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Oxbridge

What grades at GCSE would be good enough for Oxbridge. I know it's not set in stone but just a brief idea is helpful. Also, how much extra-curricular stuff should I do?? Finally, how many 'achievements' should I have it. Grade 8 in so or so, DoE.
Thanks

Reply 1

Francesca99x

The average number of A* GCSEs for successful Oxbridge applicants is 8.. But of course it ranges from none to a ridiculous number. Just try the best you can. As for extra curricular stuff that relates to your degree of choice is the most helpful, for example working in a pharmacy if you want to do medicine. Hope that helps!

Reply 2

IrrationalRoot

Original post by That'sGreat

If you're applying for Maths they don't care at all about any extra-curricular stuff (or anything unrelated to Maths). Not sure about other courses though.

Reply 3

theBranicAc

Original post by Francesca99x

11A*s to stand a chance

Reply 4

BasicMistake

Your 'outside' interests and extracurriculars don't particularly matter. Being Grade 8 in Piano and playing rugby is nice but it won't make it any more likely for you to be accepted.

Oxford has coined the term 'supercurricular'. These refer to other activities that are related to the course you are interested in. So examples of this include extra reading, entering competitions and writing articles. These show your passion for your subject and demonstrates you do actually want to spend at least three years of your life learning about it. Being a top flute player doesn't mean you are really interested in medicine for example.

EDIT: The person above me says you need 11A*s which is misleading. They won't really differentiate between someone with 8 and someone with 13. GCSEs aren't too important, especially if they aren't related to the course you want to do.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

salty670

i would say that around 4 A* is the minimum but it really depends on what ur doing and what your a levels are like

Reply 6

That'sGreat

I'm looking at doing A levels for Biology, Economics, History and maybe one more. Also, I want to study law at uni

Reply 7

salty670

i think law is incredibly competitive so as many A* as possible

Reply 8

connormc199

yeah you're gonna need at least 7 A* to even be considered for Oxbridge law! i got a summer school place on merit of GCSE grades and even then they said that nobody is ever assured a place, GCSEs are only a fraction of the things they consider, the personal statement is the primary thing they look at, then they will look at your A/AS grades then if needs be your GCSE grades, but i know of people who have received offers and their GCSE's were relatively poor!

Reply 9

woooooo

Original post by connormc199

Hie sorry eerm I'm looking at getting into Oxbridge as well... how poor were these grades?

Reply 10

?Hannah

I believe that 8-10A*'s would put you in a good place. Aim for as many A*'s as possible, good luck :smile:

Reply 11

connormc199

Original post by woooooo

Hie sorry eerm I'm looking at getting into Oxbridge as well... how poor were these grades?

3 A*, 7 A's, now let me reinforce that i said these grades were relatively poor, to be perfectly honest these grades are very good and if you achieve grades that come close to these it is a massive achievement! however it really depends on what course you are hoping to get into, of course natural sciences, law and maths will require 8/9/10 A*s but comparatively oxford specifically will give applicants an offer on the basis of their AS or predicted A level grades so dont get too worried about GCSE's!

Reply 12

Plagioclase

Original post by That'sGreat

There are no GCSE requirements. How important your GCSE results are depends on what course you apply for and where. For something like Medicine at Oxford they will be very important, for most courses they're probably not going to be of huge importance. Extracurriculars are only really helpful if they're related to the subject you're applying for.