I've done only SEVEN GCSEs

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I did seven subjects (including Maths and all the 3 sciences and English) in 2 years instead of 3 like everybody else. Is that a plausible excuse for doing so few GCSEs or should I do more? I did them in 2012 though, so is it too late? Thinking of applying to Oxbridge for Medicine...

The majority of the country takes their GCSEs in two years - year 10 &11. Therefore, you've just done it like everyone else, and so don't really have any grounds for special consideration.

For medicine, I'd be very wary of oxbridge - oxford use the number of A*s and the percentage of A*s to shortlist candidates - considering you can't get more than 7 A*s, and the average is around 8.5, I wouldn't apply there.

If you wanted to do another couple of GCSEs then this could be possible, but you wouldn't be able to do them before this years UCAS deadline. You'd have to juggle your time with your work to get them done and you'd need a tutor and your school's agreement (so they can administer exams, etc).

Just out of interest, why did you only do 7 GCSEs and what did you get in them?

Reply 21

letsbehonest

I did only 9

Sat german in year 9 and ICT

The rest I did in year 10/11

Reply 22

WildThornberry

Original post by originaltitle

Thought I'd put this to rest, my school and a few others were the only ones to premier the starting GCSE's in year 9. Even then, you only start biology and do ICT. It's not an excuse to only do 7 in two years. In two years I completed 16 more GCSE's. Also most universities take the average score out of 8-10 GCSE's so you're at a disadvantage.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 23

Bethany96

I've done 14 subjects in 2 years. Some are half GCSEs but our school never did them in year 9.We chose our options at the end of year 9 and then did our GCSEs in year 10 and 11. :-)

Reply 24

TheKingOfTSR

Original post by Bethany96

I've done 14 subjects in 2 years. Some are half GCSEs but our school never did them in year 9.We chose our options at the end of year 9 and then did our GCSEs in year 10 and 11. :-)

What are half GCSEs?

Reply 25

Bethany96

Original post by TheKingOfTSR

What are half GCSEs?

They're short course subjects. So instead of studying for 2 years i studied them for 1 year and then i had my exam! However, some of my subjects that are only worth half a GCSE i studied for 2 years but i only had 1 lesson a week.It's weird in a way because on results day i will come out with 12 1/2 GCSEs if i pass them all haha.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 26

jm925

I did mine in year 10/11 (except Maths which I did entirely in year 10) and came out with 10. I think I definitely could've gotten some in year 9 as it was a bit of a wasted year, but then again I'm not sure I had a good enough work ethic then so they probably wouldn't have been as good.

Reply 27

Ronove

Just to confirm here - it is completely normal to only do GCSEs in Years 10 and 11. Schools that let/make students start on them in Year 9 would be the exception to the rule. It's also normal to do more than 7 of them, so you will most likely be at a disadvantage, especially at those med schools that use number of A*s/As at GCSE as a filter.

Reply 28

Aneesah_May

Cambridge dont really care that much about your gcses as long as they are decent and you get the a level requirements. Oxford I think want 8 As or A* im not sure if its both or just A* and I think you can only apply to one from oxbridge so dont worry about it do great in your a levels an apply to Cambridge if you get the grades. My school only do 2 yrs too we chose our gcse options in yr 9

Reply 29

Lord Frieza

Uh done GCSE in year 9 and year 10. Year 11, mucked about o.o

Reply 30

Alejandro

I've only done 5 GCSE's and it never impacted my UCAS application, I still received all 5 offers from the Uni's I applied too. Although granted I didn't apply to Oxbridge.

Maybe it's worth contacting them to see what they say? And just explain your situation. I know they take GCSE's into great account when looking at applicants so yeah.

But as for other universities, having say less than 10 GCSE's isn't a huge problem, providing you have a good reason as to why!

Reply 31

Coconutter

Original post by originaltitle

In general the majority of kids will sit all their GCSE's in two years and if I'm thinking right they are only really expected to do them in two years so no that is not a plausible excuse. Some schools will start kids earlier as to try and improve grades but this still isn't really the norm.

