GCSE Madness!

GCSEs summary

GCSEs are a test you take in year 11; the results you get will help determine what jobs you will be able to get. At this time in the year it’s time for 12, 13 and 14 year olds to decide what GCSE subjects they would like to choose. Different schools do it in different years, some in year 8 and some in year 9. Here at Bluecoat Wollaton Academy we choose our options in year 8. When you choose your GCSEs you have a series of core subjects that you have to take .e.g. English (Literature and Language), Maths, and Science (combined or triple) and here at Bluecoat we also have to study RE. After that you also get to choose 2 or 3 extra subjects; this also depends on  what your school offers. We spoke to a few students around our school to see how they felt about their choices.

Year 8

 

David -He thought it is hard picking them in year 8, even though it’s a good thing, because he wanted to do so many things but then realised there weren’t

enough spaces to do all of them. So now he doesn’t know what to do, although

he would rather pick them now so he can drop subjects he doesn’t enjoy.

 

Sarah -Sarah thought it is a good thing Bluecoat Wollaton picks in year 8 as you are ready and know what to expect next. She thinks, in the future, that she will always have a feeling that there would have been better things to choose, even though she knows they are good decisions at the moment.

 

Tristan -Tristan thought there were too many options to pick from so that made it hard for him. He said he would prefer to pick in year 9, as then he gets more time to think about his choices, but if he could he would narrow it down between year 7, 8, 9 and 10.

 

Juliet -She thought it is a really good idea but she has mixed feelings about it you might not be 100 percent sure about what to pick. Juliet also said that she would rather pick in year 9 so you have more experience with the subjects so you would know what to pick. She would also rather narrow down how many subjects she has over the years towards year 10.

 

Year 9

Asante -Asante is almost 100 percent happy but she didn’t get one of her top 3 choices because school sadly removed that subject from the curriculum. However she does think it is good that we pick in year 8!

Amelia -She regrets picking art as she thought it would be a lot of drawing and painting where as there is a lot of technicalities to it. Amelia would also have preferred to pick her GCSE’s in year 9.

Year 10  

Rachel -Rachel thinks she won’t regret her choices although she might not take them any further, but at least she has learnt lots of skills. She thinks that year 8 is a bit early to decide but it is good as you get an extra year to learn key parts to the subject.

We also spoke to some of the teachers at Wollaton to see what they thought about asking our students to make their choices at such a young age.

Teachers

Mr Miller - Mr Miller is the head of year 8, so he is very involved with GCSE’s at the moment. He thinks it’s a good thing that we pick them in year 8 because if you choose in year 9 you don’t get so much motivation through year 8 and get fed up.

Miss Collins -She thinks it is harder and feels scarier as you are a lot younger when you choose them. Because they have changed the way of grading it’s hard for the teachers to understand it because they haven’t got used to it either.  

By: Daisy, Lauren and Sophie