[mercexe]

I think something about LSE and GCSEs could be added. If you attend a high-performing school then your GCSEs play a hugely important part in your application. My friend got rejected solely because of her GCSE grades, which were 6 A* and 4 As. The e-mail from the admissions co-ordinator specified specifically that it was her GCSEs that resulted in the rejection. I find the sentence about "not needing to worry about GCSEs unless you're going for the ultimate in elitism" to be a little misleading, from my experience and the experience of others at my school.