Are these GCSEs good enough for Imperial College?

I am in currently in Year 11 doing my GCSEs. I have a few questions/ concerns about the GCSE grades I need in order to study Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College.

In Year 10, I took Maths (Edexcel) and Core Science (aqa). In Maths, I received a high grade A. In core science I got a B. Last November, I retook Maths in order to get an A* and got an A grade again. I was gutted to say the least.

Currently, I am taking the aqa Further Maths Level 2 course and I hope to achieve an A* or even A**(distinction). I also do Triple Science, so I have two other GCSEs as well (Additional and Further Additional).

I am considering retaking maths for the 3rd time but my teacher says that getting a better grade in Further Maths is more important. I cant really retake Core Science as it would mean that I have more exams and I would have to cover many topics by myself.

The question is that would these GCSE grades hamper my chances and are the other GCSEs more important than the ones I have already took?

Imperial ask for AAABB in any order for the following GCSEs; Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths and English. As long as you have that then you are fine. You have to do well in your GCE A levels though to have a chance. I only have C for English and they still gave me offer so don't worry too much about GCSE.

Really??? Thanks for the advice

Also if you're only doing Double Science they accept AA.

Im doing triple so is BAA fine? (with B being Core science)

Yeh that's fine, but make sure you do really well in your AS and you need strong predicted grades for A2. AS and A2 predictions are much more important than GCSE. What course do you want to study at Imperial?

When you get an interview, tell them you applied to Oxford and got rejected. They will welcome you with open arms no matter what.

Mechanical Engineering

Is that what you did?

There's a running joke at Imperial that 70% of the applicants are Oxford and/or Cambridge rejects.
And this is true in my case as well, as the Aptitude test for Computer Science at Oxford absolutely decimated me.

I did similarly to you in my GCSEs and it didn't matter in the end. Unless your GCSEs are a trainwreck (which they don't seem to be), then you have nothing to worry about. Your teacher is right that pushing for more advanced / additional maths qualifications would be more important than being stuck up on A* in maths (I got A in GCSE maths and A* in Add Maths; I was also required to have A in GCSE English). This shows that you're prepared to go into studies outside of the normal curriculum and you will have a much stronger / wider mathematical background.

I wouldn't worry that much about sciences either. A-levels are much more important anyway. If you get a B in GCSE and A / A* in A-level qualifications, that will trump any GCSE hiccups.