Have your say: Creative arts ‘should be compulsory’ for all GCSE students

I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, having at least one creative arts subject (art, music and so forth) along with a variety of other subjects would show a great range of skill at GCSE. On the other hand, it could cause students a lot of unneeded extra stress which might alienate them from pursuing creative career paths, which seems to be what Lucy Noble wants.

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Reply 2

DOOODARS

Clearing and Applications Advisor

I don’t think it should be compulsory as not everyone wants do an arts subject. The offer should be made but not compulsory

Reply 3

PQ

21

Original post by Himynameisdaisy

I don’t think it should be compulsory as not everyone wants do an arts subject. The offer should be made but not compulsory

Not everyone wants to do maths, English and science either...

Reply 4

username3883544

18

There should be a maximum number of exams you can sit at GCSE level, certainly in one year. You do not need 12 GCSEs. So I don't think it should be compulsory- for me only English, Maths, one science subject and one modern foreign language should be.

Reply 5

DOOODARS

Original post by PQ

Not everyone wants to do maths, English and science either...

Very true but doesn’t mean arts have to be compulsory

Reply 6

jameswhughes

Nothing quite like rushing through a subject at GCSE to encourage creativity and interest... :lol:

Reply 7

Purplebottle

16

I don’t think it should be compulsory, not everyone likes it nor is everyone good at it. And it’s not necessarily needed for all future paths. Whereas maths english etc are the base for many careers

Reply 8

GCSEs in electronics, engineering, or even D&T have both a creative and a technical / factual aspect to them, but they are probably the least valued and lowest rated of all subjects. There is also very little discussion of them on TSR. Creative arts subjects are backed by numerous (and often high profile and wealthy) arts councils etc. but nobody seems to care about technology subjects.

Reply 9

Some kids (myself included) would overwhelmingly prefer a technology subject to a fine art and feel that they are more likely to get a respectable grade in it.

Music is quite a difficult GCSE unless students already have a reasonable degree of musical talent by the age of 10 by playing instruments outside of NC music lessons.

Reply 10

Do GCSEs in arts subjects benefit most people who do not go into careers that directly use them? I know that there are all these arguments about broad minded or using the other side of your brain but do they really hold any currency?

Has any research been carried out into attitudes of ethnic minority students from different backgrounds towards creative art GCSEs? They are cultural subjects but arts councils tend to be dominated by older, wealthier, white British folk.

It's mainly the S&M that is getting the emphasis at the pre-degree level. What are the T&E offerings in the various curricula taught throughout the UK, and how many people who are intending on studying T or E at university are taking these subjects? Are "top" students being encouraged to take them, or instead focus more on maths and science subjects?

Haha 😂😂 I think it's technology & engineering.

Original post by Arran90

GCSEs in electronics, engineering, or even D&T have both a creative and a technical / factual aspect to them, but they are probably the least valued and lowest rated of all subjects. There is also very little discussion of them on TSR. Creative arts subjects are backed by numerous (and often high profile and wealthy) arts councils etc. but nobody seems to care about technology subjects.

Pop on over to the Design and Technology Forum :awesome:

it's a great place

Reply 14

e^iπ

Entertainment Forum Helper

ideally every single subject (STEM, politics, history, music art etc) would be taught to a high level of quality a alas this is not possible and the government seem to be in need of STEM specialists the most ATM and so that's why the emphasis on STEM is so high.

They want to encourage as much people as possible to do STEM at school so that more people ultimately pursue STEM jobs.

Art is a nice subject and is quite interesting but ultimately won't help the government compete on a global scale against powers like China and Russia.

creative art is more of a luxury subject nowadays.

Reply 15

DonaldJong-Un

4

if was me what would have happened is either not bother with it and end up with a F and a waste of a GCSE. or devote more time to it at expense o f other subjects. i think it would be like this for others also

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 16

Emma:-)

Original post by Purplebottle

I don’t think it should be compulsory, not everyone likes it nor is everyone good at it. And it’s not necessarily needed for all future paths. Whereas maths english etc are the base for many careers

I agree

Reply 17

Electronics has existed as an O Level since around 1980. Secondary schools had workshops for woodwork and metalwork. D&T had become an established subject in the 1990s. Therefore it could be argued that D&T are reasonably established subjects.

One problem that D&T subjects have faced is that woodwork and metalwork had a double purpose in allowing students who were not academic but good with their hands to excel at. The replacement electronics, engineering, and even D&T are more technical and 'brain' type subjects that students of lower academic ability have struggled with. If future TE subjects are to be valued by employers and FE then they must be sufficiently academically rigorous which will disenfranchise students of lower academic ability.

The future of Michael Gove's reformed D&T remains to be seen.

Reply 18

TensorTympani

The education department in the Government actually thought for quite long about which subjects should be compulsury, and creative art is not something like maths or english which you will need in everyday life to make it compulsury.

Reply 19