Will my GCSEs affect my chances of going to the top universities?

i've only got 6 C's in my GCSEs. But i'm predicted to get 3A* in my A2 since i got 3A's in my AS.

Will that make me at an disadvantage for getting into top universities e.g. Oxbridge, LSE, KCL, UCL, St Andrews etc.

if i was at an disadvantage i was considering taking a gap year and retaking my GCSEs what do you think?

All advice is welcome

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Reply 1

umop apisdn

How many GCSEs did you actually take? And what did you get in them?

Reply 2

kidoo

Original post by AmeliaDx

If you are applying to Oxford it would put you at a significant disadvantage because their preliminary method of shortlisting candidates involves looking at how many A* GCSE grades you have.

However pretty much all of the other universities you have listed tend to look at your application holistically and if you've excelled in your A levels then that is definitely more important than GCSE results on several magnitudes.

Reply 3

AmeliaDx

i did 8 GCSEs and i only got C's in them

Reply 4

kidoo

your story is not adding up.

Reply 5

AmeliaDx

Original post by kidoo

your story is not adding up.

how is it not adding up? i got 6 GCSEs at grade C and i was wondering if it would affect my chances of going to a top university since they would prefer B's and A's in GCSEs. Its self explanatory

Reply 6

SophF_rth

Did you do 8 or 6 GCSEs?? :s-smilie:

Reply 7

Clare~Bear

What a-levels are you doing and what uni course do you want to do?

Medicine and law are ruled out, so are oxbridge and most of the very top unis who use gcses as a way of making a shortlist.

So did you fail 2?

How were you allowed to do a-levels if you only got those gcses? Most of the courses at my 6th form ask for at least Bs in any relevant gcse subjects.

Reply 8

Sgany

Maybe he/she took 8 and failed 2?

Reply 9

AmeliaDx

Original post by SophF_rth

Did you do 8 or 6 GCSEs?? :s-smilie:

i did 8 GCSEs, i passed 6 and i failed 2

only for medicine

Original post by Clare~Bear

I'm studying IT, Geography and RE, im considering studying International Relations but im not 100% sure yet. And i was allowed to do a levels because my school doesnt have high entry levels they only wanted 5 Cs

Reply 12

thiccc

This must be an April fools joke.
You cant scrape O levels and get 3A*'s at A Levels

Reply 13

AmeliaDx

Original post by pbsjohnz

This must be an April fools joke.
You cant scrape O levels and get 3A*'s at A Levels

I'm PREDICTED 3 A* at A level because i got 3 As in my AS, since you obvioulsy havent read the post properly. it's not a April fools joke, if you dont have anything productive say dont comment at all, i worked hard to get those grades so its not a "joke".

And i had family issues during my GCSEs

Reply 14

cl_steele

whilst they do place a lot more of their decision on the alevels with gcse grades like this i doubt it severely ... ucl demand B in maths/english oxbridge demand a*s and LSE is one of the hardest universities to get into it the UK, KCL might be slightly more accepting as theyre not uite in the ranks of the others mentioned but in my personal opinion your chances for those unis with those gcse's unless there are severe mitigating circumstances are not good at all.

Reply 15

Beska

Keep this thread on topic. If you have nothing constructive to add, do not post.

Sorry dint know that

All the unis seem to care a lot about contextualising your results - so if you went to a really bad school they would still see those as good results. Having family issues is also a good reason for your bad grades so don't worry too much about them - with a 3A* prediction you should still have a good chance.