Question: Do you think chemistry should be a mandatory GCSE?

Jemma Rowlandson answered on 22 Jun 2014:

Hey!

No I do not think chemistry itself should be mandatory at GCSE, but I think general science should be. Science is very important in the world today. Almost everything we eat, use or even wear has probably at some point been made by a scientist. Not everyone likes science, and that is absolutely fine, if everyone was the same then the world would be a bit boring. But important global issues like climate change and global warming affect everyone on the planet, and so it’s important to learn about them.

Making the individual sciences (physics, chemistry or biology) mandatory at GCSE I don’t think is a very good idea. Mainly because there will be people who are not interested in them, and will not take anything away from the lessons apart from ‘I hate science’. This means they won’t listen to or remember the really important issues.

Instead if you make general science mandatory (unless you take physics, chemistry or biology) then the kids who are really into chemistry or physics can take them. Those that are not interested can instead take general science. This way they will still get to learn about the important issues but in a more general way, and they can spend more time on subjects they find interesting.