Gcse grades for Oxford/Cambridge/Edinburgh?

they usually expect 7s, 8s and 9s but a-levels are usually more important

Cambridge doesn't really care so much about GCSEs; while the average applicant has quite good GCSEs, this doesn't imply they are specifically looking for those - just that those who do well in GCSE also usually do well in A-level and their pre-interview assessments. They realise however that some will be "late bloomers" academically and don't mind applicants in that situation (provided they are at the time of application working at the appropriate level).

Oxford however weighs GCSEs much more heavily in general, and use them to varying levels of formality in their shortlisting process for deciding who to invite to interview. This is due to the fact their research (unlike Cambridge's) has shown it to correlate more to degree success, for whatever reason. They also invite slightly fewer applicants to interview (about 50% for most courses, compared to 60-70% at Cambridge), so need to "filter" more of them at an earlier stage.

I don't know about Edinburgh though. Do note the above is in general, and some courses may be exceptions to the rule in either putting more or less emphasis on GCSEs - maths at Oxford, for example, doesn't put as much emphasis on non-maths GCSE grades, and good performance in the MAT can outweigh poorer performance in GCSE; also in general doing well on the pre-interview assessment can ameliorate poorer GCSE grades.

Thanks so much! So do you think Cambridge would accept the passing results for the medical course. I think I would still apply just in case.

Medicine may consider them more than other courses, but I presume the BMAT results would take precedence. I would note for medicine at Oxford GCSEs are weighed very heavily for determining who to invite to interview (I believe GCSE results are 50% of the score when determining who to invite to interview there - @nexttime might know more), so you can probably rule Oxford out.

Bear in mind for Cambridge you need to take three STEM subjects (biology, chemistry, maths, physics) at A-level for medicine.

Ok thanks so much I will look into it. By the way who is @nexttime?

Ok thanks so much I will look into it. By the way who is @nexttime?

I recently got invited to interview at Saint Catherine's college, Oxford. At GCSE, I got 1 A*, 4 A, 3 B and 2 C's. I was quite worried that my GCSE results would affect my chances of getting an interview, however, in subjects with an entrance exam your chance of getting an interview is far more based around said exam performance, and the written work submitted. If you look at the statistics surrounding GCSE's and Oxbridge acceptance, I think it's more correlational than causational. there's a higher chance that someone who's academic enough to get into Oxford, already had good GCSE results, because that's the kind of person they are, however, it doesn't mean that a decision Is based around GCSE results.