Oxbridge candidates

Just out of interest what is the lowest grades (A level and GCSE) someone has got in with successfully.

Contractually, I come from a weak sociology- economic background and am a hardworking, determined, passionate individual when it comes to learning.

At GCSE I think I will get 5 - 7 A*s and a few As with a chance of 1 or 2 C grades. At A level year 1 I will aim from AABB then drop 1 subject and year 2 aim for AAA. So can I have some reassurance and know if anyone has got in with less or equalivent to what I predicted? Do I have a big enough of chance?

Pretty sure you need A*AA for any subject at Oxbridge (I might be wrong though). Decide your subject before you decide to apply.

What subject are you interested in?

People have definitely gotten in with grades similar to yours (AAA is the offer for most subjects at Oxford) but it depends on the subject.

But why AAA? It's a brilliant set of grades but aim higher!

Pretty sure you need A*AA for any subject at Oxbridge (I might be wrong though). Decide your subject before you decide to apply.

Your GCSEs might not be good enough for Oxford, but they're definitely good enough for Cambridge.

It depends really on what you subject you want to do, but your GCSE's arent great and with A-Levels of AABB you will struggle to get into most RG's never mind oxbridge, from my research most oxbridge entrants achieve around A*A*A*A at A-level so you should try to at least be predicted something like this.

I myself have 99999999887 (10 A*'s and 1 A) at GCSE, on target for (A*A*A*A*) at A-Level and will be applying and am doubting I can get in.

OP said AABB at AS-level. An A is the highest grade you can get at AS so I doubt AABB will be a problem (although AAAB would be more desirable).

I'm almost 99% sure that the majority Oxbridge offer-holders have taken only 3 A-levels (but @Reality Check can fact check this) and I don't know about the grades but 3 A*s is probably an overestimate.

Finally, do you want a gold sticker? Any reasonable person will doubt that they can get into Oxbridge considering a minority of roughly 1 in 5 do. A stronger academic record by no means guarantees you a place at either university nor does it make you more deserving of a place than OP (or anyone applying to your course with similar grades to OP)

At a Cambridge open day, Churchill's director of admissions told me that in the arts students average 2.5 A*s and in the sciences they average 3.5 (because of further maths). A significant number take 4 - STEM with further maths and some medics do 3 sciences and maths (not sure how common that is).

A significant number take 4? Yes, of course. 'most oxbridge entrants'? No. Yes, grades are important but they look for so much more than that (how 'teachable' a candidate is, passion and enthusiasm for the subject, ability to think on your feet, etc)

OP said AABB at AS-level. An A is the highest grade you can get at AS so I doubt AABB will be a problem (although AAAB would be more desirable).

I'm almost 99% sure that the majority Oxbridge offer-holders have taken only 3 A-levels (but @Reality Check can fact check this) and I don't know about the grades but 3 A*s is probably an overestimate.

Finally, do you want a gold sticker? Any reasonable person will doubt that they can get into Oxbridge considering a minority of roughly 1 in 5 do. A stronger academic record by no means guarantees you a place at either university nor does it make you more deserving of a place than OP (or anyone applying to your course with similar grades to OP)

At a Cambridge open day, Churchill's director of admissions told me that in the arts students average 2.5 A*s and in the sciences they average 3.5 (because of further maths). A significant number take 4 - STEM with further maths and some medics do 3 sciences and maths (not sure how common that is).

Hi,

First let me correct you, its "socioeconomic background" not "sociology- economic", im guessing english is your second language?

It depends really on what you subject you want to do, but your GCSE's arent great and with A-Levels of AABB you will struggle to get into most RG's never mind oxbridge, from my research most oxbridge entrants achieve around A*A*A*A at A-level so you should try to at least be predicted something like this.

I am also from a weak socioeconomic background, for me im looking to do compsci. Computer Science is the single most oversubscribed/competitive course across oxbridge/imperial (yes even more competitive than medicine)

I myself have 99999999887 (10 A*'s and 1 A) at GCSE, on target for (A*A*A*A*) at A-Level and will be applying and am doubting I can get in.

If you are doing a STEM degree then I recommend trying to win some awards in the Maths/Physics/other science Olympiads in the meantime as getting Gold in these can help you stand out. I have a Gold in the UKMT challenge but no national olympiads unfortunately.

Best of luck!

why you acting all high & mighty lmaoooo. AABB at AS isn’t good enough for most russel groups?? i got ABB at AS and got into Warwick, Bristol, KCL, Manchester and UCL so im not exactly sure where you’re getting this information from.

stop spreading false info just to make yourself seem better than other people.

Thank you. I got a bit upset from that lol

Thank you. I got a bit upset from that lol

@apolaroidofus I've found an FOI request here from 2014 to 2018.

In 2014 there was a majority of students taking >3 A levels, 1838 compared with 1278 taking 3.

Over time, this decreased. in 2018, it was 1638 with >3 and 1634 with 3.

In keeping with the general downwards trend of >3 A levels being taken, I assume that the 2019 apply year (I assume that's this year's applicants) will have had more successful applicants with 3 A levels than with more than 3.

Thanks for digging that out It's the sort of thing Doonesbury would have produced, back in the day