French, Economics, Geography, History - I have to pick 3 for GCSE!

Hi everybody. I'm in Year 9 atm, and I will be choosing my final GCSE options in January/February, and I've pretty much settled what I'm going to do aside from these 4. I'll already be doing:
English Language & Literature
Maths
Further Maths
Science
RE - (has been made compulsory)
Spanish - (compulsory language)
Currently, from my first exams this year, I'm working at a 7 in history, a 7 in economics, a 6 in geography and a 6 in French. I really like all these subjects, but the only thing is I don't want to take two languages and both History and Geography. I was wondering what you guys thought and if you have any knowledge of these subjects. Thanks in advance (btw sorry for the length)

Hi everybody. I'm in Year 9 atm, and I will be choosing my final GCSE options in January/February, and I've pretty much settled what I'm going to do aside from these 4. I'll already be doing:
English Language & Literature
Maths
Further Maths
Science
RE - (has been made compulsory)
Spanish - (compulsory language)
Currently, from my first exams this year, I'm working at a 7 in history, a 7 in economics, a 6 in geography and a 6 in French. I really like all these subjects, but the only thing is I don't want to take two languages and both History and Geography. I was wondering what you guys thought and if you have any knowledge of these subjects. Thanks in advance (btw sorry for the length)

I took history, geography, French and German at gcse.
French was my favourite and still is now at a level.
I loved history, there was a lot of content but I enjoyed and was interested in what we studied so I would recommend doing history for sure!
I didn't like geography, I didn't find the topics interesting which would have definitely improved my final grade. The exam style in geography is what I found quite hard but it's probably changed since last year.
I would recommend economics, my friend took it at GCSE and is taking it at a level as she liked it.
I didn't struggle with 2 GCSE languages, I got an A* and an A and now I'm taking 3 languages at a level.
Good luck XXX🌻🌻

I am doing French, I'm in Year 11, and I absolutely hate it, but it seems that you like it, so I'd say go ahead

History has a lot of content to learn, and requires a significant amount of written work. I do, however, find that it's one of my favourite subjects. I do OCR's B spec (Modern History), which covers The Cold War (Origins/Cuban Missile Crisis/Vietnam), Germany 1918-1945 and Britain 1890-1918 If you're good at writing essays, especially arguing a point, then History (and RS), will be your "cup of tea" (figuratively). If you not, then maybe Geography would be a better choice, but I don't take Geography, so I can't really give much advice :P

I'm not sure how History is going to change due to the 9-1 reforms, but I'd assume that the core concepts are the same. If so, you'll find two main types of question: knowledge questions (simply querying knowledge, maybe asking you to argue a viewpoint), and source questions (where you use own knowledge and details from the source to answer a question. For example: "why was this poster published", "what is the message of the source?", "how useful is this source as evidence to show blah". Summarising: a lot of writing! :P

Not sure about Economics, few schools seem to offer it.

I hope that my advice regarding History was useful!

take french. i studied two languages at gcse (french and german) and got an a* in both, and i'm now doing both at a level. taking two languages isn't as hard as people make it out to be - the exam technique for one language applies to the other as well.
i didn't take any of the other subjects (my options were two languages, art, rs, and triple science) but i know everyone at my school hated history.

I am in year 11 now and I don't really like history. I used to love history so much that I wanted to be a historian when I grow up. I dumped that idea in year 10. History is boring for me although I still do alright at it. I am learning Modern history atm. The thing with history is that you have to memorise lots of information ( practically the whole book) for your gcse. There are different sorts of questions, e.g. some will ask you about the feature of a certain event and why was the event significant. I also did a controlled assessment in year 10 and got an A on it. The controlled assessment required me to do lots of extra research. But it wasn't as hard as I thought before starting it.
I didn't take geography cos I hated it. But I know a few people who took geography, they did say the work was hard to understand but they had lots of case studies to do and they have a pretty bad teacher so some of them didn't get very good results. I think if you enjoy doing case studies and actually likes geography, you should take it. But I don't know how the new system works.

