How many GCSEs can you take?

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Weezlecheesle@reddit

Correct. Called Triple Science. But most do the Double Award.

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‘Get’ in this context is synonymous with ‘pass’ Nearly everyone takes GCSEs - they are the standard age 16 exams, and most people will sit them in 8-10 subjects To be employable, you really need to have at least 5 passes (including maths and English). If you do worse than that, your employment opportunities are very limited

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

This makes so much more sense now, thank you so much for explaining this! And oh wow, 8-10, must be so stressful for students.

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AlGunner@reddit

What they said and Woolworths used to be a shop that closed down years ago. The equivalent now would probably be Tesco.

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gnu_andii@reddit

Yeah, there are kids doing their GCSEs this year who were born the year Woolworths went bust.

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LuKat92@reddit

Damn I’m old

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gnu_andii@reddit

You and me both. I did my GCSEs ten years *before* Woolies closed.

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Ururuipuin@reddit

I did O levels

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gnu_andii@reddit

Ok, you win XD

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MiddleEnglishMaffler@reddit

I was born in '94 and my family were still saying "If you don't pass your O-levels, you'll end up as one of Woolworths."

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Ahhh, thank you for adding that. This is really helpful too.

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baildodger@reddit

10 sounds like a lot, but most people will do Maths, English Literature, English Language, Chemistry, Physics and Biology as standard, which is already 6. Add in a humanities subject (Geography, History, etc), a foreign language (French, Spanish or German are common), an arts subject (Music, Art, Photography, Drama) and a technology (IT, Graphic Design, etc) and you’re at 10.

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Weezlecheesle@reddit

Most do double Science, ie two GCSEs from the science subjects.

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MiddleEnglishMaffler@reddit

Or separates, which gives you 3

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gnu_andii@reddit

Yeah, in many cases, what amounts to three lessons (English, Maths & Science) in school turns into five GCSEs.

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hnsnrachel@reddit

Lucky kids in those schools. Mine turned 5 GCSEs into 6 classes (maths, bio, chem, physics, English lit, English lang)

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gnu_andii@reddit

Ouch. I'm guessing you had fewer hours of each though? I'm pretty sure we had multiple hour long 'Science' sessions for example, and the three lessons together took up most of the timetable.

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LuKat92@reddit

I have 7 science GCSEs. We did triple science at school, so I have a GCSE each in biology, chemistry and physics. Triple science was the exact same modules as double science so the teachers were like “for the price of an extra couple of hours of exams you get two more GCSEs, why not” so I have two from double science as well. Then I also did extracurricular GCSEs in astronomy and psychology

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MiddleEnglishMaffler@reddit

Enlgish lit and language may have separate papers but they were the same GCSE in my school (2010)

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Infinite_Crow_3706@reddit

Not really. 8-10 is a baseline. Some take 12+

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IAmLaureline@reddit

Some highflying students take more than ten, but not most. You clearly did, so well done, and maybe you were at a grammar school or a fee paying school where that was the norm but even at a good comp 8-10 is standard.

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BrokenDogToy@reddit

At my bog standard comprehensive (admittedly 17 years ago), everyone who didn't have special needs did 11, and more able teenagers did 12 or 13. I've got no stats on this, but speaking to young people today I feel like the average number taken has gone down.

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hnsnrachel@reddit

Standard at my comprehensive was 11. Some did less, some more, but 11 was the most common - 5 compulsory (though I think 1 of them was only compulsory at my school), 1 language other than English, 5 options.

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Infinite_Crow_3706@reddit

I went to a comprehensive

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IAmLaureline@reddit

Well surely you know then it's not the norm? It's simply not an option for most kids at most comps. BTW, I'm not bitter, I have 12, but I know I was lucky.

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Infinite_Crow_3706@reddit

I was in the top set and took 9. That was average but could have been lower in the other groups. I added 3 more GCSE's in A-Level (like a practice exam but when AS wasn't common) but this was 1992 so might not be an option these days.

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eggpotion@reddit

Its really not that bad. Im 16 doing a levels which is a year after gcses (but not the only post gcse option). I did 12 at my school

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

What are some other post gcse options?

