What do Universities look at more?

GCSEs or A-levels? I'm aware they've changed it a bit for students who are taking their GCSE exams in 2016 which I'm doing now. but I'm worried that my GCSE performance will limit my future because I know I can do better at A-Level.

They don't usually care about GCSEs only maths and English at a minimum C/B. However all unis and courses are different. Some may ask for C in science if it's relevant to the course. A level predicted grades are what they base their decision on.

Ohhh i see that's good. Thanks. I'm guessing that applies to most unis?

It depends on the university you apply to, A levels will matter more generally. However some universities will want a specific grade in english and maths for example and generally wont budge on that requirement.

A-levels, unless you're applying to the very top unis for competitive courses such as Law, Medicine, Engineering, Maths, etc., where everyone has such good grades that any small deficiency in your GCSEs is bound to stand out.

Yh that's where I'm planning to apply to. A uni in London such as UCL, Imperial, St Mary's, King's...

Medicine, engineering or accountancy (not sure yet but one of those) Queen St. mary's*

Thank you so much for making this post. Honestly I was so scared haha, I currently am contemplating taking a retake on all 3 of my a level choices (I'm doing gcse rn tho) bc I wanna get A's in them. Now I feel a bit better though?

Is it still possible to do retakes?

Quite a choice

Medicine tends to have a bit more interest in your GCSEs than other courses (particularly at some universities - check the Medicine forum for more info).

Engineering will be more interested by far in your A-levels.


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I suppose most unis don't really care about GCSEs lol
Many "top" unis just require a B or above in english/maths, but that's all there is to it
A-levels are significantly emphasised over GCSE

Ohhh i see. Thanks a lot for that info! Finally, I just wanted to ask is it hard to get into the London unis?

Medicine is very competitive (anywhere, not just London) - the others not as much.

The key statistic you need is the Offer Rate rather than the more commonly provided Acceptance Rate. Many universities are reluctant to share this and it often requires a freedom of information request.

As luck would have it here's an FOI request with Offer Rates for Imperial:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/breakdown_of_undergraduate_admis_16
Data:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/86792/response/218564/attach/3/FOI%20Admissions%20Data.txt

If you trawl through the raw data you can find things like:
2011 Medicine Offer rate for Home applicants was 401/2527 = 16%
2011 Other Courses* Offer rate for Home applicants 2769/4472 = 62%

*courses with application deadline in January 2010

So you can see how much more competitive Medicine is.

It will be similar at most other universities.

Oh my that's very competitive. Thanks so much for this info and the links appreciate the help. I'll keep researching to help me make a decision