Ask an Admissions Tutor IX, 4th August - 2nd September

Huh. Any idea what the issue was?

Hello, I recently received my AS grades at A in Psychology, B in History and B in Geography. (I was disappointed as i was expecting AAA and Geography is still old spec so it is 50% of my overall A-Level) My GCSE's are 4A*, 4A's and 1B, 1C (i was predicted all B's and C's). For A-level i am predicted A*AA (with the A* in Psychology)...i was hoping to get this up to A*A*A but as i got a B in Geography my school won't predict me an A* in it. My only option is to resit...should I? I wish to study Geography at University, do i have a shot at Cambridge, or should i not bother applying? Also, is it worth doing an EPQ, to make up for my poor AS grades? Thank you

I doubt that your GCSEs are going to play a massive part in the assessment at this stage given how far removed they are from when you are going to apply.

Sorry to hear that mate .
Someone with 2,2 was fished by my college last year and it couldn't have been closer then yours.
I hope you get in man best of luck let us know how it goes.




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Thanks for your reply! Pretty much as expected, to put into context no one that sat higher chemistry or computing in my school got a band 1 for either subject - I was 2nd overall for computing and was 1st in my prelim examination for it (which I received an award for) - should this be mentioned in my reference to allow admissions to understand that relatively I did well? I of course completely understand that the A2s are a hindrance, thank you for the reply again!

Just wondering whether I would receive an interview with my grades or be flat out rejected?

Hello again,

I have a few questions on the contextual data Cambridge uses, for my school's GCSE performance is the year my GCSEs were obtained used or an average over past years? Also does the amount of students getting in to Oxbridge include unsuccessful offer holders?

Thanks in advance

Hi Admissions Tutor,

I've just got my ASs back for Latin and Maths, averaging 96/100 for Latin with 100 in language, and 90+ in all maths modules. I'm wanting to study classics.

My question is how much do you weight each element of your admissions process? As in would you value grades over interviews or admissions test?

Moreover, how does this compare to Oxford and are my ASs good enough to consider Oxbridge classics?

Thank you very much for any advice you have

Hi, I have a question about medicine applications. I know the standard offer is A*A*A. Would it matter which subjects had the A*s? So if it was Maths and Biology with Chemistry at an A?

Your results are certainly good enough to apply, yes. Beyond that, it's impossible to say what might happen for certain. Both your Mechanics modules are a little low which would be a concern and it would be good if you FP1 went up on remark but if you do well in other aspects of the application then you stand a chance of an offer.

Hi there,
I'm applying for economics and I wanted to ask how important is the entrance examination relative to the rest of my application? I feel my grades and personal statement are quite strong. Would Cambridge look at my application and the entrance exam result together or would doing badly in the entrance examination immediately disqualify me from gaining an interview? How big a filter is the entrance exam for all applicants? And finally what's the best way to prepare for the entrance exam?

Thanks in advance.

Hey admissions tutor it's just me again.

I'm wondering whether or not I would still stand a chance of getting an offer (or even just an interview) despite my bad GCSE grades (3 A*s 3 B's, 2 C's, 1 D and 1 E) although they have major extenuating circumstances (which I talked about earlier in the week) and cost me 4 years worth of secondary education.

At AS I got:

A - English language
A - English literature
B - History

I've always done well at History so the B came as a shock. I was devastated! I've been the strongest in the cohort, and I even got 60/60 in the AS History paper one in my exam. I didn't drop a single mark! We're sending Paper 2 back for a remark because I was 6 marks from an A grade overall, and I got 15/40 in paper 2. So it seems strange to go from 60/60 to 15/40, especially as I've gotten full marks in every History assignment since Year 8. Including my GCSE!

Is it still worth applying for Cambridge to read History?

I know there will be people with AAA and 11 A*'s at GCSE, which makes my application seem a bit silly. (AAB and only 3 A*'s at GCSE). I just love History so much, and to study it at Cambridge would be such an amazing experience.

A2 predictions will be A*AA-A*A*A, with the A* prediction in History.

Thanks for all of your help, hope I haven't been too much of a bother!

Hello, thank you for your questions and congratulations on your results.

1) Unless students have three unreformed AS Levels then they will not have a UMS average. Even then, if they are taking a reformed fourth subject then the best 3 UMS will not necessary tell us what it used to tell us. We are not going to rank people by their UMS as we used to. We are not going to collect raw marks but if your teacher wish to mention them in your reference then that is fine.

2) I'm afraid I really can't say. From what you've told me you look like you'd be a strong applicant at either university. The thing to do is to look at the courses on offer and the differences. All I would say about the new History and Politics degree at Cambridge is that we have looked closely at how it works at Oxford and tried to integrate the two disciplines more closely for students.

3) As we've no data on previous applicants, it's hard to know what the acceptance rate will be for History and Politics. We are hoping that it will be popular among applicants. As in Oxford, students who apply for the joint course will be eligible for an offer in single honours, either from the college to which they originally applied or from another college via the Pool. I expect that quite a lot of H&P applicants will fall into this category even if they are unsuccessful in their joint honours application.

4) I think either option could work fine. it;s not necessary to do 4 A Levels so only continue if you want to and by continuing with Maths you won't affect your performance in the other subjects. An EPQ can be a useful addition to the application as it gives you something to talk about in the PS and at interview but it doesn't form part of the offer.

Sorry not to be more definitive in a lot of my answers but I hope that this is helpful nonetheless. Best of luck!

Hi again, my friend who is enamoured with Cambridge also wanted me to ask whether her M2 would be a detriment to her application and make her a weaker candidate?

C1 98C2 100S1 98M1 96D1 100FP1 97S2 90M2 83

Once again many thanks

Dear Admissions Tutor,

After receiving my AS level results, I did fairly better than I expected, getting AAAA in maths, physics, chemistry and biology (also maths is unreformed, C1 UMS is 100%, C2 UMS is 90% and M1 UMS is 100% so UMS total is 96.7%). Would my UMS be strong, average or mediocre for medicine?

Furthermore as I really felt I hadn't done as well in physics I didn't attend the Cambridge open day before my results, may I ask is the SAQ like another personal statement or are you simply writing why you would like to go to Cambridge?

Thank you for your help.

Just a small worry here. A person in the STEP prep thread mentions having been told that they had been downgraded in a STEP paper. Just to confirm, are our STEP results final? I have met my offer and received confirmation, that's not going to be taken away is it?

Dear AT,
I've got these results for my AS this year: (UMS)Maths:
C1:100
C2:94
M1:100
F. Maths:
FP1:87
S1:100
D1:100
Physics(reformed/OCR): on the results sheet it says 135 points and an A grade, but does anyone know what does the points mean??

I'm hoping to apply for architecture, did not do an AS in art in Y12 bc I know I'm continuing it next year. I'll hopefully be predicted an A* in it. But with the 87 in FP1, I'm probably not going to be predicted A* in Further Maths if I continue it for A2. So with these results, should I drop Further Maths for A2 or keep it? Is it going to be helpful at all having this fourth subject?

Thanks a lot in advance!!!!