What GCSE's should i take?!?!?!

[Chestnut Stella]

Hey there. I am 14 years old and currently in year 9 at school. In february i am due to choose what i am going too take for my GCSE's, i know for certain that i will do French as my chosen language and triple sciences. But i have 3 choices left and i really don't want too mess up. My dream job is too work with horses in some way, since the age of 6 i have been riding and i know currently own a 16.1hh ISH which i am hoping too go far on, so my future job should hopefully support this.
I am open to any suggestions, i just really want to be certain on a path and go in the right direction and not regret everything!

Thank you.

 

[brightmount]

I think you really need English and Maths as a basic requirement for most jobs, so that's 2 of the 3 sorted!

 

[Honey08]

I'd take a well balanced mix of arts and science subjects. That way if you change your path in a few years you still have various options. I would consider other avenues than just horses. Especially if you want to have a decent horse! I did my BHSAI and worked with horses when I left school, and it was really poorly paid and destroyed the "hobby" element of riding for me. I then went onto do a different degree and got a job that paid much more, allowing me to have a few horses and afford to compete etc.

 

[Grey_Eventer]

Eng and Maths i should think are compulsory. I would take something like art/drama/pe (only 1)
Could you do another language?
Or what about geography/history?
If you want to work with horses (if you're really set) Id still stay on and take A-levels. Something to fall back on if you need it.

 

[ruth83]

Don't panic too much about GCSE choices. Most jobs don't look at the subjects you took for GCSE but rather your grades. 5 A-C grades seems to be the average for many further education establishments. Maths, English and Science are the more highly regarded.

If you want to do specific subjects after GCSE then you may need those subjects at GCSE. With the grades aspect in mind it might be worth looking at subjects which interest you and will want to study.

If you aren't already then look at getting involved with the Pony Club local to you. The experiences gained with them will help you when first getting into the equine industry. Maybe look at volunteering an afternoon with the local riding school or RDA to gain wider experience.

Don't worry too much about deciding your future now!

 

[ClassicG&T]

Obv maths english science will be core subjects.
French is a good one and also Psychology if you can, i enjoyed it and its really interesting.
Maybe History or Geog?

 

[MadBlackLab]

How about business studies? It be handy if you want to run a yard as business or be a yard manager

 

[LBertie Wooster]

Heey, I'm in my first year of GCSE's and it is a bloomin had decession! We ahd to do a language as I go to a language college so I choose french and half course RE is a must. I've choosen PE, Geography and full course RE. I'm not regretting choosing ANY of them. English, maths, double science, a language (french, german, spanish) and half course RE where compulsory. Alot of my friends who coose Business studies have either dropped it or regretting choosing it and have do full course RE instead.
I choose subjects I felt I was strongest in and I would get good grades in, It has proved right as I am predicted nothing less than a C in ANY of my subjects, I'm only predicted 1 C the rest are B's and A's.
I also would LOVE to work with horses but after having a VERY long chat with a very close friend of mine who is 20 and working with horses I have decided that these subjects should get me the grades to be able to get a job that will be able to fund for my horses and eventing as just wroking with horses wouldnt bring in enough for me to do that. It's hard to choose anything other than horses I know(! ) and i still havent decided what I would like to do, I'm concentrating on getting GCSE's to my expected grades, and hopefully above in some, to get into 6th form to do my A Levels.
But remember, its your GCSE's and its your choice upon what you choose. no one can choose them for you. They only person that can pick the ones you feel are right to get you the grades needed is YOU. Also, think about what else you would like to do other than wokring with horses. Do you want horses and compete them (affiliated/ unaffiliated/localshows) when your out of school? you will also have transport fuel to pay for aswell as their upkeep(unless your lucky enough to have them at home! hehe) at livery yards.

I hope you choose the right GCSE's for you and the career you want to take
Best of luck for the future x

 

[PingPongPony]

If you want to go to a uni or good college afterwards they like to see, 1 language, 1 of the humanities, maths, english and sciences.
I know some in some schools science is not a basic subject. In mine it is and so is maths, english language and english literature, and a few others, and i had 4 choices, i want to be a vet, i took: spanish, history, art and pe. all of them are great and i don't regret taking any of them If i were you i'd choose geography history or re, and then subjects which you really enjoy and that don't require too much thinking ie. pe and art. It'll take some of the pressure to learn from a book off you, believe me, so many of my friends regret taking 4 very book based subjects as theres just so much stuff to learn that has to be perfect word for word, its a bit too much. So take a ''light'' subject. pm me if you have any questions, i'll be happy to help

 

[Lolo]

Choose what you want to do. I'd avoid things which aren't traditional though.