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hnsnrachel@reddit

BTECs Apprenticeships T Levels I'm not sure if there might be some others, but I believe these and A Levels are most common

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you very much!

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knotsazz@reddit

It’s not that bad. I did 11. It’s just a full time school day and you do fewer subjects than before. I pretty much didn’t take any humanities after I was 14, just arts, languages and science. A levels were great though. Dropping down to four subjects you’re actually interested in is fantastic by comparison.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

So GCSEs are taken when you're about 16 years old, and A levels when you're about 18 years old, is that correct? And also, are A levels compulsory?

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hnsnrachel@reddit

AS Levels at 17 as well. It's half an A Level and most continue all subjects to A Level, but many drop 1 or 2 after AS Levels. Most take 3 A Levels, 4 AS (or did when I was at school) but my school allowed some of us to continue 5 AS Levels on to A Levels.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you!

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knotsazz@reddit

No, A levels aren’t compulsory. There are a bunch of alternatives. Here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/06/alternatives-to-a-levels-and-university-what-you-need-to-know/#:~:text=Thinking%20about%20what's%20next%20after,are%20aged%2016%20and%20older.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you very much!

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SwordTaster@reddit

8-10 is a pretty low number for brighter students. I believe I did 13 and my brother did 14

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peppersunlightbutter@reddit

we didn’t have the opportunity to take over 10 gcses at my school, regardless of academic attainment

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gnu_andii@reddit

Were they all full course GCSEs?

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SwordTaster@reddit

Yes. My brother had to stay after school once a week for his food tech GCSE as it didn't fit into the rest of his school day

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gnu_andii@reddit

Wow, impressive. I did 11, three of which were short course, and that was the most our school allowed you to do, as I remember. I was the kind of kid who was annoyed we had to waste time doing PE lessons when we could be doing something towards our GCSEs, so I would have likely opted for more. I think the teachers found it hard enough scheduling the options we did have.

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SwordTaster@reddit

I think, in my school, anyone above set 3 for science was put in for double science, anyone above set 5 in English was also required to take French or Spanish, and because we were a business and technology school, we also had to take either business or IT, so for a lot of us our path was somewhat prepicked to a mild degree. It's been 15 years now so I can't remember all of mine

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gnu_andii@reddit

It's been 26 years for me, but I've had the aid of my National Record of Achievement that I found in the attic a few weeks ago! As far as I remember, we all did double Science, Maths, English Literature, English Language (taught together as just 'English'), whatever language we'd chosen in Year 7 (French or German) and short courses in IT, RE, D&T Graphics and either History or Geography. You then got two options. There were long versions of History, Geography & IT, and also Drama, Music & PE (as a GCSE rather than just for exercise). I'm pretty sure there are more options I didn't take and have forgotten!

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LuKat92@reddit

Pfft, I have 17 (that I can think of right now) and I’m fine. Just ask my dragon, Jeff

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PatchyWhiskers@reddit

It's actually less stressful because if there's a subject you really hate you can just not do it (as long as it's not one of the core ones)

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pineapplesaltwaffles@reddit

I did 13 😅 In retrospect that was pretty unnecessary and a bit stupid...

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iesamina@reddit

I did too but I did two a year early and two in the first year of sixth form so it was more spread out. But it meant I did 4 years of exams then 3 more years at university lol

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pineapplesaltwaffles@reddit

I did do one 2 years early, but then did the A-Level for that at the same time as the rest of my GCSEs 🤣🤦‍♀️

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Internet-Dick-Joke@reddit

> And oh wow, 8-10, must be so stressful for students. Not really. Most country's school systems have you doing 8-10 subjects at that level, and will have you doing that number of exams. So, if you do English Language, English Literature, Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, that's already 6 GCSEs just from the core curriculum (not everyone does all 3 sciences and I don't think English lit is compulsory, but English Language, Maths and at least one science is), and then ICT/Computer Sciences will give you a 7th. Then just add 1-3 optional subjects I guess, like history or geography. The difference for the UK system is that you get a qualification and grade for each subject rather than getting a single "graduated secondary education" diploma with a combined score.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

That's a great explanation, and so helpful. Thank you so much!

