Son stressed with gcse studies

Mupette

agree with peachprice

you only need 5 A* - C GCSE

we've been looking at 6th form and this is the requirements and for college too.

butler_helen

I got so stressed I dropped a subject, I did 10 in year 11 and chose to do a random 11th in the first three months of sixth form. Even without the eleventh I would have been happy and did well, it's had no affect on my life, so I say let him drop it.

mandy8532

Hi

Big hugs from me - DD has until May to go now. School really stresses her out has bulima and depression, seems to be doing nothing or loads :-) I think thats her mood at the time. Let him drop the subject - I have suggested that to DD but she can't as the subject she would drop is part of triple science. DD mentions something once, then nothing for weeks - not sure if they don't like to worry us or the fact it's just in passing is meant to bring up a red flag.

Is there anything you can help him with, reading stuff looking at pictures (in art my case).

Good luck xx

Bennifred

mandy8532 wrote: »

Hi...........................
I have suggested that to DD but she can't as the subject she would drop is part of triple science...............
Good luck xx

Hi - do you mean double science? If you DD is doing the three sciences separately (ie triple science) then she should be able to drop one of them. It is double science (two GCSEs awarded) where the three subject strands are interwoven and so inseperable. Hope that makes sense!

mrcow

I dropped one of my A-Levels (many years ago) because I felt I wasn't coping and I have to say that it was a very good move for me.

I was doing four (sciences and maths) and the workload was just too stressful. Once I'd dropped the 4th (Further Maths) it really helped me to catch up where I needed to be in the other three.

Of course, I could have gone back and retaken the 4th at a later stage, but to be honest, dropping it had zero effect on my university progress or choices (or future success).

Dropping subjects is not necessarily a negative thing. For me, it ensured that I got the As I needed in my other subjects. It hopefully will do the same for your son.

patchwork_cat

onlyroz wrote: »

Is it normal to take 11-12 GCSEs? At my school you "only" did 9, and that seemed plenty...

My DS did 13 and my DD will be taking 12/14. I really think that 13 is too many and when my DD started her school they were only doing 10, b ut know we are at choice stage it seems that they are doing at least 13. Double ICT, maths and stats, double English and at least double science are compulsory. A language, a humanity, a DT and another 'open' subject. On top of that top set maths will take additional maths and top set science will do all three sciences.

patchwork_cat

Mupette wrote: »

agree with peachprice

you only need 5 A* - C GCSE

we've been looking at 6th form and this is the requirements and for college too.

No you don't only need 5. A 6 th form may only ask 5, but a number of uni courses ask for 8 or 9, but that does depend on whether your course at uni is seriously oversubscribed. Infact Birmingham medical school require 8 A*'s at GCSE. However 8 is a lot less than 13! I would rather my kids concentrated and got all A*'s in 8 subjects! I think 10 is plenty.

My DD is considering medicine atm and I would rather she didn't spread herself so thin.

fiscalfreckles

I'd have another chat with the form tutor - and the teacher of the subject involved - and see what they think. My feeling is yes, let him drop it if its not a core subject, but they will know better if its a genuine issue or a temporary panic. Don't feel guilty, I think you have just had a gut reaction and will be able to talk it through and decide what to do.

roadiegirl

I know exactly where your son is coming from. I was doing 12 GCSE's, ended up getting 10. I did English (x2), Maths, Science (x2), RE, Music, ICT (x2), Food Technology, then two extra subjects in Spanish and Business Studies. I ended up dropping my two extra subjects as it just became to overwhelming. The school were already a bit dubious when I said I wanted to do extra subjects, but they allowed me to and gave me lots of support. If your son wants to drop the lesson, I would let him. It allowed me to concentrate on my other subjects (I got 1 A*, 3A's and 6B's, which was more than enough for college/university. Most colleges request for 5-6 A*-C grades, so as long as he obtains them, there shouldn't be a problem!

Mupette

patchwork_cat wrote: »

No you don't only need 5. A 6 th form may only ask 5, but a number of uni courses ask for 8 or 9, but that does depend on whether your course at uni is seriously oversubscribed. Infact Birmingham medical school require 8 A*'s at GCSE. However 8 is a lot less than 13! I would rather my kids concentrated and got all A*'s in 8 subjects! I think 10 is plenty.

My DD is considering medicine atm and I would rather she didn't spread herself so thin.

The requirement for DS school is min of 5
that is for 6th form or college, not talking about Uni, not got to that stage yet, that's for a few years time for us.