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Has anyone ever got into Oxford/Cambridge after not getting the grades required?

Someone I know a few years ago didnt reach the grade requirements to study at Cambridge yet was still allowed in, how common is this?
:wavey: :ninja: :ahee:

I did back in 2007. It's quite rare tbh :pierre:
Reply 2
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Doones
21
Original post by PtrckWst
Someone I know a few years ago didnt reach the grade requirements to study at Cambridge yet was still allowed in, how common is this?

Depends on many things, including the course/college and by how far the offer requirements were missed. But considering that Cambridge accept 80-90 via their summer pool (which is for offer holders that narrowly missed their college offer) it certainly happens. And some will be accepted direct by their college without going into the summer pool. So, I'd *guess* at about 200 misses in total being accepted. That's about 2-3% of all acceptances.
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ingami
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One of my friends who does IB got an offer for Music at Cambridge for 42 points or so last year. I assume he got the required grade in Music but not his other subjects. They let him retake some papers in November and then gave him a place for that same year. So I guess it does happen.
Reply 4
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Doones
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Original post by ingami
One of my friends who does IB got an offer for Music at Cambridge for 42 points or so last year. I assume he got the required grade in Music but not his other subjects. They let him retake some papers in November and then gave him a place for that same year. So I guess it does happen.

They let him start in October but with IB retakes in November? That sounds unlikely... are you sure he didn't simply get some papers remarked in time (i.e. by end of August).
I knew someone who got in for maths at Cambridge in 2012 even though they narrowly missed their STEP offer by a couple of marks (they got 1, 2 in STEP II and III rather than 1, 1, if I remember correctly).
Reply 6
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Doones
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Original post by spectral_theory
I knew someone who got in for maths at Cambridge in 2012 even though they narrowly missed their STEP offer by a couple of marks (they got 1, 2 in STEP II and III rather than 1, 1, if I remember correctly).


Yep, that's not uncommon. The colleges get the STEP scripts and will assess near-miss candidates in detail.

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