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furrycroissant@reddit

I took 11 GCSEs, with multiples exams per subject. But this was 20yrs ago

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Toraden@reddit

It's also not any more stressful than any other exams, it's just an end of year exam for students in the 16 year bracket, so you sit them for each subject you are studying. They are taken a bit more seriously than normal end of year exams, so that's where the additional stress comes from, but the quantity is no different to what they would sit in the 4 years prior.

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MiddleEnglishMaffler@reddit

How many you can take depends on how many subjects your school has in its timetable. Some schools have shorter lessons and so have maybe, one more subject than other schools, which means their students will get an extra GCSE. Other schools may have longer lessons and so students may have one leas than normal. The main aim is to get 5 pass GCSE's in Maths, English, Science and any other two as a standard for minimum wage jobs. It's sort of like the UK version of the American High School Certificate which is the minimum requirement for a lot of jobs.

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BuncleCar@reddit

Many schools stop people taking them as they'd fail and bring the school average down, bad news for the school

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George_Salt@reddit

Who are these kids taking 12 subjects? I know I'm old (I was in the second ever year to sit GCSEs) and with separate science subjects (no combined science) it was normal to take nine subjects, plus extension maths if you were good at maths. Other than maths and English which are basic CV requirements, your GCSEs count for very little within five years of taking them - they're overtaken by whatever you do next. You're very unlikely to ever be asked for them again. I haven't included mine on my CV for over a decade, I don't even list A-levels.

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Internet-Dick-Joke@reddit

> Who are these kids taking 12 subjects? To be fair, adding mine up, I have 10, but that's with 3 sciences, 2 English (Language and Literature), 2 maths (maths and statistics) ICT and then 2 additional choice GCSEs. You get a a lot of milage from bringing able to get multiple GCSE's out of a single class. 2 more subjects would have been hard, but they's certainly have been doable, and at worst I'd have needed to finish school at 4pm instead of 3pm, or had my number of weekly classes reduced in some subjects where I had multip classes per week.

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Down-Right-Mystical@reddit

>2 more subjects would have been hard, but they's certainly have been doable, and at worst I'd have needed to finish school at 4pm instead of 3pm, or had my number of weekly classes reduced in some subjects where I had multip classes per week. Basically what happened to me, to take 13. French, ICT (though ours was called Business Studies, which was pathetic) and RE I only did two hours a week, instead of the three or four expected to get the full qualification, but was allowed to take them anyway. I did Art after school for two hours a week, and English Lit one lunchtime a week. It also helped that I was medically signed off of having to do PE for most of year 11, so that was two hours every Friday afternoon I was allowed to sit in the library and do homework.

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Internet-Dick-Joke@reddit

> though ours was called Business Studies, which was pathetic We we offered business studies as a seperate GCSE, on top of the compulsory ICT. I didn't take it, but some of my mates did, and they all said that it was a pisstake and they could have slept through it. I think a lot of the actual work crossed over with the ICT work, too, so in theory they could have just split the ICT classes the way that we did English Language and English Literature (my school just gave us English classes, and we did both GCSEs in the same class) rather than wasting the option, but I guess that hadn't occured to anyone. But yeah, it's definitely workable to get extra; it's just dependent on the school being able and willing to accommodate it. My school definitely wasn't going to allow anyone to do extra GCSEs, because it would have meant the teachers doing more work.

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Down-Right-Mystical@reddit

I don't even recall if my school actually offered a separate ICT GCSE: it was a Business Studies 'college' (I think that was the term used before it became an Academy) so they made us do Business. And yes, your friends are right, it was a piss take. Can't say I remember a lot of the business side of it, but there was a fair bit about office layouts and such like. I mean, who needs more than ten minutes to learn what an 'open plan' office is? But I felt like we did stuff like that for ages. I don't think my school would have considered the vast majority of kids smart enough to do both English subjects in one class! We did that in top set maths, with statistics, though. I was surprised my school accommodated the extra, to be fair. But while the school sucked, some of the teachers didn't, and i'm sure there were a fair few 'interesting' conversations that happened where the teachers said yes and the admin said no!