Thanks for the advice - it really helps - I quite enjoy writing anyway so I should be good! What do you dislike about French? Is it boring, or is it the teachers - I don't really like my current French teacher

I didn't like my French teacher at the beginning of the year, but she's got significantly nicer. I have multiple reasons for hating French:I hope this helped

Thanks for the help. I am pretty sure I want to take Spanish to A Level as I really love it as a language. What other A Levels are you taking?

Thanks for the reply - I'm a fan of the mathematical/science subjects, moreso than the linguistic. I want to keep my options open - do you think it's necessary that I take 2 languages?

Thanks for the advice regarding History. I was wondering how much of the geography course is based on physical geography, because I'm less interested in that part of geography. Also, what AS/A Level are you doing aside from the languages? Just out of interest!

Thanks for the info. What are the topics you find boring? Is it just a thing with your exam board. I similarly really like history now - it really interests me, and I'm comfortable with handling information and essays - will that put me in good stead?

You have to think a lot about what kind of subjects you're good at, which subjects you enjoy, and which subjects will be most helpful for your future. GCSE subjects aren't hugely important (for the most part, you'll just be looking at needing the requirement grades for sixth form or college), however, depending on your university choice in the future, you made need particular subjects. Don't worry too much about knowing what you want to do at university though, its a long way off and universities aren't too bothered by GCSEs.

Having two languages is good, and if you put the work into your controlled assessments, you can come out with good grades. However, I don't know about the new spec, and unless you really enjoy languages, you'll find it a strain. I got an A in French but found it very stressful with controlled assessments, and it took me until just weeks before the exam to nail my exam technique. I would recommened taking French only if you think you are interested in a career field that would require it.

As for Geography I did it and I actually really enjoyed it. I got an A* at GCSE in it and I've carried it onto A-Level. I did spend most of my revision time on Geography (and the sciences), as it had more to cover than some of the other subjects, but if you have an interest in what you are learning, you'll find it interesting making notes and studying it. It's the less essay-based subject out of History and Geography, as although there is some essay writing and long exam answers, there are plenty of 1, 2, 3 and 4 mark questions too. I must admit it gets a lot more scientific in the Physical Geography aspect at A-Level, but if you enjoy sciences, I'd recommend it. It also is usually required to have done it at GCSE to go on to do it at A-Level, whereas History often only requires GCSE English.

I didn't do History and I must admit I wish I did. I love essay subjects and the topics sounded very interesting. I don't know the subject well, but it requires good analytical skills and essay writing skills. If you enjoy essay-based subjects, I'd suggest considering this subject.

Personally I would have liked to have done Geography and History, but it wasn't an option at my school.

As for economics, it's not a common GCSE subject as far as I'm aware. You are doing well in it though, and if you like mathematical subjects, it seems like an obvious choice to take as one of your GCSEs. I don't think it's a requirement, should you want to take it at A-Level, but it will certainly give you a head-start having background knowledge.

The main thing is that the GCSEs you take are enjoyable, and that you are willing to put in work. GCSEs aren't too difficult, and it's possible to reach good grades in subjects you don't like (I didn't like the sciences, for example, but I did triple and got 2As and a B). It's just easier to do well in subjects you like, so go with your gut.

Hope I helped!

Two languages isn't as bad as it sounds and if you have a knack with languages I suggest you go for both.

Economics and Geography are both closely linked and taking them together will be helpful in both subjects. For geography I think it honestly depends on what syllabus you take. I moved schools halfway through my GCSEs and changed from Cambridge to Edexcel and I have to say I found the Cambridge syllabus much more interesting. However, the edexcel one is again linked closely with economics.

I never took history but it is a content heavy subject and I would presume it would be difficult taking 2 languages and history but it is up to you. Pick the subjects you enjoy the most