The Student Room Group

Desire to go to Oxbridge.

Hi guys :smile:, I was just wondering if any of you people on the Student Room, who have either been to Oxbridge or have good knowledge of it, can help in choosing my a levels and telling me if my predicted GCSE's are enough to at least get an interview. I appreciate that the interview is the most defining factor along with my personal statement. However, I would he extremely grateful if you could just give me tips, and things I should be doing outside the classroom, to make me worthy of a place at Oxbridge.

Gcse's (Expected, and some gained):

Maths: A* (done one year early, only one in school)
Triple Science: 3 A*
English Literature: A (done)
English Language: A*
Drama: A (done)
Performing Arts: A* (done)
Philosophy and Ethics: A*
Geography: A
Business Studies: A*
I.C.T: Equivalent of 3 A's at GCSE.


I am thinking of taking: maths (im doing as at the moment, and sitting c1 in january), chemistry, physics and further maths. are these good options considering I want to be a GP when im older. Thank you in advance!

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Reply 1
If by GP you mean a General Practitioner, i.e a doctor, then no - they aren't the best A levels to take.

If you're intending to do medicine, you need to take Chemistry, and you'd be best to do Biology as well. All of your options are solid academic choices, it's just that you'd need to juggle them round to fit in Chemistry, and most likely Biology.
(edited 13 years ago)
Reply 2
If you wanna be a doctor than make sure you have Chemistry and Biology.
Yeah, they're clearly great grades! You just need to make sure you carry on working and manage to gain good A-Levels.

Are you not going to take Biology during A-Level? You should replace Further Maths with it.
Reply 4
do Bio instead of F maths
To be a GP you'll need Biology and Chemistry too (although i've heard some med schools don't require it now, but Oxbridge will obviously want it!). If you're doing Maths now, then you could theoretically be finished in time to take up Chemistry as a 4th in college/sixth form, and if not, you're better dropping physics or further maths to fit it in
Keep Chemistry as it is a must (at least to AS but contine to A2 if possible), Maths is a great academic choice, but I would swap either Physics or Further Maths for Biology as this is quite desirable for Medicine.

You've chosen some notoriously difficult subjects so best of luck!
sreddy17, There is no doubt your GCSE grades are good enough to get an interview. (In fact, Cambridge interview the majority of their candidates anyway, so it won't be an issue. With Oxford, you may need to take some pre-interview tests (I think there's something called the BMAT or UKCAT or something but I'm not a medic so I don't know.) Your performance on those, along with your AS grades will hold more sway over admissions tutors than GCSE grades.

I'm not a medic, so I'm not going to comment on the "good" A-levels for studying medicine, BUT I will point out that a lot of science/maths/engineering degrees really like further maths, so if you are considering, say, natural science at Cambridge, I'd keep F maths.

Final point: It's generally a bad idea to pick a course which you don't like on the grounds that it is required for a career. If you enjoy biology, do it, as from what everyone else has said the medics like it. Otherwise, don't. Ditto with your other choices.

I hope that helps :smile:
Swap Physics or F.Maths for Biology.
Reply 9
quite a few uni's see maths and fm as one A Level when applying for medicine, so as everyone else has said you should probably swap it for biology?
sreddy17
Hi guys :smile:, I was just wondering if any of you people on the Student Room, who have either been to Oxbridge or have good knowledge of it, can help in choosing my a levels and telling me if my predicted GCSE's are enough to at least get an interview. I appreciate that the interview is the most defining factor along with my personal statement. However, I would he extremely grateful if you could just give me tips, and things I should be doing outside the classroom, to make me worthy of a place at Oxbridge.

WRONG. I can assure you that the interview will be far more important than your personal statement. In fact, pretty much everything else will be more important than the personal statement for Oxbridge. It's very important you have a good one for other universities though.

If you're going to apply to Medicine, Chemistry and Biology are essential. It's a bit silly for Biology to be essential but most universities require at least AS level Biology, so make sure you choose it for the first year. Chemistry, on the other hand, is absolutely essential for all the top universities. Also, if you are applying for Medicine you will want to be getting some work experience; it shows dedication, and most universities find work experience highly desirable to make sure that you are ready to commit yourself to the years of training it takes to become a doctor. Further Maths will not give you a big advantage but take it if you want to. 5 ASs is perfectly manageable.

Oh, and your GCSEs look right on the mark.
(edited 13 years ago)
Unkempt_One
WRONG. I can assure you that the interview will be far more important than your personal statement. In fact, pretty much everything else will be more important than the personal statement for Oxbridge. It's very important you have a good one for other universities though.

