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Can I still get into Cambridge?

I am currently studying A level Maths, Spanish & English Literature and I'm in year 12. My GCSEs aren't amazing, partly due to issues with my mental health (I didn't achieve many of my predicted grades, i.e. I didn't reach my full potential), I got an 8, 2 7s, 1 A*, 3As, 2Bs & 1C (so basically 2A*s, 5As, 2Bs & 1C); one of the Bs was in Drama and the C was in Art though so perhaps that would be taken into account. I was hoping to study Modern & Medieval languages at Cambridge (my A* was in Spanish), but I'm worried that my GCSEs aren't good enough, as I know most successful candidates have 6A*s at GCSE. I know that I don't have predicted grades for my A levels yet, but my English teacher said he thinks I will get an A*, and almost everyone who studies languages at my school gets a good grade in it, so it won't be my predicted grades that let me down. I haven't started any extra curricular activities yet, but I will be, I just wanted to get settled into sixth form first, before I started any. Thank you for your time.
Original post by soundwaves
I am currently studying A level Maths, Spanish & English Literature and I'm in year 12. My GCSEs aren't amazing, partly due to issues with my mental health (I didn't achieve many of my predicted grades, i.e. I didn't reach my full potential), I got an 8, 2 7s, 1 A*, 3As, 2Bs & 1C (so basically 2A*s, 5As, 2Bs & 1C); one of the Bs was in Drama and the C was in Art though so perhaps that would be taken into account. I was hoping to study Modern & Medieval languages at Cambridge (my A* was in Spanish), but I'm worried that my GCSEs aren't good enough, as I know most successful candidates have 6A*s at GCSE. I know that I don't have predicted grades for my A levels yet, but my English teacher said he thinks I will get an A*, and almost everyone who studies languages at my school gets a good grade in it, so it won't be my predicted grades that let me down. I haven't started any extra curricular activities yet, but I will be, I just wanted to get settled into sixth form first, before I started any. Thank you for your time.


1) Cambridge generally don't place huge emphasis on GCSE's
2) Most uni's love to see someone who has massively improved from GCSE's to A levels, especially if that person had mitigating circumstances, like you
3) unis really do take circumstances into consideration
4) cambridge honestly couldnt care less about extra curricular. Only do what you enjoy, dont do it for cambridge because they do not care.
So, yes, you can definitely still make a realistic application. Start reading around your subject now, do lots of work and get good predictions and make sure that you let Cambridge know about your mitigating circumstances (it's best to ask your sixth form about how to do this)!
Absolutely, they will take your circumstances into account when considering your GCSEs and ensure that whatever happened doesn't disadvantage your application. You have the opportunity to explain to Cambridge - e.g. there is a section in the SAQ where you can add 'anything else you'd like them to know' and there is an extenuating circumstances form as well. I'm sure your teachers will give you guidance with that. And as martin1s said, unless your extracurricular activities are relevant to languages, Cambridge doesn't care about them.

So don't let your GCSEs put you off applying, they will understand! Start doing wider reading, work really hard on your A-levels and do as many activities which you can put in your personal statement as you can.

Best of luck with your A-levels and your application :smile:
They've literally stated in the current ongoing thread that GCSE requirements are being/have been phased out. While most candidates do well in GCSEs, they aren't accepted/made offers to because of this - merely that most who do well in the relevant admissions tests and in their A-level studies will have done well in their GCSEs. Equally, there are some who didn't, but they care more about how well you do in things directly relevant, or at least of a proximate level of study, to your intended degree subject.

If you are performing at a suitable standard you will more than likely be invited to interview, and possibly made an offer. This myth about GCSE requirements is just that - Peterhouse's admissions tutor directly indicated they've never rejected anyone on the basis of GCSEs. Christ's has indicated that as above, the requirements to have a certain grade in a certain subject has been phased out at GCSE and in general the correlation between good GCSE performance and good performance in A-levels and admissions assessments is the link between GCSEs and successful applications - which are made on the latter criteria. Thus GCSE performance and success in application is only a correlation, and, something I wish they would emphasize to GCSE students, correlation doesn't imply causation.

Moreover, even if it was a consideration, you have nothing to lose by applying there as a long shot anyway. At worst, you don't get an offer from one of five courses - provided you've made a judicious selection of courses to apply to, this doesn't mean you won't get an offer at all, and as you can only accept two out of the five even if you did get offers from everywhere, there is no material disadvantage to doing so (again, provided your other courses selected form an appropriate range).

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