Applying to Oxford

Pretty sure Oxford don't listen to extenuating circumstances unless maybe your mother died or something.


I do hope you get in though

Hi guys, basically I have always wanted to study at Oxford, I am totally in love with every aspect of the university and the place and have tried to persuade myself to forget about Oxford and focus elsewhere but I can't. I want to study History (possible with English) and am hopeful that I can receive AAA in English lit, History and Religious Studies at A2 (I am currently AS). The problem is my GCSE results, I did not get A/A* across the board and have been worrying that they will completely right me off for this, however I did have a medical condition whilst doing my GCSE's that did effect how well I did (and my results were very good in regards to the school I am at). I am wondering whether a) this will be taken into consideration, b) whether it's worth the stress of me applying at all and c) if they really do base offers on every aspect of the application process? Any advice would be very appreciated (sorry for the length of this message).

What exactly were your GCSE results? The main thing for History (or History and English) would be the Oxford-specific aptitude tests.

Your UCAS referee can mention your medical condition in the reference, and your school's A*-C rate is provided to Oxford as part of the application process, and so your results will be seen in the context of your school.

If the course content and structure interests you, you should definitely go on some open days and consider applying All applications are looked at holistically

I got 1 A*, 4 A's 2 B's and 3 C's (the C's were in subjects unrelated to what i am studying now/ what i want to study, they were the sciences and French).
Thankyou for the advice, I am planning on attending an Open day

I got 1 A*, 4 A's 2 B's and 3 C's (the C's were in subjects unrelated to what i am studying now/ what i want to study, they were the sciences and French).
Thankyou for the advice, I am planning on attending an Open day

Yoooo, you got very similar results to me! I got 1 A*, 4 A's, 4 B's, and 3 C's.

If we both get straight A's in our AS, there's no reason why we shouldn't apply to Oxford/Cambridge.

I'd most likely be applying to Cambridge, mainly for the fact that they care about GCSE's less. Also I got a reply from one of the Cambridge Colleges in a thread I made which showed that a significant number of offer-holders had only 0-1 A*'s at GCSE.

Cambridge just seems a safer bet when we have have less A*/A's than most of the applicants.

I hope you get those A's in As!! I heard that Cambridge was the one that focused more on GCSE's and Oxford was more interested in the admission tests, maybe it's different for different courses? Just out of interest, what are you looking at applying for at Cambridge/Oxford?

Law You?

History and English or just History

I hope you get those A's in As!! I heard that Cambridge was the one that focused more on GCSE's and Oxford was more interested in the admission tests, maybe it's different for different courses? Just out of interest, what are you looking at applying for at Cambridge/Oxford?