Well that's a daft quetion, depending on what you choose and how many you choose tells you how many you've got. There are lots of different kinds of GCSE's you can study. These are qualifications which can get you a long way in life. Some GCSE courses are completed by an exam or course work (paper based), some GCSE's are a mixture of both. They are marked and assesed by teachers and at the end of the course for your GCSE subject work and exam it is sent to the exam bored to be marked. Once these are marked you are sent the certificates usually two months later. There are different levels which the standard of your work is, this is decided by the exam bored.
A* - the best result = full marks
A*- C means your work is to a good standard
8,952
2
1
10
YOU NEED GCSEs
Around 30,000 a year
to categorize people into average and clever as you wouldn't take someone on who got a U in maths to be an accountant.
4 speaking reading listening and writing
It depends entirely on what you want to study.
None. All you need is talent :)
Alan Sugar has only 1 gcse which is in English Lit I think. He got a C. He is the one telling teenagers that that they shouldn't panic about them and that there are so many other courses they can do such as vocational which is brilliant.
7-8 is average, some schools will go in for up to 10. Usually kids with insanely high numbers of GCSEs do them out of school, or do them early. In some cases they speak a foreign language at home, so its easy for them. I wouldn't worry too much about the number of GCSEs you take, just make sure that you get good grades. Universities look to make offers based off your A levels anyway. For more information see How many GCSEs link.
To become a lifeguard you need at least a+ to become a lifeguard.