I did maths, double science (all my school offered), english lit., english lang. as core subjects. Then I chose german, geography, history and music.

I'm now at uni doing civil engineering- all my GCSEs did was show I'm a pretty well-rounded person, which I think IS important.

If I were you I'd take a language and a humanities subject, then either music/art/PE/drama and then your final one is whatever you fancy... But the first 2 are the important ones.

 

[LBertie Wooster]

shiny-ISH PE requires alot of thinking in the theory side of things! it i pretty much an additional science but theres alot to take in, in one lesson of theory. The practical side is alot more demanding then core Pe

 

[overtherainbow]

take things you enjoy and are good at- the subject is less important (at GCSE) than the grade you get. A humanities subject (geography/history) would probably be useful but other than that theres not really anything thats too important

 

[juliette]

When my daughter was taking her options my advice was to take subjects she enjoyed and felt she would do well in whilst trying to keep options open.
She is doing compulsory subjects of English, Maths, Combined Science, PE & ICT and she has taken options of German, French, Art and History.
She has also taken Statistics early.

She is now having to consider her A level choices which seems even harder as you can't do as many! Many GCSE's don't have to be taken to make A Level available, for example she has not taken Media GCSE but the teacher is keen for her to take it for A Level because she is good at English.

Your teachers should be able to help you make good choices.

I wouldn't gear your choices around horses yet, as many others have said if you work with them all day it can take the joy out of having your own. I know people in this situation.

 

[rockysmum]

Obviously English and Maths will be compulsory. I would always add ICT as its the third key/basic/functional skill. A lot of jobs ask for good ICT skills.

Other than that, if you dont actually require something for the future, go with what you will enjoy. It doesn't need to be a constant slog through subjects you hate.

 

[DragonSlayer]

I am assuming that your school will be pushing the English Baccalaureate right? (to comprise of Maths, English, Science, Humanities and a foreign language)

Many schools have 'created' their OWN 'E-Bac' course, because we have to admit, not everyone can speak a foreign language up to GCSE level.....!

I would imagine that your school will have an Options Evening after Christmas, so all will become clear to you then!

Don't rush your choice-making!



....and to add, Science has been compulsory now for a few years, like English and Maths.

 

[Dancing Queen]

The new EBac Will play a huge part in your choices as DS has mentioned.

You school will prob block your option choices. You need to speak to your head of Year/House.

As for working with horses - there is very little money in it and you may tend to find that you spend more time looking after others rather than your own.

 

[JFTDWS]

shiny-ISH PE requires alot of thinking in the theory side of things! it i pretty much an additional science but theres alot to take in, in one lesson of theory. The practical side is alot more demanding then core Pe

You might regard PE as a science, but a university or employer would likely disagree. Not that anyone really cares about GCSEs in the long run.

 

[Dancing Queen]

You might regard PE as a science, but a university or employer would likely disagree. Not that anyone really cares about GCSEs in the long run.

Totally agree - PE is not a 'proper science'. The amount of times PE end up giving the students the wrong information and i have to clear up their misconceptions - it drives me mad!

 

[JFTDWS]

oh DQ I was expecting a slapped wrist for being so negative there. I do love you sometimes


eta - GCSEs are extremely important, especially if you do not plan on getting A Levels or further as they are all you have to prove to an employer that you're capable of a degree of intelligent thought. What you do your GCSEs in (other than maths, english, science) is unlikely to matter to much if you do get A Levels etc though.

 

[Dancing Queen]

oh DQ I was expecting a slapped wrist for being so negative there. I do love you sometimes

you made me blush xx

 

[JFTDWS]

one does one's best xx

 

[Tonty Tont]

I'm in Year 11 at school, and starting to think about A Level subjects. I'm lucky that I'm predicted all A's and A*'s in my GCSE's, but make sure you take subjects you enjoy and are good at

Along with the core subjects, I took Spanish, History, ICT Option and Art. I think these were good choices, because they need varied skills to complete.

If you are going to stay on in higher education, grades are much more important than what subjects you took.

