THE NEW GCSE GRADING
NEW GRADING STRUCTURE
9 8 7 6 5 4
3 2
1 U
OLD GRADING STRUCTURE
A *
DOWNLOAD THE GOVERNMENT ’ S GCSE
REFORMS FACTSHEET www . gov . uk / government / publications / gcsenew-grading-scale-factsheets
A B C D E F G U
WHAT SUBJECTS CAN YOUR CHILD CHOOSE FROM ?
The following subjects are compulsory and all students will have to take them at GCSE level :
• English ( English literature and English language or a single English GCSE )
• maths
• science ( core science , double science or triple science )
There may be some other subjects that your child ’ s school decides to make compulsory , usually relating to a specialist area for the school .
Your child will also choose some optional subjects . Their school must offer them at least one option within each of four subject areas , known as ‘ entitlement ’ areas . These entitlement areas are :
• arts , including art and design , music , dance , drama and media arts
• design and technology
• humanities , for example history and geography
• modern foreign languages
Your child doesn ’ t have to take a subject from every area , but taking a broad range of subjects will ensure they have plenty of options later .
ALTERNATIVES AND BACKUPS
It ’ s possible that your child won ’ t be able to take all the subjects they would like – either because their school doesn ’ t offer certain subjects or because of timetable clashes . If this is the case , think about whether there are other ways to supplement their learning . For example , they could take part in sport , music , drama or dance activities outside of school , or join after-school coding , business or language clubs .
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