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Down-Right-Mystical@reddit

I took 13, in 2006. But I was weird, most people only took 9. My school had a very particular system in how they organised the timetables, so subjects were split into groups that you had to pick one or two out of, regardless of if you actually wanted to do anything in that group. We also had to do 'half' subjects (i don't even remember if they had proper qualifications from them) for certain subjects I always assumed the government said we should have to study, though looking back that may just have been the school. So I had three subjects where I was only in classes for the 'half' thing, but was allowed to take the full GCSE. (The 'bonus' of being considered an intelligent, academically-minded kid?) I also did two in my own time, with teachers that volunteered to give up a couple hours after school or during lunch breaks. Looking back, I have no idea how I did it.

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amanset@reddit

Yeah. I did mine slightly later in 1990. I got the top grades in my year, with a natty little plaque for my troubles, and I took nine with some taking eight. And there was no A*. Some with the science, so I took Maths, English Language, English Literature, Religious Studies, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Spanish and Graphic Communication (basically technical drawing with some artistic flare).

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George_Salt@reddit

Those were the days, you could go on to good things with a mixed bag of As and Bs and A\* hadn't been dreamt of. Mine were Maths, Maths Extension Paper, English Language, English Literature, Biology. Chemistry, Physics, German, Geography, CDT Design and Technology. CDT D&T was technical drawing plus some workshop experience - the compulsory non-academic subject!

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amanset@reddit

Pity we didn’t have the Maths Extension Paper. I went on the do maths and further maths for A Level and then Pure Maths at University, so I reckon I might have managed that one.

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Down-Right-Mystical@reddit

The minimum requirement for college (to do A-levels) was 5 A*-C, including maths and English Language, when I took mine. To be honest, i found it hard to understand how people *couldn't* get 5 in that range, but IIRC, only something like 48% of my year did... but there's a lot to be said about how bad the school was! (We failed Ofsted, the year I took my GCSE's, and that was a mess.) But in theory, you can take as many as you like. I took 13, with a lot of work in my own time. If i'd only done the minimum the school required i think i'd have only taken 7, maybe 8, full GCSE's.

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poodleflange@reddit

When I was at school we took 10 GCSEs with the option to take an 11th if you wanted to. When I entered the job market, they usually wanted 5 GCSE passes at grade C or above. No idea what it's like now as that was over 20 years ago.

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Neddlings55@reddit

I miss Woolies.

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User-1967@reddit

What’s Woolies got to do with the number of GCSE’s we take in the UK?

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Neddlings55@reddit

"**If you don't get any GCSE's**, you'll have to work in Woolworths!''

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Present_Program6554@reddit

One of my friends had to do exactly that. She worked there for 32 years and didn't know what to do when it closed.

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User-1967@reddit

Oh ok

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

What happened to them?

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Neddlings55@reddit

Stores closed back in 2009.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

I see, thank you very much!

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Few_House_5201@reddit

Went bankrupt. Was a shame because you’d see them in every city high street and they sold everything including pick and mix which made it very exciting for children.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

I see, thank you so much!

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Reis_Asher@reddit

I took 11 but that was in 2001. Passed with flying colors and then entered a deep depression that ended with me getting 2 B’s and a C in my A Levels and not going to university. I left the country and nobody over in the US knows what a GCSE or an A Level is so they just kinda shrug and go “high school graduate I guess”.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

So you have to do good on A levels in order to get into a university, right?

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Reis_Asher@reddit

Generally you know what you’ll get and apply to universities based on your projected grades. My sister made herself ill trying to hit her targets but she did go to a good university. I just drifted and when it came time to apply, I didn’t. I just kinda fell out of the system and went to work. I got a U (ungraded) for my Psychology coursework which was embarrassing but nobody seemed to care. I’ve done OK for myself but if I could do it all over again I’d make different choices. I wish I’d reached out for help back then but instead I took the minimum amount of classes, went to work on my days off, and generally found it hard to keep motivated because I didn’t see much of a future for myself. Evidently my brother felt the same way because he dropped out of A levels and became a full time alcoholic. Stay in school, kids. You will regret it later if you don’t.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience!

