Is it true that Oxford look at your GCSE's more than Cambridge?

They do, but they look at them in context. So how you performed on average compared to your school/year. As well as the area you come from/background and all of that stuff. In fact, both of them look at them in context but Oxford just takes them into consideration more.

However, if the course you want to apply to has an entrance exam, for example, for physics, you have to do the PAT, and if you can do really well (get within the top 25%), they don't really care as much about your GCSEs and with a good score on your entrance exam, you're guaranteed an interview.

What's the source on this? I mean, I was speaking to some current Oxford students and they said it was a myth...

They do, but they look at them in context. So how you performed on average compared to your school/year. As well as the area you come from/background and all of that stuff. In fact, both of them look at them in context but Oxford just takes them into consideration more.

However, if the course you want to apply to has an entrance exam, for example, for physics, you have to do the PAT, and if you can do really well (get within the top 25%), they don't really care as much about your GCSEs and with a good score on your entrance exam, you're guaranteed an interview.

Here's proof.

That's only about the application process for Oxford's medicine course. It's not a statement about Oxford undergraduate admissions in general.

You think they're not going to do it for other courses?

Is this true or just a myth? If so... how much more? :/
Sorry if its in the wrong thread.
Thanks

Both universities look at GCSEs but both are more interested in more recent performance (AS, school exams on a transcript, aptitude tests, pre-/at-interview assessments etc.). At Peterhouse, we would never reject an otherwise strong candidates on the basis of their GCSEs. When looking at GCSEs (or indeed any other information) both Oxford and Cambridge take contextual information on you, your background and your school into account. In most cases these are measured in exactly the same way at Oxford and at Cambridge. A particular number of A*s at GCSE or a particular score on an admissions assessment will mean very different things depending on you and your school's background. We all aim to give applicants the benefit of the doubt as far as possible and we're looking for potential more than past achievements.

The difference between the two universities are generally exaggerated - the reason you can only apply to one is precisely because we're looking for the same kinds of potential evidenced by very very similar data.

One slight difference is to do with the moderation processes at each university. Oxford generally interview applicants across several colleges whereas Cambridge aim to interview all realistic candidates, (generally) each in a single day at a single college and to use the Winter Pool alongside the subject moderation spreadsheets for moderation and for candidates to be considered at colleges other than their preference college. This means that for the most competitive courses Oxford shortlists to a greater extent than Cambridge, focussing on the most competitive applicants whereas Cambridge interviews all but the least competitive. Tagging Brasenose Admissions and LMH to make sure I'm not too wide of the mark.

I think both approaches perform similarly. The one you're most likely to get into is the one with the course you're more excited about. Don't worry about where you stand a better chance (it doesn't work like that), consider both, visit on Open Days if you can and apply to the one with the course you prefer.

Hola, Peterhouse! (We missed your tag while away on vacation). Coincidentally, we put a post up earlier this week about GCSEs in the forum 'Are my grades good enough for Oxford?' which is wholly consistent with your own very useful post here.

As Mark Twain was famously misquoted as saying: 'The reports of Oxford differing from Cambridge are greatly exaggerated' [what he actually said was that Cambridge admissions is the rounders to Oxford's cricket].

Both universities look at GCSEs but both are more interested in more recent performance (AS, school exams on a transcript, aptitude tests, pre-/at-interview assessments etc.). At Peterhouse, we would never reject an otherwise strong candidate on the basis of their GCSEs. When looking at GCSEs (or indeed any other information) both Oxford and Cambridge take contextual information on you, your background and your school into account. In most cases these are measured in exactly the same way at Oxford and at Cambridge. A particular number of A*s at GCSE or a particular score on an admissions assessment will mean very different things depending on you and your school's background. We all aim to give applicants the benefit of the doubt as far as possible and we're looking for potential more than past achievements.

The difference between the two universities are generally exaggerated - the reason you can only apply to one is precisely because we're looking for the same kinds of potential evidenced by very very similar data.

One slight difference is to do with the moderation processes at each university. Oxford generally interview applicants across several colleges whereas Cambridge aim to interview all realistic candidates, (generally) each in a single day at a single college and to use the Winter Pool alongside the subject moderation spreadsheets for moderation and for candidates to be considered at colleges other than their preference college. This means that for the most competitive courses Oxford shortlists to a greater extent than Cambridge, focussing on the most competitive applicants whereas Cambridge interviews all but the least competitive. Tagging Brasenose Admissions and LMH to make sure I'm not too wide of the mark.

I think both approaches perform similarly. The one you're most likely to get into is the one with the course you're more excited about. Don't worry about where you stand a better chance (it doesn't work like that), consider both, visit on Open Days if you can and apply to the one with the course you prefer.

Hi hey hello
I just received my results. Im hoping to apply for Computer Science for 2017 entry
I got A in Maths AS, A in Maths A-level,A in Physics, A in compsci
Unfortunately i missed the A* mark by 2 marks.. but its a clear blip in my results.. got close to 100% on my other modules but for my C4 i got 77% (i wasn't feeling well on the day)... how will oxford be able to see that my module was just a blip?... im hoping to get that remarked and pick up those two marks.
so I'll have A* A A A

I read this and at the time I was somewhat satisfied with the answer but having read this document on the admissions statistics for CompSci at Oxford on your website... and i quote:

As guidance, the Admissions Coordinator advises college tutors of two thresholds, based on a validated weighted combination of the MAT score and GCSE A* scores (where applicable). By default, all candidates above the higher threshold are short-listed, and all candidates below the lower threshold are rejected, unless there are strong reasons to do otherwise. College tutorscarefully consider candidates between the two thresholds, and about half are short-listed.

Could you possibly explain the quote?