Drama GCSE

patchwork_cat

My DS took Art GCSE as part of his choices, we had been warned just how heavy a subject it was, but it was really quite heavy, not intellectually, but time wise. My DD is now making her GCSE choices and is considering Drama, I have a sneaking suspicion that Drama is also going to be a heavy subject, surprisingly so. Have you or your teen taken Drama GCSE recently is it a lot of hard work like Art? Just so she knows what she is taking on. When you are talking 13 exams like my DS did she needs to know the score!

wendz86

I took Drama GCSE (was 8 years ago mind) and was pretty easy going. Had to do some extra hours practicing final performance etc but compared to the hours my sister spent on her art GCSE was a lot less. Obviously might have changed in last few years and be harder.

patchwork_cat

Thanks Wendz that is the sort of thing I want to know, because art was a serious number of hours!

POPPYOSCAR

My daughter is in her first year of Drama GCSE she wanted to do Performing arts but it clashed with her Spanish so she took Drama instead.

She is loving it and does not find it as hard as some of her other subjects.

LJM

why doesn't she or you pop into the school to discuss it im sure they wouldnt mind telling you both a bit about it

POPPYOSCAR

LJM wrote: »

why doesn't she or you pop into the school to discuss it im sure they wouldnt mind telling you both a bit about it

I know what you are saying but you don't always get the full picture from the teachers. In my experience they don't want to put prospective students off from their own subjects so sometimes are not always forthcoming about just how much work is involved.

Gemmy_2

I took my Drama GCSE in 06/07
I also took my art

Art is a very heavy subject and requires a lot of time.

Drama is quite light until the exam - where you could be practising the play everyday after school - but even then, its not amazingly heavy.
The coursework i'd say is the same as every other subject.

Oh, and just to add - drama was the best subject i could of taken, you have so much fun in drama - the other subjects were stressing me out, but drama brought back the fun!

patchwork_cat

Gemmy that is part of the reason that I wanted to know how heavy the workload was. Art GCSE put my DS off art as it was so intense. We had hoped that it would be his one 'light relief' GCSE.

Humphrey10

Gemmy wrote: »

Art is a very heavy subject and requires a lot of time.

It wasn't when I took it ten years ago (we had to take art, music or drama - the school made us take at least one subject from each area for some unknown reason). It was completely pointless, I rarely did any homework for it as I refused to waste time on such a useless subject, and I have zero artistic skill, and I got a C. I have no idea how people managed to get lower marks than that.
Given that I got a C despite my lack of effort and talent, I don't think it would take much effort to get a high mark.

onlyroz

Isn't it usually easier to get good grades in less subjective subjects? E.g. if your art teacher just doesn't like your style, no matter how good you are, then you just won't get a good grade. I imagine it's similar with drama and music. Hence why I chose the more traditional subjects.

southoftheriver

I loved drama it was less work than my other subjects until the performance/exam time, and I really got to put my stamp on what we did. I think it is easier than art having watched my sister struggle with all her art coursework.