How much will the GCSE score affect the application for an IB student

Hi , My name is Barry. I am an international applicant taking IB Diploma... not a common choice tho... lol. I have taken a few GCSEs before my IB career and got all of them above A , the teacher implies that i am shooting for 41 for the IB predicted grade. I am scared since almost everyone applying for Law took roughly 10 GCSEs, our school simply didn't provide us as much.Will my application be in any disadvantaged position if I am going to apply for Law? I have heard that Oxford is more concerned about GCSE scores...which I didn't take that much...I am quite nervous about my application right now. Are admission officers going to evaluate our application based on the number of GCSE exams we've taken?

Usually international students will have 3-8 GCSEs which is usual and expected so you likely wont be at any disadvantage. It's more about what grades you got at GCSE rather than how many you did, quantity over quality and universities are aware that the amount of GCSEs one takes isn't chosen by the person but chosen by the school they attended.

Thanks a lot as your explanation really helps! I got A * and As in all my International GCSEs, so I think the GCSE score won't drag me down.
Besides, I've heard that the the Exam board also affects candidates' performance since the CIE seems to be the most challenging while Edexcel is much easier. Will admission officers take that into consideration as well? (although personally I don't think it matters much for such super selective institutions like Oxford)

How it works with almost all universities is your GCSEs will be looked at on a point score basis, meaning the average grade you achieved in all your GCSE courses. So therefore if your point school for GCSE is 8/7, regardless of whether you did 5 GCSEs or 12 GCSEs, if your point score is 8 and someone who did 12 GCSEs also has a point score of 8 you will probably be seen as equal.

With Oxbridge and Russel Group the only times you may not be seen as equal is certain advantageous qualifications, or specific grades. For example if you were to apply for Computer Science let's say, having an A* in Maths GCSE and having done Computing GCSE would make for a stronger application than someone who lets say had an A or B in Maths and maybe hadn't of studied Computing GCSE. This is usually only Oxbridge universities that care about little details like that. I don't think there's really any GCSE preferences for Law, though. I think in your situation I wouldn't worry about your GCSEs, just focus on getting a good IB score, particularly in social sciences/humanities.

The only other time GCSEs may be an issue would be having lower than the entry requirement. Most universities I've seen ask for 5, so let's say if you had 3 GCSEs or something you'd probably be considered but your application not as favorable as someone who has 5+.

As for iGCSEs and exam boards, GCSE and iGCSE are usually looked at as equal as well as what exam board you did. Exam boards and whether you did GCSE or iGCSE is usually irrelevant.

How it works with almost all universities is your GCSEs will be looked at on a point score basis, meaning the average grade you achieved in all your GCSE courses. So therefore if your point school for GCSE is 8/7, regardless of whether you did 5 GCSEs or 12 GCSEs, if your point score is 8 and someone who did 12 GCSEs also has a point score of 8 you will probably be seen as equal.

With Oxbridge and Russel Group the only times you may not be seen as equal is certain advantageous qualifications, or specific grades. For example if you were to apply for Computer Science let's say, having an A* in Maths GCSE and having done Computing GCSE would make for a stronger application than someone who lets say had an A or B in Maths and maybe hadn't of studied Computing GCSE. This is usually only Oxbridge universities that care about little details like that. I don't think there's really any GCSE preferences for Law, though. I think in your situation I wouldn't worry about your GCSEs, just focus on getting a good IB score, particularly in social sciences/humanities.

The only other time GCSEs may be an issue would be having lower than the entry requirement. Most universities I've seen ask for 5, so let's say if you had 3 GCSEs or something you'd probably be considered but your application not as favorable as someone who has 5+.

As for iGCSEs and exam boards, GCSE and iGCSE are usually looked at as equal as well as what exam board you did. Exam boards and whether you did GCSE or iGCSE is usually irrelevant.

Your answer is pretty detailed. I appreciate that. Now I am less anxious about my iGCSE scores.

In fact, the key cause of my concern is my choices of uni. I applied for Oxford, LSE, UCL, Warwick and Queen Mary (the safer one) Law. As an international student, I assume my IB predicted score is roughly 41-43, while the school doesn't disclose the score to individual students.
Hope I can be admitted by LSE and at least shortlisted by Oxford for Interview.

No worries. I know almost too much information about applying to university, might as well make use of it.




That's weird that they haven't told you, you should be told so that you can make a wise decision based off of your predicted grades, perhaps try asking for it? I don't know much about IB but just ensure your options one goal/higher than predicted, two that are on your predicted, and then two safe options. That's the best way to avoid disappointment but I'm sure in the end you'll be fine.