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Will a few bad GCSE grades spoil the good grades?

It seems that I have to take optional GCSE subjects that I am unwilling to do, my question is, if hypothetically, I got all grade 9s in all the important subjects such as Maths, English and Science but a few grade 1s in stuff like Art which are completely irrelevant to the field that I want to major in in the future, will those grade 1s matter or will Universities and employers only look at the grades that they want and completely ignore the other grades.

Reply 1

username3467548

I wouldn’t say not bother at all and get a grade 1
I’d say grade 4 looks better just overall try to pass all your subjects eg grade 4 and up in all
And high grades in subjects that you feel will impact and help you the most in the future
Oxbridge do look at GCSEs but they say a better A Level performance like all too grades will help you
They take GCSES into account the most
Most unis just require a pass in your maths and English GCSE

Reply 2

gorilla558

Id aim for 4's instead of 1's. However other than oxbridge gcse grades are irrelevant and only 5 gcse passes matter to most universities.

Reply 3

RufusA

I think future employers / universities if presented with an unexplained poor grades in some subjects would ask for an explanation in an interview.

They may not like an answer, that you felt they were unimportant GCSEs so were unwilling to put any effort in.

If applying for a competitive field, you will be at a disadvantage other factors being equal.

Reply 4

Conniestitution

Yeah, you tend to have to announce all of your grades. This is because they want to know what you’ve failed.

GCSEs aren’t extraordinarily difficult, you can pass lots of subjects (and get top grades) with a week of strong revision before the exam. You would benefit from having non-compulsory GCSEs too because they show you’ve studied a range of subjects. And nobody does just Maths, English & Science.

Basically, there’s nothing wrong with getting a 4 or a 5 in a few subjects, so just aim for a good grade but don’t focus all your revision on subjects that you won’t continue.

Reply 5

honeycloud

Original post by MichaelTownly

i just did my gcses and i focused on the maths and the science and passed the others .

Reply 6

RufusA

Though Art GCSE is 60% coursework and 40% controlled assessment. It requires a *lot* of effort to put together the project(s), so unless it's something you are interested in / enjoy, I'd avoid. This is definitely not a subject you can just cram for an exam and pass!

Reply 7

gorilla558

Original post by MichaelTownly

On the Cambridge website it says that most students that applied have at least 4 or 5 A/A*, I assume that they implicitly mean that they expect me to have at least 4 or 5 A/A*. So I guess as long as I have 5+ grade 9s in relevant subjects bad grades in art and other irrelevant subjects won't matter.

That's the minimum when considering you come from a really bad school, this is rarely the case for most applicant. Most oxbridge applicants have 8/9 in everything and some wont even get a space in.

Reply 8

gorilla558

Original post by michael08

That's the minimum when considering you come from a really bad school, this is rarely the case for most applicant. Most oxbridge applicants have 8/9 in everything and some wont even get a space in.

I think your forgetting the best in the country and students all over the world apply for oxbridge. Especially popular subjects.Extremely competitive...