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Oxford Application with good(ish) GCSEs?

Hello, I'm new here... :biggrin:

I'm currently sitting my GCSEs, twelve subjects in total. However, I feel that I may have messed up a few subjects, notably RS, Further Maths, Greek and maybe Music.

Anyway, I am planning to take RS, Latin, Greek and German for A-Level next year, and am aiming for at least two A*, hopefully three.

My question (and I know this isn't an uncommon one on this forum ;-)) is whether I would have a competitive application with, say, 8A* and 4A (Bearing in mind there are no A* for Further Maths L2 Cert.). Would this be a good set of grades that would only need A levels to meet the requirements, a set of grades that will need boosting with 2+ A* at A-Level, or not Oxford material?

I am looking to study Classics, possibly with German as a foreign language. The entry requirement is AAA, but nothing about GCSE.

The main reason I am unsure is because we are the first year not to do AS levels, so I assume this means Universities will look more at GCSE, and no matter how well I do at A-Level, there wouldn't be any reason to give a conditional if my GCSEs are middle of the pile in terms of Oxford applicants...

Thanks
Reply 1
Average is 7 I believe, you'll be fine
Thanks, do you know if there is any lower limit, out of interest? I think I should be A* or A, someone did say though that they don't accept more than one B?

Incidentally, I was discussing this with someone today, do Oxford distinguish between A and A* at GCSE? As in would 12 As still be a competitive application? Or are they just looking for more A* than A, and no more than one or two Bs.
Original post by Caecilius'Garden
Thanks, do you know if there is any lower limit, out of interest? I think I should be A* or A, someone did say though that they don't accept more than one B?

Incidentally, I was discussing this with someone today, do Oxford distinguish between A and A* at GCSE? As in would 12 As still be a competitive application? Or are they just looking for more A* than A, and no more than one or two Bs.


With the exception of Medicine, GCSEs are generally not overwhelmingly important for Oxford applications. There definitely is not a "1 B maximum" limit and you could do a competitive application with 12 As as long as the rest of your application is the standard they'd expect.
Reply 4
My GCSEs are nowhere near to this standard but I do intend to apply given I get good grades at a level which I've been predicted. I believe it's not too late to show you're capable of making progress and can go from average (not average as in 4A*s, as in national average) to a passionate and academic student. Unless of course we're talking about medicine… I'm hoping to apply for PPE
Fantastic, thank you for this. Since Oxford don't publish minimum GCSE requirements/average number of A*s, there are lots of rumours flying around, especially at my school, as well as a fair share of misinformation, I'm sure...

Off topic slightly, but does anyone know how popular a degree Classics is? I've heard recently as well that job prospects post-grad aren't great, don't know if a Classics grad can shed any light on this?

Thanks again :biggrin:
I see that you will likely take the German and Classics route.

Fortunately, you're not entering something as competitive as medicine, so you're fairly fortunate in that respect.

With that in mind, of course you're going to focus on GCSEs, but as someone who wants to do French and Linguistics/Classics, I've done a lot of research, and believe me, if you can get AAA, or even A*A*A as you're hoping, then, as long as you pass the interview and the different aptitude tests, then you'll be at least on the right track.

8 A* and 4 A is still very good, and as the Classics and Modern Languages route isn't EXTREMELY competitive- of course it's competitive, but not as much so as, say, Medicine or PPE- then you should be absolutely fine.

Good luck in your GCSEs!
Thanks for all the responses, really looking forward to putting in an application :biggrin:.


Good luck zayn008 - I'm sure you'll have a competitive application with good A-levels, even if your GCSEs are less than you wanted.

Thanks TeenPolyglot, hopefully it all goes well!

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