 I started to think that it's alright. So if you're liking it now, should love it GCSE
(AQA) geography - I'm not a fan of geography. The only reason I took it is because I thought it would look impressive on a CV. As I later found out, bad mistake. Human geography is relatively easy and links well with business - that's more exam technique and explaining your opinions than concrete facts. Physical geography I struggle with as it's much more factual. So you need to know a lot of definitions, how things work, how things are formed, etc. It's pretty much what you do in year 7/8/9 just a little more complex, so if you enjoy it now, you should enjoy it at GCSE
(AQA) business studies - my best subject and one of my favourite. Links well with human geography. Two units in our course (if yours is BTEC may be more vocational? I guess so) so we have small businesses and larger businesses. Unit one is a combination of new words, common sense and exam technique. Unit two takes more knowledge and I find much more interesting... However we have 4 9 mark questions in the GCSE and they're horrible to do.
Overall I think they're a great combination. History and geography go together well, business and geography go together well, and they're all very broad so you aren't restricting yourself at all. They are quite academic and I think it depends on your stress levels tbh. I literally finished my mocks 5 hours ago and it wasn't easy but it was definitely doable. As long as you enjoy the subjects and you're motivated, you'll have no problem with homeworks and revision.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to write that! Really helped
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Original post by Elijah Wilkinson
No problem
Good luck!
My school suggest you take an arty non academic subject as a bit of break from your other subjects
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As your GCSE options don't really matter for university (its the A-Levels that count) I would pick things that you enjoy or will find easy. I took history, sociology, French and triple science. I thought that your GCSEs mattered for university when I chose them so I picked some academic subjects.
If your school offers sociology, I think its a great option. It widens your vocabulary and you learn a lot about society. Its an easy GCSE as well.
I would only pick triple science if you want to do science in the future or if you are really good at it. I want to do human or veterinary medicine at uni so I took triple. It involves a lot of revision as there as so many topics (plus the P3 physics equations are really tricky).
French is really straining and stressful and I wouldn't recommend it unless you really enjoy the subject. I regret taking it tbh, I wish I did IT instead.
Hope I was able to help.
If your school offers sociology, I think its a great option. It widens your vocabulary and you learn a lot about society. Its an easy GCSE as well.
I would only pick triple science if you want to do science in the future or if you are really good at it. I want to do human or veterinary medicine at uni so I took triple. It involves a lot of revision as there as so many topics (plus the P3 physics equations are really tricky).
French is really straining and stressful and I wouldn't recommend it unless you really enjoy the subject. I regret taking it tbh, I wish I did IT instead.
Hope I was able to help.
I took RE, history, geography and Spanish. Here are pros and cons of each and my general thoughts...
RE (ocr b) - very enjoyable and defiantly my 'fun' subject, not seen as very academic but nevertheless an interesting subject
History (ocr) - not going to lie very hard! But interesting and defiantly keeps your options open, if you like English literature it's a similar style of work, but it is also very factual so if you prefer maths and science it can still appeal to you
Geography (aqa a) - undoubtedly my favourite subject, very broad with both human and physical aspects, lessons are nearly always different but I feel it's quite content heavy
Spanish (wjec) - defiantly worth taking if you can do languages, but if you feel that it would be too challenging don't feel it's that vital because it isn't having said that unis do really like languages at least up to gcse level
Hope this helps
Anymore questions you have id be more than happy to answer
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RE (ocr b) - very enjoyable and defiantly my 'fun' subject, not seen as very academic but nevertheless an interesting subject
History (ocr) - not going to lie very hard! But interesting and defiantly keeps your options open, if you like English literature it's a similar style of work, but it is also very factual so if you prefer maths and science it can still appeal to you
Geography (aqa a) - undoubtedly my favourite subject, very broad with both human and physical aspects, lessons are nearly always different but I feel it's quite content heavy
Spanish (wjec) - defiantly worth taking if you can do languages, but if you feel that it would be too challenging don't feel it's that vital because it isn't having said that unis do really like languages at least up to gcse level
Hope this helps
Anymore questions you have id be more than happy to answer
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Original post by Elijah Wilkinson
Posted from TSR Mobile
So I pick my GCSE's really soon and just want some advice on 'good' subjects to take. So basically they are the ones that are well respected and open up lots of options. I know the general strong subjects (Maths, English, Sciences, History, Geography, Languages) but are there any others you recommend? Also, could you say (if you did them or are doing them) how enjoyable they are, how difficult they are, and what the workload is like please. Thanks!
So I pick my GCSE's really soon and just want some advice on 'good' subjects to take. So basically they are the ones that are well respected and open up lots of options. I know the general strong subjects (Maths, English, Sciences, History, Geography, Languages) but are there any others you recommend? Also, could you say (if you did them or are doing them) how enjoyable they are, how difficult they are, and what the workload is like please. Thanks!
religious studies is so easy you can bs your way through it, provided that you give reasons to back up your answer. RS is just a matter of opinion. I did no revision for my rs exam literally didnt even open my book and i got an A. So surely with revision you can ace it.
I do English Maths Triple Science Re History Business Studies Art French (Aqa)
Re is quite easy and interesting but its not my favourite subject as it gets a little boring as most of it is just leading stuff off by heart.
History is very interesting and I really enjoy it.... A few essays but its okay
Business studies is pretty easy and not much work
Art its very fun but a lot of coursework I spent about 8hrs a week on my art homework however I enjoy it!
French is yet again okayy but requires a bit of intelligence (kind of hard) like when I was doing my writing exams (15%) last week I spend days trying to memoire it!
When u choice do stuff u enjoy as well as academic and don't choice something of it doesn't interest you!
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Re is quite easy and interesting but its not my favourite subject as it gets a little boring as most of it is just leading stuff off by heart.
History is very interesting and I really enjoy it.... A few essays but its okay
Business studies is pretty easy and not much work
Art its very fun but a lot of coursework I spent about 8hrs a week on my art homework however I enjoy it!
French is yet again okayy but requires a bit of intelligence (kind of hard) like when I was doing my writing exams (15%) last week I spend days trying to memoire it!
When u choice do stuff u enjoy as well as academic and don't choice something of it doesn't interest you!
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Avoid Business Studies or Economics many regret taking it. Loads of people say Art is time consuming. Others say Music is hard. Geography is easy in my opinion.
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I revised keywords and quotes as well as watched videos releated to the topic and got an A*
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