Do oxbridge look at GCSE results much?

You could always make up an excuse. Say your grandmother, who you were really close to, died in a car accident just before your exams. Comeon, how are they going to check?

how are they going to check?

One phone call to the school and/or parents, hardly impossible is it.

How important are GCSE results to Oxbridge?

Hmm...I would seriously not recommend any Oxbridge application with less than 5A's at GCSE (bare minimum). The grades may not be vital, but if you can't get at least those grades, then you probably aren't the material they're looking for (unless you're an international-standard rower or something).

In all honesty, I doubt those reason will hold much weight. For Chemistry they'd say you could of checked yourself, by 16 they'd hope a student knew that there were 10mm in a cm and 100 cms in a metre. Loads of people have to do a language GCSE, why should you be a special case. And for Biology and Physics, yes they were difficult situations, but many people would have experienced them. It needs to be stressed that when they say exceptional circumstances, they mean really, really serious thing like a mental illness or bullying; not just the absence of an ideal teaching climate.

Mod Expression - Language (in Quotation) Violation. Post Edited.

It really depends on the admissions tutor. Mine had crap GCSEs (well, O-levels at his time) and therefore says he almost never takes them into account unless they are amazing, or aweful. So long as they are mostly As and Bs, he does not take them into further consideration. That said, I know some other admissions tutors look really carefully at them.

Ultimately ASs and predicted are a better indicator of your potential than a set of exams you did at the age of 16. It is quite possible to get into Cambridge (and I would assume Oxford as well) without stunning GCSEs. A good friend of mine had results somewhat like yours, but compensated with strong AS results, a strong interview, and strong performance on the college based test he had to sit before the interview.

So basically, don't give up. I know of plenty of people here with 12 or more A*s, but there are others with mostly As and Bs.

Well exactly! We all have to do language, we all have the odd teacher that is less than inspiring, and there will always be people who distract you in lessons. The cheek of some people eh!

With reference to chemistry- how can we get taught at the age of 15, by someone thatwas adamnt about that!!! Plus its also impossible to get taught physics if you dont have a teacher and biology when the teacher is always at the back having friendly conversations with the trouble makers! If i was crap at science, i wudnt have got 100% in all three courseworks.....

We had people putting their mouths over gas taps, then getting a lighter and blowing flames and the teacher didnt care! One person got a sandwich bag and filled it with gas then lit it, and in physics ppl played football in the lab with a tennis ball.......... yeh ok, you try and get A*'s in that environment!!!! and this was a grammar school!!!

yeh ok, you try and get A*'s in that environment!!!!

How important are GCSE results to Oxbridge?

Maybe its a coincidence but all the ppl whp were accepted at my college had ALL A*'s or close.. and the ppl who atleast got an interview had 5 A*'s or more.

i had to post a reply here because i think you are all placing far too m,uch emphasis on grades. oxbridge claim they look at academic potential as most peopl, with a little hard work, can pass GCSE's and A levels. i wasn't sure it was worth my while applying to cambridge as i got 6 A*s, 4 A's and a B at GCSE and 2 A's (one in general studies which they don't count), 2 B's and a C at AS. some people i know told me i was wasting my time and that i was frankly too stupid but luckily i had one teacher who really belived in me. When i went for my interview i decided i was probably wasting everyone's time but it was at least good practice. anywayz to cut a long story short they said my GCSE gardes were average (for applicants) but my AS grades were poor. i argued back and said i wasn't actually that disappointed with them (i did have depression for sometime which affected them somewhat) and they said ok then. i then managed to click with two of my interviewers and we had a good laugh and chat. so all i can say is ignore waht other people tell you, if they ask you to interview then you've got nothing to lose by trying, and just be yourself and try and relax. my only problem now is getting the grades this summer but being offered a place was a great incentive.

oh, and in case you're wondering what happened to the people who told me i was stupid, well out of the 12 people who applied to oxbridge in my school (all i have to admit with better grades than me) only one person got accepted to oxford and i was the only one accepted to cambridge.

so try!!!! it's only one choice out your six on your UCAS form.

Get AAAA at AS-Level, be predicted AAA(A) at A2 Level, and then your GCSE results won't matter.