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gcse results - do uni's care??

i know this was perhaps asked a hundred times, but im still confused and unsure. Do universities such as LSE, warwick, oxbridge look at gcse results , even if you got like 4 A's at a level and if you have, a really good personal statement and good reference??? thanks

Reply 1

nayiseda

Yeh of course they do.
Most people who apply to top unis have pretty good a-levels, references etc. therefore one way (i say one because its not the only way) for unis to differentiate between candidates is to look at GCSE results.

Reply 2

Mustard-man

18

Yeah, GCSEs are quite important for the top universities. Universities are given 'predicted' A-levels. Some candidates may put their AS grades, some may not, depending on the cash-in business (they're not meant to discriminate with those who have and those who haven't). Therefore the only recent, significant, academic indicators are GCSEs. Also LSE don't do interviews, so they won't have the pleasure of interviewing you, thus your chance to stick out is decreased further.

all the above.

Every tom, dick and harry is predicted straight A's these days and most get straight A's so your AS/A2 grades will not be able to differentiate you alone, the best you can do with them is to match others. GCSE's are a good way of filtering students, especially for Unis like LSE and Oxbridge.

Reply 5

vixky!

13

unfortunately, yes. :frown:

Reply 6

kellywood_5

17

GCSE results are quite important for the top unis, especially for the most competitive courses, because almost everyone who applies has excellent A-level grades/predictions, personal statement and reference, so they need something else to help them decide. This is especially true for unis like LSE and Durham, which are seen as second tier after Oxbridge but don't interview. GCSEs are far from the most important part of your application, and if you don't have a string of A*s and As, that doesn't mean you don't stand a chance, but it will mean you have less of a chance.

Reply 7

westlife2005

4

Woooooh, so does this mean that if you wanted to do like an Art related course they might look at your GCSE grades?

Because this is what i want to do, at the moment for AS i'm predicted a D and for GCSE i got a C so should i be worried?

Reply 8

Gryffprefect

9

westlife2005

Woooooh, so does this mean that if you wanted to do like an Art related course they might look at your GCSE grades?

Because this is what i want to do, at the moment for AS i'm predicted a D and for GCSE i got a C so should i be worried?

Perhaps. But what concerns me more is the D's you got in English and Maths. If you do not bring them up to over grade C's then you may not meet minimum entry requirements into university and be turned away anyway even if you do manage somehow to get an A in art at A level. And a lot of the time they do go back as far as GCSE if you look at specific course requirements. Not related to your subject area but in a lot of science courses they may look for a least a B in either GCSE Double Award Science, Physics, Biology or Chemistry, and I wonder would it be the same for art related courses in that they would look for at least a grade B at GCSE art.

I am sorry to say, but if you do not bring up your English and Maths at GCSE, and dont manage to improve your art grade above a D then your hopes of going to university are rather slim unless you fit your way into a foundation course or take a lower down course such as a HND.

I hope what I am saying is quite true, since I dont want to be bursting their bubble or anything. :s-smilie:

Reply 9

asisaidyesterday

prash_s90

i know this was perhaps asked a hundred times, but im still confused and unsure. Do universities such as LSE, warwick, oxbridge look at gcse results , even if you got like 4 A's at a level and if you have, a really good personal statement and good reference??? thanks

Yes yes yEs yeS :biggrin:

Reply 10

samba

6

mate got into oxford with 3 gcse's or summit. I got into warwick, durham etc with similar. Its not so important.

Reply 11

nayiseda

samba - If your story is true (which I doubt) I think you and your friend are more the exception rather than the rule. GCSEs are important to getting into a top uni so dont say they arent

Reply 12

samba

6

might be something to do with mature student status tbh

Gryffprefect

Perhaps. But what concerns me more is the D's you got in English and Maths. If you do not bring them up to over grade C's then you may not meet minimum entry requirements into university and be turned away anyway even if you do manage somehow to get an A in art at A level. And a lot of the time they do go back as far as GCSE if you look at specific course requirements. Not related to your subject area but in a lot of science courses they may look for a least a B in either GCSE Double Award Science, Physics, Biology or Chemistry, and I wonder would it be the same for art related courses in that they would look for at least a grade B at GCSE art.

I am sorry to say, but if you do not bring up your English and Maths at GCSE, and dont manage to improve your art grade above a D then your hopes of going to university are rather slim unless you fit your way into a foundation course or take a lower down course such as a HND.

I hope what I am saying is quite true, since I dont want to be bursting their bubble or anything. :s-smilie:

Getting CDD or something similar at A Level will be enough to get you into some university. Maybe just none of the top ones. And like you say you'd probably need to do a art foundation course (don't most people have to of one of these any way to o art related subjects at uni?)

Reply 14

kellywood_5

17

westlife2005

Woooooh, so does this mean that if you wanted to do like an Art related course they might look at your GCSE grades?

Because this is what i want to do, at the moment for AS i'm predicted a D and for GCSE i got a C so should i be worried?

Well, by the time you apply to uni next year, you'll already have your AS grade for art as well as your predicted grade for A2, so they will be more important than your GCSE grade. It depends where you want to go though because not all unis will accept BTEC Nationals in place of A-levels, but I think most art courses tend to be in HE colleges rather unis anyway. As Gryffprefect said, you'll probably need to get Cs in your English and maths GCSE resits, but as Roger Kirk said, you'll probably have to do an art foundation course first and I think they're more interested in your portfolio than your academic grades.

Reply 15

westlife2005

4

Yeah well resat the English GCSE a few weeks ago s get the result back in January and resitting the Maths in the summer with the year 11's

Reply 16

Ghetto_Princess12

Sadly yes since gcses are equally important to you’re A-Level predictions especially if you’re applying to the top universities since they'll have 10,000 applicants to choose from so they'll use your GCSE's as a factor to break them down to smaller numbers.

It might depend on the competitiveness of the course e.g. medicine or law but generally speaking your more likely to get an offer from the university if you have a good set of GCSEs since it’ll bring you an advantage over other candidates who don’t have as higher grades then you.

Reply 17

magicbuspass

12

Hmm.

I am rubbish at science, i am on the foundation course, i am doing fairly okay at the moment (my school failed me, and i failed myself). Anyway i am aiming for a C, to get myself into 6th form, would this effect where i would go to uni if i get a C, by the way I would like to be a journalist.

Reply 18

Melana

14

Probably not for journalism, but it depends on what unis you were applying to. It tends to be the unis in the top 20s that care more. If the rest of your grades are good enough it shouldn't really make much of a difference unless you're aiming for Oxbridge/Durham/LSE

magicbuspass

Hmm.

I am rubbish at science, i am on the foundation course, i am doing fairly okay at the moment (my school failed me, and i failed myself). Anyway i am aiming for a C, to get myself into 6th form, would this effect where i would go to uni if i get a C, by the way I would like to be a journalist.

I doubt it would stop you getting into uni. There are a lot of universities out there and I don't think journalis is anywhere near as competitive as medicine (also sciences are as important for journalim as they are for medicine).

Having the C in science will certainly help you from what you have now. Personally I'd say goo experience to put in your personal statement is far more important for journalism than the difference between a C and a B or A in science at GCSE :smile:

gcse results - do uni's care??

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