Do GCSE grades matter ?

hey guys!
i just sat my gcses this may/june. The exams just didn't go as expected at all.
I was predicted an A* in all my subjects (by my teachers). but i am guessing i'm gonna end up with the following results on the results day:

FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH : A/B
ECONOMICS : A/B
PHYSICS : A/B
CHEMISTRY : A/B
BIOLOGY : A*/A
PSYCHOLOGY : A*/A
MATHEMATICS : A*/A
ENGLISH LITERATURE : A (already have).

i am obviously very disappointed and was wondering if the gcse grades are all that important afterall in the greater scheme of things. if i do really well at As and A levels, will i still have a chance of getting into unoiversities like oxford, cambridge, LSE or harvard?
do universities like the mentioned above even look at the gcse grades?

so sorry for the lenghty post. thank you for taking out your time to reply.

Depends which courses and uni's you are applying for. AS is more important however bear in mind that applicants to Oxbridge ad others will probably have much better GCSE grades, so try and focus on making the other parts of your application great

Yes you still have a chance. Your AS grades have more weight in your application anyway (as long as your school let you take the AS exams)

hey guys!
i just sat my gcses this may/june. The exams just didn't go as expected at all.
I was predicted an A* in all my subjects (by my teachers). but i am guessing i'm gonna end up with the following results on the results day:

FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH : A/B
ECONOMICS : A/B
PHYSICS : A/B
CHEMISTRY : A/B
BIOLOGY : A*/A
PSYCHOLOGY : A*/A
MATHEMATICS : A*/A
ENGLISH LITERATURE : A (already have).

i am obviously very disappointed and was wondering if the gcse grades are all that important afterall in the greater scheme of things. if i do really well at As and A levels, will i still have a chance of getting into unoiversities like oxford, cambridge, LSE or harvard?
do universities like the mentioned above even look at the gcse grades?

so sorry for the lenghty post. thank you for taking out your time to reply.

FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH : A/B
ECONOMICS : A/B
PHYSICS : A/B
CHEMISTRY : A/B
BIOLOGY : A*/A
PSYCHOLOGY : A*/A
MATHEMATICS : A*/A
ENGLISH LITERATURE : A (already have).

i am obviously very disappointed...

Wow... and to think I was extremely satisfied when I got my only A in Maths GCSE.

I don't think there is any difference of value between an A and A* at GCSE that anyone looks for difference in but if you're doing A-Levels then that's where it will matter.

I'd say there would be an exception with say, A-Level Further Maths, where several schools/sixth form centres require an A* for GCSE Maths.

Wow... and to think I was extremely satisfied when I got my only A in Maths GCSE.

I don't think there is any difference of value between an A and A* at GCSE that anyone looks for difference in but if you're doing A-Levels then that's where it will matter.

Yours a fine although I think Imperial and Oxford( someone correct me if I'm wrong) can be a bit anal when it comes to GCSEs


Posted from TSR Mobile

They do, but if you do well in AS/A2, they'll make up for them. Don't give up hope yet, you haven't got your results back yet! Just stay calm in the meantime and take your mind off it, although it is undoubtedly difficult. To answer your final question, therefore, yes.

I don't imagine there are many of those? I took FM when I barely got an A and still did well at that A-Level. Any place requiring an A* would clearly just want people who are already brilliant at Maths rather than those who also aim to improve. Even then, nothing from GCSE Maths (regardless of A*) would be of any meaningful value in FM A-Level anyway apart from some trig maybe so those places are wasting their time even more so. But whatever floats their boat.

oh... i see.... but i ain't doing FM for AS. im doing the normal mathematics

Don't worry about it then, you'll be fine in that regard.

Not that much. Just need to do decent and you have done. Though they probably matter more so now what with the linear system and top unis may well look for As/A*s in relevant subjects.

hey guys!
i just sat my gcses this may/june. The exams just didn't go as expected at all.
I was predicted an A* in all my subjects (by my teachers). but i am guessing i'm gonna end up with the following results on the results day:

FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH : A/B
ECONOMICS : A/B
PHYSICS : A/B
CHEMISTRY : A/B
BIOLOGY : A*/A
PSYCHOLOGY : A*/A
MATHEMATICS : A*/A
ENGLISH LITERATURE : A (already have).

i am obviously very disappointed and was wondering if the gcse grades are all that important afterall in the greater scheme of things. if i do really well at As and A levels, will i still have a chance of getting into unoiversities like oxford, cambridge, LSE or harvard?
do universities like the mentioned above even look at the gcse grades?

so sorry for the lenghty post. thank you for taking out your time to reply.

Hi there, this site shows you what GCSE grades and A Level grades people have achieved, and whether they received an offer for the course they've applied for.