If you're going to apply to Medicine, Chemistry and Biology are essential. It's a bit silly for Biology to be essential but most universities require at least AS level Biology, so make sure you choose it for the first year. Chemistry, on the other hand, is absolutely essential for all the top universities. Also, if you are applying for Medicine you will want to be getting some work experience; it shows dedication, and most universities find work experience highly desirable to make sure that you are ready to commit yourself to the years of training it takes to become a doctor. Further Maths will not give you a big advantage but take it if you want to. 5 ASs is perfectly manageable.

Oh, and your GCSEs look right on the mark.


Ok, thanks mate, really appreciate it. The the thing is I didn't realise you had to have biology because I thought universities will allow you to do medicine without biology, but you need chemistry. Thanks for the advice on the work experience, I will definitely make sure I do a bit of that. And thanks everyone for your help! :wink:
sreddy17
Ok, thanks mate, really appreciate it. The the thing is I didn't realise you had to have biology because I thought universities will allow you to do medicine without biology, but you need chemistry. Thanks for the advice on the work experience, I will definitely make sure I do a bit of that. And thanks everyone for your help! :wink:

Cambridge claims that ONLY Chemistry is 'highly desirable', but you don't want to run the risk of being disadvantaged compared to applicants who WILL have Biology.
sreddy17
Hi guys :smile:, I was just wondering if any of you people on the Student Room, who have either been to Oxbridge or have good knowledge of it, can help in choosing my a levels and telling me if my predicted GCSE's are enough to at least get an interview. I appreciate that the interview is the most defining factor along with my personal statement. However, I would he extremely grateful if you could just give me tips, and things I should be doing outside the classroom, to make me worthy of a place at Oxbridge.

Gcse's (Expected, and some gained):

Maths: A* (done one year early, only one in school)
Triple Science: 3 A*
English Literature: A (done)
English Language: A*
Drama: A (done)
Performing Arts: A* (done)
Philosophy and Ethics: A*
Geography: A
Business Studies: A*
I.C.T: Equivalent of 3 A's at GCSE.


I am thinking of taking: maths (im doing as at the moment, and sitting c1 in january), chemistry, physics and further maths. are these good options considering I want to be a GP when im older. Thank you in advance!


You should probably do A Level Biology.
Chemistry, Biology, Maths and anything else you want to take for AS-Levels - then keep Chem, Bio and Maths for A-Level, or if you're confident enough keep the fourth too although it's not necessary. Ensure you get good grades and UMS marks for AS, get some good work experience* write a good PS and you should be in good contention, although nothing can be assured - I know someone with amazing GCSE's (all A*'s/A's), seven AS Levels at A-Grade, predictions of A*'s and A's for A-Levels and he still didn't get in.

* - By work experience I mean; voluntary work at Charity Shops, Nursing/Care Homes, Shadowing Doctors/GP's.

Good luck etc.
Troubled_Student
Chemistry, Biology, Maths and anything else you want to take for AS-Levels - then keep Chem, Bio and Maths for A-Level, or if you're confident enough keep the fourth too although it's not necessary. Ensure you get good grades and UMS marks for AS, get some good work experience* write a good PS and you should be in good contention, although nothing can be assured - I know someone with amazing GCSE's (all A*'s/A's), seven AS Levels at A-Grade, predictions of A*'s and A's for A-Levels and he still didn't get in.

* - By work experience I mean; voluntary work at Charity Shops, Nursing/Care Homes, Shadowing Doctors/GP's.

Good luck etc.

Oh ok cheers mate, thanks a lot. I was just wondering, if you know whether universities look at exams took early, and passed well, for example I did my maths gcse a year early and got an a*, and hope to do my a2's by the end of yr 12 (for mathematics), will this benefit me in applying for oxbridge or is irrelevant? And finally (sorry) are 4 a2's better than 3, with all a/a* of course, or is this once again not really looked at closely and 3 is fine?
Unkempt_One
Cambridge claims that ONLY Chemistry is 'highly desirable', but you don't want to run the risk of being disadvantaged compared to applicants who WILL have Biology.

Yes, yes good point. That's where I read it then! So I'll probably do: maths, chem, biology and do you think physics is a viable option?
Was just wondering whether my grades are good enough to get me a interview at oxbridge :smile: :

English Literature - A*
D.T - A*
R.S - A*
History - A
English Language - A
Science - A
Additional Science - A
Maths - B
Geography - B

French - E

Will the french let me down? I need honest advice as to whether I should retake French, to get a B+, or to leave it as it is. I'm getting quite worried universities might reject me based on this fail, as they might make judgements about the kind of person I am. I've asked 4 teachers, 2 have told me to leave it, and 2 have told me to retake it. So very confused.
(edited 13 years ago)
sreddy17
Yes, yes good point. That's where I read it then! So I'll probably do: maths, chem, biology and do you think physics is a viable option?

Definitely. I think it is a strong set of subjects.
Reply 19
Yes, that's what I do and it's good for everywhere (UCL give preference to arts subject though, but doesn't mean you can't get in). I am applying to Trinity and it seems to be what they like.