GCSE OPTIONS. food technology & drama

okay, so at my school, we have our core subjects that we have to take in year 10, and because i attend a media arts school, we have to take either art, media or music. well surprisingly to myself, my family & my friends i'm not taking music although i have a passion for it, because i took early music GCSE recently, but quit as it wasn't what i expected at all. and why choose to do something that's optional, if i wasn't enjoying it?

anyways, i've decided to do media. and other than that we get to choose two other subjects that we'd like to take.

i haven't send in my form yet to confirm what i'm taking, but i'm pretty much certain i'm taking food technology and drama.
so basically i made this thread to ask anyone on here that has taken either of these what to expect and how much coursework you got given in each of them, and what usually happens in the lessons.

i sort of know what my drama lessons would be like, as we've already been told by our drama teachers all about it, as they've been discussing it with people that are considering taking it for a GCSE.

so i really mainly want to know what i need to expect for food technology.

p.s
if you read that, i love you
because i know it's super long, haha

cook food n write bout it

food technology is okay i take it and im in year 11 on B on it at the mo its pretty simple stuff really if ur school is anything like mine then. well at 1st u just do test your making skills. but then at around january in year 10 you start your coursework my coursework was picking a chosen diet and working around that. I chose low-fat diets and u basically work around that. making meals designed for people on your chosen diet and doing things like shop surveys to see what supermarkets have for your chosen diet. At some parts it is very long but if u like making things it is okay:) hope i helped lol

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Originally Posted by dirrty

cook food n write bout it

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haha yeah.
ok.

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Originally Posted by Brody

food technology is okay i take it and im in year 11 on B on it at the mo its pretty simple stuff really if ur school is anything like mine then. well at 1st u just do test your making skills. but then at around january in year 10 you start your coursework my coursework was picking a chosen diet and working around that. I chose low-fat diets and u basically work around that. making meals designed for people on your chosen diet and doing things like shop surveys to see what supermarkets have for your chosen diet. At some parts it is very long but if u like making things it is okay:) hope i helped lol

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that sounds like the kind of thing i want to do, so hopefully that'll be what i do at my school. thanks, you did help: )

I don't do it personally but I have heard that a lot of it is science.
People who do it and are in my science class tend to have a better understanding of topics such as oils and enzymes.

Drama is hard but its not. You get set 1,000 words essays and you have to do 7 of these for coursework, yes it seems a lot, but once you've practiced once or twice its really easy. As for practical, the exam consists of three parts:
1) A 3 week period in which you are filmed and marked on all of your performances (then you will write 3 1,000 word essays on this period)
2) Another 3 week period in which you are filmed and marked on all of your performances (then you will write TWO 1,000 word essays on this period)
3) About a 6 week period @ the end of year 11 in which you just prepare for your final exam... then you do your 30 minute performance to an examier when you will get a final mark.

If you're thinking "what thats only 5 essays?" well you should go and watch two shows and write 1 essay on each show (which is also a 1,000 words) but only one of these essays get submitted. You may think this seems so hard but its not, its hard but its also fun and you get used to it and you do get really good results @ the end.

I hope this makes sense + helps you.

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Originally Posted by dirrty

cook food n write bout it

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i dnt take it and i know it's not that.

there is load of course work for drama im in year 11 and we are just redoing it and finnishing it before we start our final pece

I think it depends on the exam board.

I did WJEC Food Tech. 70% practical, 30% theory but the coursework had a lot of written element involved. Someone from our class eventually left because "I didn't realise there was going to be so much writing. I thought they'd just mark us for our cooking." I'm sure you're not that silly. I did enjoy it though! I think the theory brought my grade down though. It was hard :(

drama, it's ******* piss.

year 10 all we did was play improv. games and the occasional 'piece'

year 11 we've done one ten minute piece (scripted) and a portfolio on it, now we've started another ten minute piece (have to make it up based around 8 rules of a youth offenders institute) and we'll do a portfolio on that.

then we do a final exam and i'm not sure what happens then, but yeah, it's the subject I put the least effort in, have the most fun in and have my highest grade in (A*)

