Official 2016 IGCSE Results Thread

GCSEs are a deal breaker for Oxford for medicine, as it is pretty much the only discriminant they use along with the BMAT score. Ideally for oxford you need a high number of A*s at GCSE (most have above 8/9) as well as a high % of A* grades at GCSE.

Cambridge is more focussed on AS level UMS % and a high BMAT score.

The issue with medicine is its incredibly competative, I know so many people who have had 14A* grades at GCSE and a high BMAT and they didnt get an interview. So make sure you choose wisely.

Thank you for the tips! I'm definitely applying to Edinburgh too, as there my IGCSE results are actually above average according to their stats and website I love the city so it's a close second to Oxford - and definitely more realistic.

Oxford isn't life or death for me, just the dream I might as well try to catch. You won't find out if you don't try

Totally agree for you, you may as well try or you will probably regret it.

Edinburgh and Oxford are both very competative for medicine, so my advice is make sure your other two choices are highly likely to get you an interview, 65% of medicine applicants leave the process with 0 offers each year, so its better to have 2 safe schools and 2 reach schools to keep your options open just in case it goes wrong.

Wish you all the best!

So my school does not release the results to students until the 25th august, i did the English lit, lang and french and spanish foreign language. does anybody know the grade boundaries?

Hm, I see. Would it be best to wait for my predicted IB results before I choose my safe schools? Or do you know whether Sussex and Dundee would be considered safe schools or are they also very competitive?

Link to past papers and grade thresholds for may/june 2016:
http://www.gceguide.com/past-papers/igcse/
(look for "s16" using your browser and you'll find them)

Your very very early in the proceedings now so dont pick your safe schools yet, dont even get your sights set on any schools yet as it could prove for dissapointment when you may turn out not to be competative.

as a quick background: there are many types of med schools each of which have different admissions policies, the types are outlined below:
- good all around (need strong GCSE and A2, UKCAT/BMAT and personal statement) such as nottingham, leicester and edinburgh.
- GCSE heavy such as cardiff, QUB and Oxford.
- UKCAT heavy such as newcastle, glasgow, southampton.
- good GCSE and UKCAT schools such as HYMS, Kings, SGUL, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol.
- Good A2 and UKCAT schools such as barts and exeter

as you can see at each medical school different things will get you an interview. its all about applying to your strengths, if your strength is GCSE then apply to GCSE heavy schools, if you get a good UKCAT then apply to UKCAT heavy schools, this will mean you stand out during the application process at that school and hence are very likely to get an interview.

You will not know where your strengths lie until you have your predicted IB and UKCAT score.
A lot of students get medical schools that they like the look of into their head and then apply to them with complete disregard of the admissions policy and how likely they are to get an interview, this is why so so many candidates get 4 rejections (I was nearly one of them, thank goodness my favourite med school was also one where I was a very strong applicant for). If you need any more advice or help on this please feel free to PM me.

Hope this all makes sense.

ok awesome thanks. ive looked at the website and its a bit confusing? can you tell me the grade boundaries for 5022

I think you mean 0522 - English Language (UK)?
Grade boundaries: http://papers.gceguide.com/IGCSE/English%20-%20First%20Language%20(UK)%20(0522)/0522_s16_gt.pdf
Just look for "s16" on the 0522 section of the link i gave before. s16 stands for Summer 2016 which is the May/June 2016 examination series. _qp is the question paper, _ms is the mark scheme and _gt is the grade threshold (boundaries).

thank you so much, did you do the exams with the 'bees'

Haha yes I did! I'm pretty sure the UK syllabus and exam are exactly the same as the normal English Language IGCSE. (I didn't take 0522 i took 0500)

hah ok brilliant thanks.So that paper was out of 50 right? do you know what component that was?

It was component 02 of the 0522 exam: http://papers.gceguide.com/IGCSE/English%20-%20First%20Language%20(UK)%20(0522)/0522_s16_qp_02.pdf
Yes, it was /50. You needed 32/50 for an A apparently.

I'm really happy with myself because I've worked so hard for these exams!! I got an A* in all of the eight exams I took with CIE, which were English lit, English language, History, Math, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Geography. I was not expecting A*s in History, Math, and Physics, so I am over the moon!

For those taking the exams next year: remember to work hard throughout the year - don't neglect studying 'till the end!