What was the subject you learnt at school that you never had to use in life?

I'm another person that has never had any use for trigonometry but I've been surprised at what has been useful.

I moved to Mexico City and couldn't understand why my cooking wasn't working until I remembered that water boils at a lower temperature the higher up you are.

I feel like going back and apologising to the teachers for not appreciating them more.

I have never understood or therefore being able to use maths. Nor have I ever had the slightest use for the time we spent learning about the British coal mining industry, which was on its last legs when I was at school, but was still presented as if it was one of the main sources of British wealth.

During weekly phone chats with our Michelle in Bournemouth last year; remember her?;. she was interested in Grannies' views on the prevalence of beige cardis in B'mouth and I duly reported some of the results.
Somehow she concluded that there must be a significant number of retired school teachers in Gransnet and I remember saying "Oh I don't think so. They all seem quite intelligent to me!" Was that a back-handed compliment or what?

I think all of my education has been useful, even the more obscure subjects, like Art History. I was given a taste of everything and for me, that whets the appetite to learn more, or at least find out about things I don't grasp immediately.

The best teachers encourage curiosity, teach a student how to find out, which paths to go down and to enjoy a love of learning so being a quiet and studious girl (when at school - things have since changed! ) I had a thirst for knowledge.

For me, everything came in handy at some time, even logarithms, which taught me to use tables and double check I was in the right column, etc. Can't say I have ever used them in adult life though!

Binary, Algebra, Trigonometry and Logarithms. What a waste of my brain power, who the heck uses these in normal life and I worked in a bank and never ever used them. Best thing I ever did at school was to learn to touch type, a huge skill and never forgotten and can still bash out a good speed.

I have never needed to disect a frog or rat in my adult life

Like many here I've never once used Trig or Logs since school. I do remember slogging over them but, strangely enough, enjoying them too. Such a waste really.

Most. maths and Latin. ..

I swore blind that I would never need to use numbers/percentages but here I am doing accounts (and hating it).

Working in Electrical Engineering for almost 30 years I have probably used Physics more than I thought I ever would... yuk

Definitely haven't used Chemistry. Double yuk !

It's all been pretty useful to me, even logarithms. I worked in a planning office and we used logarithmic graph paper.
It's a shame that so many people went through the motions of maths without understanding why. It's still happening today.

Logs were used to perform large multiplication and division sums before the days of calculators.
Quadratic equations are equations with two solutions for one unknown. They involve splitting up the equation into two factors, either of which is equal to zero.

I probably haven't explained that very well, hopefully there is a maths teacher looking in.

Pen50 I empathise. I have used lack of self confidence, anxiety, fear of being belittled and bullied, shame for my accent and working class background, lack of self esteem and that there was no point trying for university as only rich, beautiful and entitled people were deserving of a place (despite mybeing very bright 9 O levels and 3good As) . Oh yes, also learned to carry a giant chip on both shoulders.

I realise the question asked what you didn’t use but I felt like a rant.

Art teacher said to me "You are not doing O level Art are you?" "NO" " Thank Goodness for that"

Evie you seem to be assuming that the only purpose of school learning is to be useful in work.

The purpose of all we learn in school is to oepn our eyes to the world and use what we learn in school to expeand our personal horizons into all sorts of other areas.

I cannot think of anything I learnt at school that has not been useful in later life in one way or another, even that maths that I may never have used in a school type manner, but just knowing what trigonometric tables are and a rough idea how they work, is invaluable when I am reading maps or get tangential (see what I mean) references to them in other things I do and read.

How to make a cane basket. No one ever finished one because the teacher usually forgot to put the cane in to soak before the lesson.

Actually the most useful subject I studied was latin. My children, when small, had a fascination with where words came from. 'Why is someone walking called a 'pedestrian'? 'Why are boys called 'boys'and girls called 'girls' Thank God I had studied Latin. I was left wishing I had studied Greek as well (Why is a cinema called a 'cinema'?)

Learnt about arable farming and crop rotation. Seasonal planting and cropping .
Why this was considered of any use to a 12year old in central London is beyond me . . .

Didn't make you understand things you read later in novels about living in rural areas? Understand why the fruit and vegetables you ate went in and out of season or why in some years certain fruit and veg were in short supply?

Algebra, trigonometry, logarithms seem to have been the most useless and I agree. I am pleased I learned Latin which is the basis of Italian, Spanish and French as well as English. I hated hockey.

Whenever I prepare a meal
I don’t feel the need to yell TTT at myself in the manner of Mrs Williams our Domestic Science teacher. I also have to fight to stop myself embroidering my initials DB on my apron

Gillybob if you have ever baked anything, then you are using chemistry. The moment I realised that, my baking improved no end!

I have never used Spanish, although I learned French later in life and used that loads. I have also never in my adult life, needed to know about, or explain to another person, what an oxbow lake is!

debgaga What did 'TTT' mean?

I had poor experiences in school cookery and embroidery classes and the fact that I enjoy both of these pursuits now is absolutely not down to my school teachers! How anyone can make a peaceful hour spent stitching away with beautiful silks a thoroughly miserable experience, I don't know, but Ms MacBride managed it on a daily basis!

Actually, I just realised that a lot of stuff that I learned but don't 'use' is still useful, because I do a lot of quizzes.

TTT meant Tidy Table Tops !