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Oxbridge - will they accept poor Maths GCSE grade?

Hello!
I would love to study History, Politics or English Literature at Oxford/Cambridge University in future. However, I am incredibly poor at Mathematics. I'm starting Maths tutoring though and I hope to achieve a C/B grade at GCSE, but I didn't perform well in my Maths mock at all and recieved another D! I wonder, if I worked very hard and got AAA or A*A*A* in A Levels and my predicted grades at GCSE is there ANY way Oxford or Cambridge would accept me? I would never want to do a Science or Mathematics related course but I worry that my Maths grade will drag down the relevance of my others. :frown:

Predicted:
English - A*
English Literature - A*
Mathematics - C/B
History - A*
Geography - A
Drama - A
Media Studies - A*
Core Science - A
Additional Science - A
Philosophy and Ethics - A/A*

Thankyou!
Original post by bombaybicycle
Hello!
I would love to study History, Politics or English Literature at Oxford/Cambridge University in future. However, I am incredibly poor at Mathematics. I'm starting Maths tutoring though and I hope to achieve a C/B grade at GCSE, but I didn't perform well in my Maths mock at all and recieved another D! I wonder, if I worked very hard and got AAA or A*A*A* in A Levels and my predicted grades at GCSE is there ANY way Oxford or Cambridge would accept me? I would never want to do a Science or Mathematics related course but I worry that my Maths grade will drag down the relevance of my others. :frown:

Predicted:
English - A*
English Literature - A*
Mathematics - C/B
History - A*
Geography - A
Drama - A
Media Studies - A*
Core Science - A
Additional Science - A
Philosophy and Ethics - A/A*

Thankyou!


They're not going to reject an otherwise excellent candidate because of a poor grade in GCSE Maths Make sure you get at least a C but as long as you get that, you'll be fine.
Oxford places much more emphasis on GCSEs than Cambridge, however one B/C shouldn't really hinder you at all. Just focus on doing your best and see what happens :tongue:
To be honest, just my opinion.
They won't really go mad at you for getting a Grade C/B in Mathematics GCSE as long as you get every other grade above Grade A or at A*, and go along with your predicted grades. Any grades which are B will make you most likely rejected, due to your maths grades. Maths is one of the core subject, they emphasise and look depth into the results of the core subjects. Also, getting a B in Maths would be good, if you need any help in GCSE Mathematics at all, I'm more than happy to help you, I'm on like 9/10 hours a day :wink: got the app on ipad lol. Also, exam board for Maths? If it's Edexcel A, I'll easily be able to push you to that grade B, just by giving you tips, if you put in the effort to work, listen to yourself more than the tutor or anyone else. Your family, tutors, teachers, friends are all just boosts to your confidence or motivators, the true spirit is inside yourself, if you bring that out, no one can stop you from getting a D to an A*, and I mean it, just hard work, smart work and effort.
Original post by Chlorophile
They're not going to reject an otherwise excellent candidate because of a poor grade in GCSE Maths Make sure you get at least a C but as long as you get that, you'll be fine.


Thankyou for putting my worried little heart at ease! Oxford's the dream for me, really :3
Original post by Strom
Oxford places much more emphasis on GCSEs than Cambridge, however one B/C shouldn't really hinder you at all. Just focus on doing your best and see what happens :tongue:


Hopefully! Thankyou
Original post by bombaybicycle
Thankyou for putting my worried little heart at ease! Oxford's the dream for me, really :3


Same here :smile:
Original post by Chittesh14
To be honest, just my opinion.
They won't really go mad at you for getting a Grade C/B in Mathematics GCSE as long as you get every other grade above Grade A or at A*, and go along with your predicted grades. Any grades which are B will make you most likely rejected, due to your maths grades. Maths is one of the core subject, they emphasise and look depth into the results of the core subjects. Also, getting a B in Maths would be good, if you need any help in GCSE Mathematics at all, I'm more than happy to help you, I'm on like 9/10 hours a day :wink: got the app on ipad lol. Also, exam board for Maths? If it's Edexcel A, I'll easily be able to push you to that grade B, just by giving you tips, if you put in the effort to work, listen to yourself more than the tutor or anyone else. Your family, tutors, teachers, friends are all just boosts to your confidence or motivators, the true spirit is inside yourself, if you bring that out, no one can stop you from getting a D to an A*, and I mean it, just hard work, smart work and effort.


Thankyou very much. I struggle most with Sciences and Maths so I'm revising as hard as I can for every Science and Maths. The board is Edexcel B i believe but I couldn't be certain. Question though, if I got 2 Bs would my chances still be lowered?
Original post by bombaybicycle
Thankyou very much. I struggle most with Sciences and Maths so I'm revising as hard as I can for every Science and Maths. The board is Edexcel B i believe but I couldn't be certain. Question though, if I got 2 Bs would my chances still be lowered?


If it was AQA, Edexcel A you'd be lucky not much of a difference.
But Edexcel B -_-, means modular, where you do 3 papers instead of 2, each are like after each module of Mathematics, annoying as hell. Rather, learn it all at once and do a paper at the end of year 11 on gcse maths non-calculator and calculator. But, lets just ask you a question. Did your teacher say you are doing Edexcel B maths or Edexcel A maths?
Original post by Chittesh14
If it was AQA, Edexcel A you'd be lucky not much of a difference.
But Edexcel B -_-, means modular, where you do 3 papers instead of 2, each are like after each module of Mathematics, annoying as hell. Rather, learn it all at once and do a paper at the end of year 11 on gcse maths non-calculator and calculator. But, lets just ask you a question. Did your teacher say you are doing Edexcel B maths or Edexcel A maths?


Honestly, my teacher has not informed us. But the mocks I have done were A or B. The board is always Edexcel, I know that
Original post by bombaybicycle
Honestly, my teacher has not informed us. But the mocks I have done were A or B. The board is always Edexcel, I know that


Cool, yes no offence, but teachers are not meant to mostly tell you, it's the idea of independency, when you go up to them and ask them yourself and they'll just straight away realise, your the student who is going to get A* or succeed. Just get it confirmed, if Edexcel A, I'll try my best to push your grades up, as well as my own :wink:.

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