What GCSEs did I study?

My GCSE choices were based on what I know about being a volcanologist, my then dream. And what I knew about being a volcanologist was based on a Horrible Geography book…

Alright, so in my school you had to study English Literature and Language, Maths, and a science. The choice in science was between additional and BTEC science. For those that don’t know, BTEC courses are entirely coursework based and, rumour had it, wouldn’t be enough to get you to college studying science. I chose additional science, which was two years, two exams a year. Each exam covered all three sciences.

In my school, you had to choose one technology: graphic design, resistant materials, textiles, cooking, or catering. As I was pretty useless at everything, I chose graphic design. It seemed the least dangerous.

Then, you could choose two more courses. Sort of. If you’d chosen additional science, that counted as one of your courses. So, really, I had one more choice. I chose humanities, because we didn’t have separate humanities courses and I needed to study geography.

Because I was able to take my maths exam in the November of my second GCSE year, I was also able to study statistics. Statistics was my worst subject at GCSE. I absolutely hated it. It went on to become my best subject module at A Level…

Beakers image created by Horia Varlan used under Creative Commons