What GCSE grades are needed to get into top universities

persian.royalty

I heard LSE needs 7 A* minimum like Oxbridge. Not sure thoughhh. Good question =]

"Like Oxbridge"?

Oxbridge does not have any formal GCSE requirements. People have got in without GCSEs before.

LSE, it is believed, has a criterion of something like 8A* to be shortlisted for straight Economics (L100?), and something like 6A* for a couple of other courses (Law, maybe), but then for others, it is relatively easy to get onto the course - LSE was even in UCAS Extra for a couple of degree programmes this year.

Reply 4

iceman_jondoe

18

persian.royalty

I heard LSE needs 7 A* minimum like Oxbridge. Not sure thoughhh. Good question =]

rubbish LSE does not need 7 A*'s. Of course economics is a popular course, so the required gcse grades year on year, will depend entirely on the competition for places. If youv got a string of just A's good PS, and great alevel grades and references, your likely to stand a good chance of getting in as another person. Remember unis dont JUST look at your grades, e.g. one year i read in the paper that a guy who did 10 alevels (yes thats right 10) got 8A's and 2 B's in his Alevels and got rejected from oxbridge.
A well rounded individual is far better than one whos just a complete nerd.

Reply 5

JanaT

OP

thanks for the help, does anyone have any information on UCL requirements

Reply 6

alenax

I thought unis chose on the basis of A-Levels...

The top two tiers of unis tend to look at GCSEs as well, because it's to easy to get AAA, and there are so many people predicted it, that they need something else to distinguish between applicants.

Also, GCSEs have been proven to be a better academic indicator of degree success than A-Levels. :smile:

Reply 7

iceman_jondoe

18

ever consider looking on the UCL website for yourself?

Reply 8

olive*

12

alright calm down i said i heardddd
thats a relief anyway
i can calm down a bit
haha

Reply 9

alenax

14

Greatleysteg

The top two tiers of unis tend to look at GCSEs as well, because it's to easy to get AAA, and there are so many people predicted it, that they need something else to distinguish between applicants.

Also, GCSEs have been proven to be a better academic indicator of degree success than A-Levels. :smile:

Fair enough, that makes sense then.

How have they been proven to be a better academic indicator? I'm not trying to discredit your point, actually genuinely interested!

Reply 10

alenax

Fair enough, that makes sense then.

How have they been proven to be a better academic indicator? I'm not trying to discredit your point, actually genuinely interested!

I don't know the specifics, just that there's a much stronger correlation between people who got X number of good grades (A*/A/B) and those who got a First, than those who got, say AAA and got a First. And this continues down all the degree classifications.

Reply 11

alenax

14

Greatleysteg

I don't know the specifics, just that there's a much stronger correlation between people who got X number of good grades (A*/A/B) and those who got a First, than those who got, say AAA and got a First. And this continues down all the degree classifications.

Ahh I see... sounds promising for me then! Ha

Reply 12

whats_its_face

Basically ''A*'s with a sprinkle of A's''

If you have more A*'s than any other grade, you are definately fine on the front. If less, it might be a slight hinderence to the application.

Reply 13

JoMo1

12

iceman_jondoe

rubbish LSE does not need 7 A*'s. Of course economics is a popular course, so the required gcse grades year on year, will depend entirely on the competition for places. If youv got a string of just A's good PS, and great alevel grades and references, your likely to stand a good chance of getting in as another person. Remember unis dont JUST look at your grades, e.g. one year i read in the paper that a guy who did 10 alevels (yes thats right 10) got 8A's and 2 B's in his Alevels and got rejected from oxbridge.
A well rounded individual is far better than one whos just a complete nerd.

that's just wrong with reference to the top universities, being a well rounded person means nothing, you need that something special to show that you are intelligent and passionate. 10 A-levels, especially getting a B in 2 doesn't demonstrate intelligence, in demonstrates ridiculous work rate, and to my mind stupidity due to the pointlessness of doing all that. Oxbridge want stunning interview performance, if your smart enough you get in, this "well-rounded" stuff is complete rubbish, and out of the 6-7 oxbridge admissions tutors I have talked to, every single one of them has said this.

Oxbridge say that they look at your GCSE grades with respect to your schools grades, so if your in the top 5 at your school, it's kind of irrelevant what grades you actually got. However you presumably will need an A* in maths to do an economicsy degree.

Reply 14

Callipygian

Greatleysteg

"Like Oxbridge"?
LSE was even in UCAS Extra for a couple of degree programmes this year.

Thats not true, Oxford was for 1 course, but LSE was not in UCAS Extra.

Reply 15

Callipygian

Thats not true, Oxford was for 1 course, but LSE was not in UCAS Extra.

Actually, it is true.

There is someone on this forum who had their choice rendered void because the course was removed.

They then were able to fill that space with a Management and Something (Finance, Geography... not sure) course. On Extra.

Fact.

I also doubt Oxford was in Extra.

Reply 16

iceman_jondoe

18

JoMo1

that's just wrong with reference to the top universities, being a well rounded person means nothing, you need that something special to show that you are intelligent and passionate. 10 A-levels, especially getting a B in 2 doesn't demonstrate intelligence, in demonstrates ridiculous work rate, and to my mind stupidity due to the pointlessness of doing all that. Oxbridge want stunning interview performance, if your smart enough you get in, this "well-rounded" stuff is complete rubbish, and out of the 6-7 oxbridge admissions tutors I have talked to, every single one of them has said this.

Oxbridge say that they look at your GCSE grades with respect to your schools grades, so if your in the top 5 at your school, it's kind of irrelevant what grades you actually got. However you presumably will need an A* in maths to do an economicsy degree.

I think yrou right to, but its def a combo of the two. I dont think im wrong, I know someone who is on the admissions team at LSE and one guy at Kings and this is what they told me. Im only going by what they said.

Reply 17

Callipygian