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Over_Locksmith9670@reddit

I did 8, compulsory maths, english, combined science, and RE bc i went to a catholic school, and then i chose media, art, history, and textiles. also had a compulsory PE class but i didn’t do any exams for that

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

What's textiles?

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Over_Locksmith9670@reddit

sewing and stuff like that, but we also did woodwork. for the gcse exam we had to sit a 2 hour paper and also make something, i cant remember what the themes were but i remember making a dog coat

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

How fun! Thank you for taking the time to respond!

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LeTrolleur@reddit

I took 11. One had to be a language, German, because my high school was a "language college" or something like that. Other than the language, Triple Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) was compulsory if you met the requirements, and the rest was my choice so long as it fitted with the school's schedule.

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pavlovs_pavlova@reddit

To add to other comments, I'll give you the breakdown of where 8-10 GCSEs come from. Everyone takes Maths, English and Science. Some people take further maths. English is broken down into English Literature and English Language. Science is either broken down into core science and additional science, or Physics, Biology and Chemistry (triple science). Most schools require you to pick a humanities subject (history or geography). Most people then pick 3 "options" subjects. These might me Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), usually French, Spanish or German, depending what your school offers. Art, drama, music, DT, graphics, PE, media, child development, and health and social care are other examples of options subjects. Someone add or correct me if I'm wrong about any of this. It's been 8 years since I did my GCSEs.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much for the breakdown!

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SilverellaUK@reddit

Probably 8 to 12 is normal. Notice your quote doesn't say take, it says get, you can take a dozen and fail them all if you really try to.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

It does, yeah, I understand the difference. Thank you for adding that.

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Dotty_Bird@reddit

GCSE= General Certificate in Secondary Education. These are the first level of educational exams taken that count for jobs in the UK etc. They come in a range of subjects, from sciences, languages, social sciences, and Humanities (geography, history etc), computer science, physical education and many others. After GCSEs are A-Levels = Advanced Level.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

What jobs can you get with GCSEs and what jobs can you get with A levels?

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EmploymentCapital481@reddit

I dunno but my younger brother's got two!

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eeyorethechaotic@reddit

You could probably take as many as you want, but i took 11. I think it's usually 10-12 for an average GCSE student.

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furrycroissant@reddit

Grade 4 or above now. Alphabet grades don't exist at GCSE anymore.

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Defiant_Practice5260@reddit

Yea generally you're only constrained by time. Most kids do GCSEs at school and then leave to either take higher education (A levels) or work. There's nothing to stop an adult taking all the GCSEs they wish (there are over 60).

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amanset@reddit

Minor thing but I have never seen A Levels being called ‘higher education’. ‘Further education’ is was more normal in my experience.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much! And oh wow, 11!

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Realistic-River-1941@reddit

It depended on the school, so the number is not in itself significant.

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nasted@reddit

GCSEs are the qualifications that schools push: they are not mandatory and you are unlimited in how many you can take. You can sit the exams at any age. In a school setting, you might sit 8 or 9 in total. The qualification itself is low-value: regardless of how well you do, at least 20% will fail each year because you aren’t marked on what you know, but instead how much you know compared to other people who took the same exam paper as you. So they’re pretty shit. There are many equivalent or alternate qualifications out there (GCSEs are associated with kids) but most don’t realise this.

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Own-Priority-53864@reddit

They're defacto mandatory. There's very little you can do without them, unless you know a guy who knows a guy. The alternatives are looked down upon by most, if you've got a fleet of btecs and functional skills then don't expect to do much more than backbreaking manual labour in some warehouse or building site.

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nasted@reddit

No, they’re the most known or accessible. But you’ll always phrases like “5 GCSEs or equivalent” otherwise what are Scottish kids doing with their Highers?

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Internet-Dick-Joke@reddit

The other alternative is the International Baccalaureate or the European Baccalaureate, but those are most likely to be offered in fee-paying schools, for people who would be expecting to go to university anyway and so won't be reliant on GCSEs/A-Levels for employment.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

I see, thank you very much!

