Getting straight A* at gcse?

I did it - 12A*s at GCSE. It's perfectly possible and is great to see you have high expectations of yourself! It's been a few years since I studied them (I'm at uni now) but my number one tip would be to do as many exam papers and practice questions as you can. If you lose any marks, go through every single one, find out what you didn't know or struggled with, and make sure you work on this before your actual exams. Are you not doing triple science? I would strongly recommend it, especially if you would like to study science at a higher level as it is usually needed. Otherwise, 7 GCSEs really isn't very many (many colleges ask for 8 or more) so I'm sure you would be able to handle the additional workload of Latin. Good luck, let me know if you have any more questions

I did it - 12A*s at GCSE. It's perfectly possible and is great to see you have high expectations of yourself! It's been a few years since I studied them (I'm at uni now) but my number one tip would be to do as many exam papers and practice questions as you can. If you lose any marks, go through every single one, find out what you didn't know or struggled with, and make sure you work on this before your actual exams. Are you not doing triple science? I would strongly recommend it, especially if you would like to study science at a higher level as it is usually needed. Otherwise, 7 GCSEs really isn't very many (many colleges ask for 8 or more) so I'm sure you would be able to handle the additional workload of Latin. Good luck, let me know if you have any more questions

hey when did u start revising for your gcses and how many hours

Did u do good in your mocks

Overall, I'd be taking 10 gcses because English counts as 2 and Science 2. Nope, I'm not taking triple science, that's a subject that I'm not bad at but definitely not excelling in either. I'm more of a humanities student, and am wishing to pursue English Lit and Lang further (with dreams of Oxford ) . My science teacher said taking triple science would not give me an advantage and that I should focus on getting 2 A*s rather than taking 3 and risking a drop.
Wow, 12A*s! That's so amazing. Top at our school last year was 11 I think.

Oh I see, that's probably a good amount of GCSEs to be taking. If you would like to get into Oxbridge, they usually ask for 8 A*s or more. So as long as you are doing at least 8, taking more wouldn't be an advantage and overall could bring your grades down. They are far more likely to admit someone with 8 A*s than, say, 10 As so you might want to reconsider taking Latin due to the additional workload. If it's something you'd like to study at A level then I'd say go for it, otherwise leave it out so you can focus more time on your other subjects.

Aaaaaaah I'm getting so stressed already. I'm genuinely interested in Latin but ugh. I don't know. Deadline for choosing is tomorrow too.

By the time you take your exams won't A*s be replaced by 9s (or some other number system)?

Don't worry about it, in the grand scheme of things it's not too important and you sound like you want to do well and are willing to put the work in. But if you really want to go to Oxbridge you need to get your grades as high as possible so don't try and take on too much. Perhaps you could ask your parents for their opinion/advice as well? But whatever happens, I can assure you you won't screw up your life whatever decision you go for

Thanks so much for the help! I was just wondering, if I get a b in a subject does that completely eliminate my chances of getting into Oxbridge?

Since we're on the subject of Oxford, I recently met with Eleanor Reeves (admissions officer of Oxford). The placements are around 1 in 5 people who get in, so you have to be excelling yourself. However, they focus greatly on A-Level results and a set amount of A* in GCSE isn't required - it's all about your potential and ability to continue to strive and be motivated. I'm currently in Year 10 and am also looking to get all A* in GCSE or at least 9.

Also, extra curricular activities do not matter, Oxford focuses on academic ability alone. However, they expect you to be extremely interested in a particular subject for you to have read a book on it and done stuff in your spare time. So in a way, extra curricular does matter but only if it's very relevant to what course you take.

Hope that helps :P

Thanks so much, this did help and was reassuring haha. How many gcses are you taking overall?
Also, if they mainly focus on a levels, what distinguishes an oxford successful candidate from the rest? Surely many people are capable of getting A*A*A*, so how do they choose who they want from the vast amount of people, and what type of people do they turn down?
With a pursued passion in my subject though, especially from a young age, will my chances be fair if I'm getting good grades alongside that?

I'm also only doing 9 gcses. This is fine, right?