To what extent do Cambridge care about GCSEs?

Oh wow, that really impressive! And makes me doubt myself even more... Anyway, where did you decide to go then?

Would A* A* A* A* A A A A B be acceptable? The B is in the ridiculous (compulsory) long-course welsh GCSE. Would being able to say "Dydw I ddim yn siarad Gymraeg" impress them? *sarcasm*



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I'm currently a second year, so obviously what was true when I was applying may now be a little bit out of date. However, at the open day talk at the college I'm now at, the admissions guy told us that the college interviews everybody with 4A*s at GCSE and 3 As (ie 80%) at AS. It seems to vary from college to college, but at least for some, I think GCSEs are unlikely to 'break' your application if all the other areas are exceptional. They may, however, help to 'make' the application if your GCSEs are great and, for example, your ASs aren't stunning. I did 5 academic ASs, all of which were As, but only one was over 90%, but I also had 9A*s and an A at GCSE which (perhaps) helped to mitigate as I received a straight offer (ie not pooled).

Do you mind saying if you did Maths And Further Maths and what you got in these subjetcs?

I did Maths, but not Further, at A level and got an A overall - on application I had C1 97/100, C2 72/100, S1 90/100. I resat C2 in Jan and brought it up to 95/100. My A2 mods were: C3 86/100 (I think, it was definitely mid-80s), C4 89/100, M1 78/100. I am studying law though, so exactly what I got in Maths modules may not have been scrutinised as much as if I was studying Maths/NatSci/Engineering. Why do you ask? If you're applying for Maths, your modular marks are going to be more important than if you're not, and you'll have to take STEP in y13 too (I'm pretty sure all colleges use STEP).

I intend to study Economics, which I've heard is very mathematically based and therefore I need exceptionally good maths grades. However, my S1 mark is going to really pull my maths grade down. My pure maths exams went really well I expect 90% on it, however S1 went really bad (I left 20% of the paper undone, therefore I'm expecting between 60% and 75% in stats; which would pull my average down to around 80%)

As I said, there is of course a limit.

I told a Cambridge tutor that I had 5 A*s, and he was like "ahhh, they're... okay" so I could tell that they do at least unofficially place some weighting on your GCSEs - with no A*s things don't look great at all. Take a peek at the Stalking Page and you won't find anyone who got in with that sort of set of GCSEs.

However, it may just be correlation - if you couldn't even get 1 A* at GCSE, the chances are that you will find AS-level impossible to don. That said, I know someone who got 2-3 A*s at GCSE, but then keened it 24/7 for his AS-levels (and I mean keened - like, non stop work) and ended up with 96, 95, 93, 87 or something like that.

did he get in?

No, he didn't get in, but I doubt it would have been because of his GCSEs, since his AS-level performance was very good.

did he go somewhere else that was very good?

what gcses did you get?

Hypothetically speaking, if say someone got straight As at GCSE but a 95+ UMS average at AS would they stand a good chance or average because of a lack of A*s at GCSE?

He went to Edinburgh

I got 5 A*s, 5 As.

when you said he worked 24/7, do you mean since day one or when it came to the exams?

what other unis did you apply to?

Not literally 24/7 but he certainly worked hard throughout the year for AS- and A-levels which paid off with some great results and comfortably secured his place at Edinburgh. I'm not saying you need to do the same, as it's clear that we all learn in very different ways, recall different amounts from lessons and have different levels of discipline. I'm just saying that low GCSE grades aren't the end of the world if you think you can put more effort in for sixth form, and that vast improvement are certainly possible if you take the right approach.

My other applications were to UCL, Durham, Nottingham and Exeter

what is he studying?
what are you studying, i am guessing maths? if so, why didn't you apply to imperial and warwick

Not as important as AS UMS marks - Cambridge arguably care less about GCSEs than any others out of the top 5-6.
That said, they will judge you a little on them - I told a tutor than I had 5 A*s and he was like "mehh", shrugging with a sort of disdained look on his face

1) If you do WELL at AS (like 90+ at least), then as long as you have 3-4 A*s at GCSE, and the rest As (maybe a B) then your GCSEs won't hold you back.

2) If you don't do well, they might turn to your GCSEs and judge you on them instead.

That said, take a look here http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Cambridge_Applicants_Stalking_Page_2012_Entry, filter by GCSE results, and note how few people get in with less than 4-5 A*s minimum. Those who do tend to be those applying through "CSAS" (special circumstances).

you stated (maybe a B), in my GCSEs, to be fair, I should have worked harder for certain subjects, I got 7A*s 3As a B and a C: The B being in french and the C in Physical Education haha! Surely that shouldn't have that much of an impact on my application next year when I apply for Economics?