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Bad GCSES and good A-levels, can I still get into university?

Fun fact: I did twelve GCSES in high school; I only passed six of them though. Why you’re asking? Well, I’d sum it up to low self-esteem leading to poor revision ethic. To be honest, I hated my three years in high school. I didn’t get on with a lot of people, this of course lead to me being picked on quite a bit and not having a lot of friends. Unfortunately, I took what all of these people were saying to heart, which lead to me not being very happy a lot of the time and having low self-esteem and confidence. Come GCSE revision time, I was quite frankly down in the ditches. Once I’d got my results, which was one of the worst days of my life, I applied at another college to do GCSE re-sits. I remember wanting to do AS Art, AS English Language and AS Media Studies or AS photography. Of course, with my grades, that wasn’t going to happen, so thus I wasn’t allowed to stay.

By the time I was doing GCSE re-sits, I felt so depressed and useless as all of my friends were moving onto higher education and I was basically repeating year eleven. I just didn’t care about it all and I didn’t put a whole lot of effort in. Sure, I did decent during tests in classes and what-not, I’m not a total idiot. I just didn’t do a lot of revision ultimately, nor did I properly understand Spanish to do a higher tier paper. So, GCSE re-sits results day and I’d gotten all Ds. No shocker really, I knew that I hadn’t done well. To be completely honest, high school isn’t hard; I just didn’t apply myself as much as I wish that I could’ve looking back at it now. I wasn’t on good terms with a lot of people so I didn’t have the best experiences being in classes full of people who I either didn’t like or they just seemed adamant on tormenting me non-stop. I don’t think that I showed my full potential in high school, nor was I emotionally stable enough to show my proper potential with my re-sits.

Thankfully, with my six GCSES between grades A and C, I managed to get onto a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma course in Health and Social Care. In my first year doing the course, I got 120 UCAS points. I’m predicted to finish the course next year with 160 UCAS points, so that altogether I’ll have 280 UCAS points. I’d love to go to university and study Social Work so that I can pursue a career in Youth Work. I’d genuinely love to spend my life having such a rewarding and challenging job when I’m older. My question is though, will my good A-Level grades cover up my poor GCSE grades, or should, I just pursue another career which doesn’t involve higher education at the risk of being rejected by every university that I apply to?

Also, my GCSE grades are as follows:

Grade B – English Literature

Grade C – English Language
Grade C – Core Science
Grade C - Maths (Had to re-do the bloody thing three times)
Grade C – Art and Design
Grade C – Half Course Classics

Grade D – Media Studies
Grade D – Additional Science
Grade D - Spanish
Grade D – Religious Studies
Grade D – Design and Technology

Grade F - History

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

joeknow

Sorry, with the maths re-sit my GCSE grades are BCCCCCDDDDE.

Reply 2

bahjat93

Original post by joeknow

Long story short, I did not have a very good time in high school, which led to me not working as hard as I could have when it came to my GCSES. I was predicted ABCCCCCCCEE, however I unfortunately came out with BCCCCDDDDEE. Thankfully I managed to get into my chosen college and chose to do a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care. I have been doing the course for nearly two years and I’m predicted to finish with DDM, which translates to 280 UCAS points. I am hoping to study Youth Work at university, my question is though will my GCSES hold me back? I got a C for English Language, a C for core science and a C for maths after re-doing it three times. Am I screwed or is there hope for me? :frown:

It shouldn't be that big of a problem in all honesty. Universities look for an upward trend in your academia :tongue:

. And from the sounds of it you have that :smile:

.
You only need a C in English, that's what most Unis ask for :tongue:

Reply 3

joeknow

I need a C in English Language and a C in Maths to do an MA in Youth Work at the three universities that I’ve looked at. Hopefully I should be okay then! :biggrin:

Thanks for replying :smile:

Reply 4

super_kawaii

Original post by joeknow

I need a C in English Language and a C in Maths to do an MA in Youth Work at the three universities that I’ve looked at. Hopefully I should be okay then! :biggrin:

Thanks for replying :smile:

As long as you fulfil the minimum GCSE requirements (usually just a minimum of a C in maths and English) and fulfil the A Level offer given to you, you'll get in :smile: