By Chloe R, Priya B, Sofia B and Zara M, Year 10 Journalist Leads 

Now that we have settled into Year 10 and experienced what our GCSE subjects have been like, we wanted to give future Year 10s a taster of what the subjects you could take are like! 

In this article you will find our opinions and experiences on the different subjects we take, as well as advice for picking your options. As students, we are very lucky to have such a wide variety of subjects to choose to take further into Year 10 and 11, and some new ones available to study include Greek and PE GCSE. The Year 10 Journalist Leads will talk through some of their GCSE subjects, and we have also included some other Year 10 students’ opinions on their choices. 

Chloe: Drama is a super exciting opportunity for a GCSE option and was one I was always intrigued to pursue! I had an older sister who taught me all the info before I chose this for one of my GCSEs so I’m going to give you a quick recap of all you need to know. The course includes three components, number 1 being devising theatre. Most people would think that you had to act for drama but you can also have the option to go the design route and focus on that field for your GCSE! Devising Theatre is basically creating a piece of device theatre, a portfolio of evidence and a final evaluation of your performance using the techniques of a theatre practitioner or genre in response to a stimulus set by the board. This is a super exciting opportunity to learn about all aspects of theatre and is one I’m super excited to start. Component 2 is performing from a text and this is done in the springtime of Year 11. Our set text this year is An Inspector Calls and we’ve just finished blocking the entirety of our section which it’s amazing and very, very fun. Our final portion is interpreting theatre and that is a written examination, yes- you do have to do a written test in drama!!! It consists of two sections, A and B. A is questions on one stimulating and exciting detect text, An Inspector Calls, linking to your performance from a text and B being live theatre review which is one question requiring the analysis and evaluation of Live Theatre during the course we got to watch The Woman in Black which we saw in late November. Drama is an amazing opportunity to learn about lots of different areas; it engages creativity and passion and I would definitely recommend it for anyone!

Sofia: I take PE GCSE which was a new option for this year so at first I wasn’t completely sure what it was going to involve and how it was going to be. However, I have found it to be one of my favourite GCSEs I take! The course involves a lot of biology and psychology and I feel as if this  has helped me with my biology so much as it gives me more practice with exam questions and the content links together very well. Personally, I think my favourite part of the content is going to be the sports psychology as we will get to learn about how stress affects your performance, also how motivation and personality can affect our performance to help us go faster as I should be able to use this to my benefit when I do my own races. It will also be interesting to see parts of the course such as the positives and negatives of sponsorships, the moral grounds when taking drugs in sport and how to recover from injuries. One of the best parts of the GCSE is that 40% of your grade is coursework and involves videos of three of your sports plus a detailed written analysis of one of the three. I picked Athletics (300m and 800m), netball and climbing and I’m so excited that I get to do what I love and play these sports as part of my GCSEs. Overall, I really recommend PE GCSE as the teachers make the content super easy to understand and if you love doing sport and want to learn more it’s the perfect subject to take! 

Priya: History is already one of the most popular subjects in many year groups and is enjoyed by many pupils due to the broad range of time periods we study. In Year 10 we look at America in the early 20th Century, studying the economic boom and the roaring twenties, as well as Prohibition and the Great Depression. Personally I have found the learning about how certain groups of people experienced the 1920s differently, such as Native Americans, African Americans, Immigrants and women since it is interesting to look at all of the different ways different minorities and demographics were affected. Later on we will study the Cold War and the rivalry between the USA and the USSR and how it affected other global conflicts like the Vietnam War and the Korean War, which I am very interested in since it spans many decades and still has political relevance today. Additionally in History GCSE we learn how to structure different answers correctly for exams. We are set many practise essays and answers ranging from 4 and 6 marks to 15 and 20 marks throughout the year, and we are given specific feedback on each one ensuring we can confidently answer any question type in our actual GCSEs. Overall History is one of my favourite subjects and I would really recommend it as a GCSE choice since the lessons are very engaging, enjoyable and helpful without a massive workload.

Zara: PRE has quickly become one of my favourite subjects, because I find the debates in class very fascinating. The change from Year 9 to Year 10 has been very manageable and I feel like we are building on skills and topics that everyone in my class is confident with. Some of the things I have found most interesting are the different perspectives on each argument, which really helps broaden my understanding of other people and viewpoints. So far we have been focusing on religious viewpoints on different issues a bit more than ethics like last year, which was a nice change whilst still being relevant to what was discussed during my Year 7, 8 and 9 course. I also take history, and I have noticed that they are very different even though they are both humanities. For me, PRE essays and tests are easier than other essay writing subjects as exam technique focuses more on concise answers rather than writing lots and lots, and so I enjoy that as well. So, if you love debates and want to take a humanity that develops knowledge from your Year 7-9 studies, I really recommend taking PRE! 