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Inevitable_Dog_2200@reddit

I did 12 but that was over a decade ago (God I feel old) when you did exams every 3 or so months rather than all at the end of 2 years, so it was easier to manage.

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WelshBathBoy@reddit

I can remember taking 13, and that was the maximum you could do in my school and I can't imagine being able to fit much more in: Welsh Language Welsh Literature English Language English literature Maths Biology* Physics* Chemistry* History Geography ITC Graphics Art *Triple science rather the more common double award

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scarletOwilde@reddit

I took 11, but I was a swotty kid.

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PetersMapProject@reddit

There's no maximum limit, but the minimum is normally 5 and a bright student will typically take 10 or 11. In reference to not getting any GCSEs, what they really mean is not passing any with good grades. Everyone takes them, unless they literally don't turn up to the exams, but that would be rare and a very stupid decision. Typically employers and college courses will ask for 5 GCSEs grade A*-C (or 4/5 - 9, as they now are) including English and Maths. C / 4 or 5 is known as a 'good pass'. The lowest possible grades are G or 1. If you completely fail then you get a U (unclassified) In case Woolworths is part of the reference you're missing, it was a large retail chain that closed it down in 2008.

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TheRemanence@reddit

lots of jobs need a 4/C at the very least in maths and english too

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PetersMapProject@reddit

I already said that. Did you get your English GCSE?

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

Honestly the people in my school who didn't get at least 5 A-C (which is what we needed to go to sixth form) were really not the brightest.

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TheRemanence@reddit

What i can read above is you saying they need 5 for college courses. you did say employers as well. my point is that lots of really quite menial jobs require these 2 not 5. You might not be getting a job at woolies (or todays) equivalent if you can't do basic comprehension and maths.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much! This is so helpful! And oh, I didn't know about Woolworths, thank you for pointing that out, that's important too.

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notacanuckskibum@reddit

I think I read about a guy who took GCSEs for a hobby and had over 50. But that was over a period of many years.

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TarcFalastur@reddit

Your school will require you to take a certain amount. Maths, English and Science are mandatory (you typically get entered into two GCSEs for English - one for language analysis and one for literature analysis - and either two or three for science). On top of that you have to choose around 4-5 extra based on your own personal preferences. Beyond that, though, you can elect to study more if you want, though the extras would be self-study done in your own time and you'd likely have to pay a fee to do the extras. A couple of years ago a 16 year old set a new record by passing 34 GCSEs.

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Maleficent-Leek2943@reddit

I did either 11 or 12. Can’t remember now and can’t be bothered to think of all the subjects or look for my certificates. We did one a year early and I can’t remember if it was “11 total” or “one a year early then eleven the following year”.

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AverageCheap4990@reddit

You can take five at minimum but most take around 8 to ten on average.

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snapjokersmainframe@reddit

Nah, there's no minimum. You could take one at community college or whatever. GCSEs are not only for 5th formers.

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AverageCheap4990@reddit

I was taken the question was about students at school and not adults.

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AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit

There's still no minimum. Some pupils, often those with SEN, may be entered for only one or two subjects if the school thinks they'll pass them.

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Ethelredthebold@reddit

Exactly, I took mine in my 30s. When I was at school, because of my homelife/or lack thereof, I failed my CSEs. I took A levels in my 40s.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you very much!

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grapefruitzzz@reddit

If you are on a vocational course at a further education college, you have to retake GCSE maths and English until you pass or turn 19. The English GCSE is an especially stupid and badly-made exam involving things like "Write 500 words about this stock photo in 45 minutes" Imagine what a fun place those classrooms are... and what it's like to teach there as a temp...

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ahhibadi@reddit

From what I've heard, not all schools are the same. At my school, I got to choose 3 or 4 (no more, no less). At my cousin's school, she got to choose like 5 (i can't remember exactly, but it was more than me). But then there's also the mandatory ones: Maths, English, ICT and R.E (religious education).

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you very much!