Take your time to think it over, and decide what is best for you. If you don't get on with the subject, you can always swap it for something you enjoy

 

[PingPongPony]

shiny-ISH PE requires alot of thinking in the theory side of things! it i pretty much an additional science but theres alot to take in, in one lesson of theory. The practical side is alot more demanding then core Pe

i know, i'm in my last year of doing it, but its still less technical and book perfect than say physics. and its not that hard

 

[charleysummer]

I think at this stage the best thing to do is to keep your options open-
I picked triple science (best option ! you tend to get put with the best science people as they all enjoy science and have a much better chance of doing well) music- loved thi, really good fun and something i enjoyed and ended up finished my work months early as i enjoyed doing it so much!
French- i skived a lot because i hated it that much and 2 years later am still on that high after i finished my final exam so don't talk to me about languages
Health and Social Care- I seemed to enjoy it at the time.. couldnt hack it now as it would be too dull- originally i took PE but realised I really wasnt that good at it when it came to winter as I have raynaud's so i get extremely cold. Health and social was good at the time because you got two full GCSE grade, think it is all btec and stuff now which doesn't bode so well for higher education courses.

Basically i wanted to do 'something horsey' ended up with A*/A grades and have just sent my application off to vet med didnt think i'd do so well and have swayed between career choices right up until this point.

Pick choices you enjoy and fully read the course description before taking it on (mistake i made whoops)

 

[Eventer96]

At GCSE level you really want to keep your options as open as possible. You never know how you might change your mind about what you want to do. I'm in Year 11 now; I took early entry exams last year so took my options roughly around the same time you are (Year 9). I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I picked more traditional subjects and 1 subject that I really loved!

I currently do:
Maths
English Literature
English Language
Functional Skills (An extra English exam)
Triple Science
Geography
Sociology
GCSE PE (I do horse riding as 1 of my 4 sports)
BTEC Sport
Philosophy and Ethics
ICT (I completed this in Year 10)

Having spent 2 years doing the courses I now have more of an idea of what I want to do with my life. College applications are a scary prospect, so many more choices. But I want to go into law. When I first took my options I wanted to be a vet. You may not change your mind, you're very lucky if you already know exactly what you want to do and how you are going to get there!

If you really want to go into the equine industry I would imagine 5 A*-C grades would get you onto an equine course at college (if that's what you wanted to do). As a rough guide; English, Maths, Science (triple if you can do it), 1 Humanities subject and a Language. That would get you the English Baccalaureate which would set you up perfectly and would allow you to do whatever you wanted at college, providing you got a minimum of a C grade in each subject.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[rotters13]

I am currently at university studying history and much as I LOVE my horses, working with them wouldn't be for me so I have decided to get a job with enough money to fund one.

I did:
English Lang
English Lit
Bio
Chem
Physics
Maths
IT (Half a GCSE, was compulsory and 100% useless.)
RS (Highly amusing and v little work. I quoted dumbledore in the exam and still did very well!)
History
French
Drama - It was nice to have something fun to do occasionally. Personally, although I hate it now, having something fun to do does relax your week. Given a choice I'd rather do Latin with hindsight but that is the Roman loser within me I expect.

All I can really advise is that the 'traditional' subjects are recognised and do keep more doors open for A level etc so by all means take 1 non-traditional subject for fun (like Drama for me!) but do try and keep it mainly on the traditional front. Just my opinion though!

 

[Miss L Toe]

Heey, I'm in my first year of GCSE's and it is a bloomin had decession! We ahd to do a language as I go to a language college so I choose french and half course RE is a must. English, maths, double science, a language
I choose subjects I felt I was strongest in and I would get good grade

^^^^??????

 

[Vixen Van Debz]

I did triple award science as I adore science and knew that's a direction I'd be taking in my Uni degree. However, my little sister was strongly recommended to do double award (she was a high science scorer so 'qualified' for triple) just so that she would have an extra choice. It's worked really well for her: it means she could choose all the auxillary subjects she wanted, and made sense as she doesn't know what she wants to do regarding Uni.

Just remember though that, as long as you've your C in English & Maths, GCSEs are primarily to qualify you for A-levels, AVCEs, college etc: so try to do what you enjoy and are good at 80)

 

[woodlandswow]

I want to work with horses and am looking at ag/equine uni's
the two subjects which has me on a tier for those courses are geography (geog is good as it shows you can write properly and analyse too) and business. they dont offer business at my school for GCSE but i am doing it for A level. if they had offered it id be on the boat

 

[Dancing Queen]

be warned those talking about double and triple science; changes are a foot - there is strong talk from Gov to move away from modular to linear (removing the modules - so students have to take exams at the end of the GCSE, rather than the current easy option).