GCSEs

What universities is my brother looking at with 3 A*s, 4As, 4Bs and a C? He's thinking about careers and would like help? any advice appreciated. Thanks xxx

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Reply 1

:):)

you could prob get into most unis with that, the only requirements ive seen r c in english and maths. more important in stuff like medicine or oxbridge

Reply 2

SouthernFreerider

thats about an as open question as possible.

without more info I cant really help.

Reply 3

jonny0679

SouthernFreerider

thats about an as open question as possible.

without more info I cant really help.

Top Unis (top 10/15?) that those grades would allow, possibly english.

Reply 4

SouthernFreerider

[QUOTE=:)[excludedFace]smile[/excludedFace]]you could prob get into most unis with that, the only requirements ive seen r c in english and maths. more important in stuff like medicine or oxbridge

you would struggle to get into the top 5 with that.

look at places more like, bath, bristol, durham, etc... as opposed to oxford, cambridge, imperial.

Reply 5

jonny0679

SouthernFreerider

you would struggle to get into the top 5 with that.

look at places more like, bath, bristol, durham, etc... as opposed to oxford, cambridge, imperial.

thanks!

Reply 6

username158373

GCSE's have no relevance to universities unless you want to do medicine.

You need two C's to go to uni. No-one will look at them again once you've done them. A levels are where he needs to do well if he wants to go to uni.

Reply 7

karate_kat

Depends on AS scores, if he gets 90%+ in subjects most relevant to his course, and his A*s were in his relevant subjects then Cambridge may be a possibility as they focus more on AS scores (as they're the only ones, I believe - please tell me if I'm wrong, that take into account AS module scores.)

Reply 8

I Have No Imagination

What sort of GCSE grades would you need for medicine?

Reply 9

karate_kat

Mostly A*s and As? - but GCSEs don't count towards nearly as much as AS grades and A2 predictions.

Reply 10

River85

SouthernFreerider

you would struggle to get into the top 5 with that.

look at places more like, bath, bristol, durham, etc... as opposed to oxford, cambridge, imperial.

That's crap. Oxford and Cambridge don't really care about GCSEs in most subjects.

Durham and LSE are the two most discriminatory universities when it comes to GCSEs. It's still possible to get into those unis with those GCSE grades on certain courses.

It's hard to give an more advice without being course specific.

But sure, it's possible to get into a top ten and certainly top 20 uni with those.

Reply 11

River85

ChrisLincoln

GCSE's have no relevance to universities unless you want to do medicine.

Again, yes they do, at LSE and Durham at least. Take this for example. History at Durham, AAA at A level and a number of A*s at GCSE including an A* in history.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/history/undergraduate/admissions/

Please don't give advice unless you know what you are talking about. Don't get me wrong, you're largely right, but to say they have no relevance is still false.

Reply 12

karate_kat

^^
I would say for Oxford, they take into account GCSEs more than Cambridge as they don't look at AS module scores. I'm not saying they govern everything, but if it's a choice between Oxford and Cambridge, and your AS results are better than GCSE results, I'd lean towards Cambridge.

Reply 13

username158373

River85

True, in 95% of uni's/courses they have no relevance. But yes the very top uni's do take them into account and only for some courses not all (excluding medicine/oxbridge). Relatively they have no relevance :P.

Reply 14

River85

ChrisLincoln

No again, Oxbridge don't really look at them anymore. Please listen to me. Go over to the Oxford and Cambrdige forums and ask. Outside of medicine/vet science they are rarely looked at.

When I was applying to unis in 2002 I was told by Oxford students and tutors that GCSEs were still slightly important in the application process but were losing their relevance. Now, six years on, it seems as if they are pretty much irrelevant. THe same with extra-curriculars.

Of the top universities LSE and Durham (particularly in the arts) often use them as their first filter (for the top arts subjects such as english, history and philosophy Durham look for at least 3 A*s. See the history URL).

Still this is of no great relevance to the ops brother as those results are still quite good and should allow him to to most courses at most of the top unis (including Durham and LSE). IF he does very well at A-level (AAA-AAB) and has the passion for the subject.

Reply 15

tom_tom_tom

Im sure he could get into most universities with those gcses, i think a C in english and maths is the bench mark for most unis with exceptions with courses and some institutions.

Reply 16

River85

tom_tom_tom

Im sure he could get into most universities with those gcses, i think a C in english and maths is the bench mark for most unis with exceptions with courses and some institutions.

And a C or above in a modern language for a good number of courses. Given the sharp decline in those taking modern languages this could cause a problem for some in the near future.

Reply 17

tom_tom_tom

River85

And a C or above in a modern language for a good number of courses. Given the sharp decline in those taking modern languages this could cause a problem for some in the near future.