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Vegetable_Trifle_848@reddit

Most people take around 8-10 minimum is 5 but there is also no maximum to how many you can do but also asking r/GCSE might help answer your question

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you!

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EllieW47@reddit

Most kids are entered for 7-10 at 16 (on average, it could be more or less.in exceptional circumstances). If they don't pass maths and English language they are expected to carry on studying those topics at college alongside training or an apprenticeship and keep trying until they reach 18. Anyone can take a GCSE (if they pay for it) so your limit is the number of subjects offered. For my son's school, mandatory subjects are: GCSE English Language GCSE English Literature GCSE Maths GCSE Science (Combined & Triple so worth 1-3 GCSEs depending on ability) GCSE PRE (Philosophy, Religion and Ethics) - legally schools must provide 1 lesson a week so they just provide an extra one and get them a qualification. They then take three optional subjects, e.g a language, history, geography, art, music...

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you very much!

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ramapyjamadingdong@reddit

5 GCSEs at C or above was considered minimum requirement for certain jobs and more preferred. You would likely sit 9/10 but more isnt unheard of. (note the grading is now numbers and I have no idea how that works) Typically you would take: Maths English Language English Literature Science (can be either split as 3 subjects, Biology, Chemistry and Physics or combined to be counted as 2) You might then sit subjects such as: IT Religious Education History Geography A language- French, German, Spanish being most common. Business studies PE

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you very much!

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ChallengingKumquat@reddit

There are over 70 different subjects available at GCSE level, including some very obscure ones. There is no limit to the number you can take. BUT Most schools only offer a choice of maybe 15-20 subjects, and students typically take 10-12. Weaker students may only take 5-8. Some people fail their exams: they don't get any GCSEs. Others may do alternative qualifications, such as iBaccalauriate, NVQs, Access courses, and those people may also not have any GCSEs. People saying that "You'll find it hard to get a job without any GCSEs" aren't quite right. It's just that without GCSEs or other qualifications, the sorts of jobs you can do is very limited, and low paid, eg waitress, supermarket staff, cleaner, labourer.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

This makes much more sense now, thank you so much!

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AdThat328@reddit

It's a confusing way of saying it but if you pass a GCSE then you "have" that qualification. As a kid you have to do them in at least 5 subjects, then most places when I did mine asked you to choose three more subjects you had to do, but then I did an extra 2 after school on top. There's no real limit it's just time and resources. If you're an adult you can do every subject if you wished.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you very much!

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Infinite_Crow_3706@reddit

Not really optional but 'getting GCSE's' usually means getting a 'good' grade of C or above preferable in 5+

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you!

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coffeewalnut08@reddit

Most jobs want you to have at least five GCSEs, scoring A*-C in them. If you lack those, you’ll struggle more with employment. But you can take up to 11 or 12. Though most people take between 8-10, in my experience.

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ksusha_lav@reddit (OP)

Thank you very much!

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Featherymorons@reddit

Just a reminder that GCSE’s are graded 9 (highest) to 1 (lowest).

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coffeewalnut08@reddit

Oh yeah forgot about that

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Chinita_Loca@reddit

Most people do 8-11, but there’s no limit. There’s always a news story in the quiet summer news cycle when there’s no politics to report on about some poor kid (usually far younger than 16) whose family got them to do 20+ as a “hobby”. That usually includes all kinds of unusual subjects not offered in most schools plus lots of languages (if Indian they might do GCSEs in 3-4 Indian languages for example, plus Esperanto for an easy additional 5).

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Sweaty_Sheepherder27@reddit

I think I took 12. Some subjects were "double", so they counted as 2. Science was one of them, English was two, but split between language and literature. I only ended up with 12 because the way the school structured them was dumb, we had to do things like "Applied IT" which was a double, but I wanted a language so I did Spanish as an extra. RE was a half (whatever the hell that meant), so I topped that up to a full as well.

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qualityvote2@reddit

Hello u/ksusha_lav! Welcome to r/AskABrit! --- For other users, does this post fit the subreddit? If so, **upvote this comment!** Otherwise, **downvote this comment!** And if it does break the rules, **downvote this comment and report this post!**

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