Chloe: Latin is an extremely popular GCSE choice and one that I would definitely recommend to anyone who wants to study classics or something related to the Ancient World. It is an extremely diverse course and focuses not only on the language aspect but also the history and cultural aspect of ancient Rome. It is super fun and is definitely one of my favorite subjects. Admittedly there is a lot of work however it is all spread out very evenly. Normally, for example you would get us a list of vocab to learn every week for your homework alongside a translation passage. This is extremely helpful for building up your long-term memory of the language and enhancing your skills and techniques for elements in older years specifically for taking your GCSE. You learn about crazy things from ancient Rome and it is also an incredibly helpful subject if you’re taking other modern foreign languages such as Spanish or French as a lot of those vocabularies stem from ancient Latin, even English. This is fun as you can find the latin roots in lots of English words in your day-to-day life. Our amazing Classics department is really helpful in creating a fun work environment filled with lots of mnemonics, songs and techniques to learn all of your case endings and I implore you to know all of your case endings before you are bombarded by the plethora of extra fiddly parts of the language !! I personally love Latin and once again would say it’s a great way to round off your GCSE subjects with something exciting and different!

Zara: So far, I have found Spanish to be one of my most manageable subjects, as it builds on what we were learning in year 8 and 9 more than any other subject I take. In Year 10, we also start going to Spanish speaking language classes, which I have found to really help with technique in speaking exams but also listening exercises, which I did not expect. Especially with grammar, we have been taking new information quite slowly which has really helped me not get confused with the different tenses. I take Spanish and Latin, and whilst doing both, I have really noticed how similar some vocabulary is, which helps with learning it a lot, so if you are planning on taking both, I really recommend it! In every language, we have vocab tests weekly, and even though they can sometimes be a lot, the format of the Spanish vocab tests help to improve exam technique and writing. I have found the different types of questions so helpful for learning grammar as well as vocab, and so they help in the long run with revision for bigger tests. 

Priya: This year so far, I have found German lessons fun and engaging as there is a great balance between vocab learning, making sure we understand grammar, and lessons on culture in German speaking countries through Music, Film and Sport. The vocab learning is more spaced out than other subjects, so memorising it is much easier and more manageable. Homework is usually reading or vocab learning, which are straightforward and very doable. Additionally, I have found the weekly German conversation classes to be very helpful for speaking practice and knowing what to expect for the actual exams. Frau Donkur is so nice and the exercises we do are very helpful in being able to confidently do what is asked of us for GCSE orals. In German we cover all bases of reading, writing and listening many times to build confidence as well as doing practice questions structured exactly like the ones on the exam. Overall German classes are very fun but still managing to retain the information we are taught at a great pace.

What other Year 10s said about their subjects: 

“I really wanted to take DT because it teaches you many important life skills like creativity and the ability to think outside the box.”

“I find Mandarin interesting because it is one of the most spoken languages in the world and broadens my knowledge of languages as it is so different from the ones we learn.”

“Astronomy is such a cool opportunity to take because it provides us with the ability to combine subjects and delve deeper into fascinating topics within physics and maths. It is a new subject to take and so far we are really enjoying it!”

“Art has allowed me to express my creativity through learning new styles and techniques.” 

“I find geography useful for everyday life as we are learning skills that can be implemented into all future careers.”

French, Music and Computer Science are also available as options.

For any younger years thinking about what they might want to take, here are some tips we have for when you want to choose: 

1. Pick what you like, not what your friends are taking! 

It can be very easy to worry about who you might be in a class with, or not wanting to take completely different options from your friends, but you never know who you might meet in new lessons, and you want to make sure that you love the subjects you are taking for two years!

2. Think ahead to the style of exams or coursework.

Some subjects have different types of exams, for example art and other creatives have practical elements, and some subjects have coursework meaning that not all of your grade is dependent on your exam results which can take some pressure off of one test. So, make sure to check with your teachers on what the GCSE courses and exams are like before choosing if that matters to you. 

3.  Base your choice off your love for the subject. 

Opinions of subjects can vary greatly depending on teachers, the topic you are doing and even who is in your class, so it is important to most of all love your subjects because of what you are learning. 

We hope you find our tips helpful, and are encouraged to be inquisitive about the amazing options available; there really is something for everyone!