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Originally Posted by suckish

Drama is hard but its not. You get set 1,000 words essays and you have to do 7 of these for coursework, yes it seems a lot, but once you've practiced once or twice its really easy. As for practical, the exam consists of three parts:
1) A 3 week period in which you are filmed and marked on all of your performances (then you will write 3 1,000 word essays on this period)
2) Another 3 week period in which you are filmed and marked on all of your performances (then you will write TWO 1,000 word essays on this period)
3) About a 6 week period @ the end of year 11 in which you just prepare for your final exam... then you do your 30 minute performance to an examier when you will get a final mark.

If you're thinking "what thats only 5 essays?" well you should go and watch two shows and write 1 essay on each show (which is also a 1,000 words) but only one of these essays get submitted. You may think this seems so hard but its not, its hard but its also fun and you get used to it and you do get really good results @ the end.

I hope this makes sense + helps you.

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Depends on the exam board... because it sounds like you got an awful one!

All I had to do was two workshops each lasting a day each, with a portfolio (presented how you saw best) going through what you explored, and then a final performance. A review of the professional performance we saw would be put in one of our portfolios.

I loved GCSE Drama; it was such a break from my other subjects and far less contrived than Food Technology from what I've seen.

I love GCSE Drama :)
Whether I have a crap board or not.

Food Tech is a massive load of work, frankly.

I spent most of today doing coursework, as it was a snow day, and I'm only about half-way through what I need to do.

Coursework's handed in on the 23rd Feb, and is around 30 FULL A3 pages. Oh, and for me, it's 60% of my overall grade.

36% of your GCSE with AQA is making.
24% is theory.
40% is exam.

Hope that helps :)

Food technology sounds so ****. In our school they just call it 'Catering'

Anyway drama is deffinetely a must if you like performing.
Easy exams, easy coursework and I should be getting an A or A* at the end. Piss easy subject

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Originally Posted by Soy

Food technology sounds so ****. In our school they just call it 'Catering'

Anyway drama is deffinetely a must if you like performing.
Easy exams, easy coursework and I should be getting an A or A* at the end. Piss easy subject

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My school offers Food Technology and catering. One friend took one and another took the other. I think the catering one is more practical.

If you are worried about the awful exam boards, check your options booklet to see if they give the name of an exam board (AQA, OCR, WJEC, Edexcel etc) and check their website to find the course and the specification. If it sounds too much like solid writing and not enough of the actual subject, maybe you should think of something else. Do you have a career in mind? If you do, think of stuff you'll need for that, because it will make (if you choose to do them) your A-levels easier and eventually (if you choose to go) your university studies easier.

i loved food tech :)
its like 80% coursework though so be prepared, i loved it though and its easy as piss to pass. i got an a* in it and thats saying something

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Originally Posted by Barmi

Depends on the exam board... because it sounds like you got an awful one!

All I had to do was two workshops each lasting a day each, with a portfolio (presented how you saw best) going through what you explored, and then a final performance. A review of the professional performance we saw would be put in one of our portfolios.

I loved GCSE Drama; it was such a break from my other subjects and far less contrived than Food Technology from what I've seen.

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my workshops were 2 days each! :o

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Originally Posted by Cod

my workshops were 2 days each! :o

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Ahh! Good point... my first one was two days long, but my second was only a day. I can't exactly remember why though...

The point is that the workshops are a bit of fun, and portfolios only take a few hours to do.

At my school, for food tech I have done well over 100 a3 sheets and a good 50 a4 sheets of coursework, and I still have a few more months of it to go and I'm at a B. Food GCSE is CRAP you never cook and believe me it is what I am taking and it sucks harder than michael jackson and a naked young child. Food BTEC is cooking every week, with a very small evaluation following which basically says: I cooked X, the ingredients were X, (and the quantities) Methods used to cook and a small description. That takes 10 minutes - not to mention a btec worth more than 1 gcse.

Drama has a lot of essays but iis fun and rewarding, I don't take it myself but some friends do and the feedback was positive.