Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

GCSE results affecting university opinions?

I was wondering about this, as before my GCSE results were finalised I was expected to get As across the board, though I did not manage this in the end. I ended up with five As, three Bs and two Cs. Kind of disappointing, though I figured in these next two years I would do a lot better than I did previously.

But even if I did manage to get good grades (at the moment I am aiming for all As for my AS and then the same for A-level) in Sixth Form, do you know how much a university would take my GCSE results into consideration? You may not know accurately, but maybe you have some personal experience or knowledge of this area?

Thank you!

Reply 1

StanKing

As I've been told my many people on this forum, GCSE results only form one part of your application. There's other things a university will look for such as good AS results (which are obviously more important that GCSE results), personal statement, reference etc.

Email the university you'd like to go to or thinking about going to and you will get a more valid answer than the one's from TSR.

Reply 2

tif49

GCSE get you to A Levels, A Levels get you to University.

A Levels have a bigger effect than GCSEs on your uni application.

Reply 3

Otters

I'm only in year 12 at the moment and I was wondering whether I could get a general idea of what to expect from those that would look here. Perhaps closer to the end of this school year I would go for a direct question towards any university I am interested in. :smile:

But thank you, I don't really know all that much about the applications themselves, not having been introduced to them yet and all.

I know they have a bigger effect, but would it change a universities mind about letting me study there with bad GCSE grades? Or the ones I have, anyway.

Reply 4

JollyGreenAtheist

Your chances of Oxbridge are pretty heavily limited, although it's not TOTALLY out of the question I suppose.
You can realistically apply to a fair few Russel/1994 Groups...

Reply 5

username829752

Original post by tif49

GCSE get you to A Levels, A Levels get you to University.

A Levels have a bigger effect than GCSEs on your uni application.

This.

GCSEs obviously have some impact, and your's really aren't even that bad.. :s-smilie:

My GCSEs were not great, but I was not restricted to where I could and could not apply.

Reply 6

mespannerhanz

Unless you are applying to a top uni, or a really competitive course such as law, medicine, dentistry etc, it doesn't make a huge difference. But as StanKing said, check with the unis you are interested in applying to nearer to time of applying. They are only one part of application.

Reply 7

ifstatement

How did I know as soon as I would click this thread the OP would say they have only a couple of A's and therefore think their GCSE's performance is instantly poor. All you people who did well at GCSE can really be modest ***** sometimes, just saying.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 8

Morgasm19

As StanKing said, gcses only form part of your application, and your A-Level results, personal statement, interview (if applicable) plus any additional external admissions test results set by the university (again, if applicable), are all equally if not more important in terms of deciding whether or not you are suitable for a course.

Of course some universities place more emphasis on gcses than others, but even Oxbridge claims that if your gcse results are a little disappointing, as long as you redeem yourself at A-Level then you should be fine :smile:

Some of the most intelligent people I've met so far in sixth form underperformed at gcse, and yet now they're predicted all a's and I think it would be ridiculous if they weren't given offers by good universities, as they have so much potential! And I'm sure universities know that other factors are more indicative of intelligence and potential.

Ultimately the most important thing is to is be passionate about your subject and try and get the best possible results in your a-level results. It's really unpredictable - I know someone that got 11 A*'s, all a's at A-Level, she was head girl, played in the orchestra, was passionate, high acheiving blah blah but she got rejected by Cambridge. Now she's at Harvard :P So it just goes to show, even thought it's only one example, that excellent gcse results don't necessarily mean you're suited to a particular course or a particular university. Anyway sounds like you're doing really well at A-Level :smile:

Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 9

Otters

I was hoping to apply for Psychology, which I have heard is quite competitive, but I don't really know. But thank you, I think I have a rough idea of how this may affect what I do in the end. Overall I have been quite positive about this, but the fact that it may get down to this small thing deciding whether I could be accepted for a certain course or not was bothering me. I think I do have a better idea about this! You've all been helpful, thank you!

Original post by ifstatement

How did I know as soon as I would click this thread the OP would they have a couple of A's and therefore think their GCSE's performance is instantly poor. All you people who did well at GCSE can really be modest ***** sometimes, just saying.

Erm, I'm sorry? Compared to my predictions, this was bad. I am not instantly declaring that I did terribly and will never get into a university, blah blah, just that in my opinion that I could have done a lot better than this. So for my standard, this is bad. Sorry for not being specific enough.

Reply 10

ByronicHero

They don't matter a great deal in almost all cases. I was predicted mostly A*s and ended up with CCCEE but still recieved offers from Warwick, York and Exeter.

Reply 11

Otters

Okay

Thanks, that does help quite a lot. Thankfully I am not worrying about this as much as others I know (who have done, and are still doing better than me -.-) but I am a lot more hopeful. I just have to do well this year I guess.