If you don't mind me asking what grades did you get in these? Generally people prefer quality over quantity so as long as you have a good set of results you should still stand a chance in medicine. Biggest thing to concentrate on now would be a very strong set of A-Levels, work experience and a good P.S. It may also require you to think more carefully when applying to uni and avoid universities that put emphasis on GCSE's so that would be Oxford, Bristol and a few others. Past these though as long as you have an otherwise very strong application then others should consider you- if I remember right Cambridge isn't even as worried by GCSE's because they have access to A-Level unit scores so put much more emphasis on high unit scores. You may need to contact uni before applying to discuss your GCSE's but it's defiantly

Anyone feel free to correct me on any of this been a while since I looked into medicine requirements :tongue:

Reply 32

TheKingOfTSR

Original post by Bethany96

Oh! So they are shorter!

How often do students in UK do half GCSEs.? If I tell you I have done 16 GCSEs, how much do you suppose would actually be half GCSEs? And how do you know whether its half GCSE or full, will it say in the certificate or something.??

Reply 33

tgwktm

I never did gcse's in yr 9, only in yr 10 and yr 11

Reply 34

Ronove

Original post by TheKingOfTSR

16 is a lot so I would probably suspect some of them were short courses, though no more than about 2. I don't think there are very many subjects that tend to be done as short courses. The only one at my school was Religious Studies - it was compulsory, but I guess they didn't feel the need to put us through a full course of it. If someone asks me about grades, I'll just include it as one of my As, but if someone asks how many GCSEs I did, I'll say 10.5.

Reply 35

TheKingOfTSR

Original post by Ronove

OK.
Thanks for the info.:thumbup:

Reply 36

ladynova

I did mine over 3 years as well started in year 9 to year 11. Obviously doing the harder stuff in year 11. I think I have 12 or 13 I can't remember

Reply 37

Coconutter

Original post by TheKingOfTSR

3 years for GCSEs?
No wonder people there do many.
For us, IGCSE is 1.75 years.
I did 8 in 1 exam series.

Original post by TheKingOfTSR

I am taking 5 GCE A levels and I feel this is much easier than the 8 IGCSEs I took. Yet students who take 14 GCSEs find it difficult to cope with 5 A levels.

It's not that common for kids here to do it in three years- since they've stopped SATs in years 9 though some schools have taken advantage of the free(ish) year and decide to start them early. For most it will be about the same- when you take into account the summer brake most kids will do 9/ 10 onwards in about 1.8 years.

Me personally: I did one GCSE in the space of a year in year 9 and that was Drama. This was more of a spare time thing though- it was optional and sort of a trial for the school to see how it went and only done in our own time rather than actual school hours .
I then took a total of 11 GCSE's, one short course and an OCR national diploma over years 10 and 11. A few had modules throughout the two years but the majority came down to that last exam period.

I'd say I was fairly typical of most English kids.

IGCSE's are harder, not a lot harder but that will probably be why most candidates take fewer. I was meant to do IGCSE maths instead of GCSE (didn't in the end teachers only decided this like two months before the exam so parents complained because they didn't feel it was enough time to learn the extra bits so teachers changed minds again about two weeks before the exam) and I was generally one grade worse than I was in GCSE- so a bit harder but not a massive difference. This may have help towards A-levels as it does slightly bridge the gap more so than GCSE's but in general I'd say how hard someone finds A-Levels is more a reflection of the individual. I found A-Levels very hard at some points largely because I was very lazy and didn't really work very hard at all in GCSE's and so this was a massive system shock at A-Levels. Alternatively I know someone that didn't particularly well at GCSE but has taken to A-Levels amazingly. Chances are if you find A-Levels easy that's probably more a reflection of you and the way you've been shaped in education.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 38

Coconutter

Original post by TheKingOfTSR

Short GCSEs aren't really that common so it would only probably be 2 or 3 with 16 GCSE's- though 16 is a lot for an average kid you'd probably be looking at 10-13 GCSE's and maybe one if any would be a short course. I took one but that was because I was forced into by the PE department- depends on the school but at mine I found it to be an attempt at either giving kids more qualifications or giving the school more qualifications. And yes on the certificate it will say it was for the short course, but you'd be we'll aware well before the certificate just because they are generally only sat in a year and require a fair bit less work.