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Oxford gcse

Hello I am planning to take a gap year and then apply for biochemistry at Oxford however my my gcse grades are not good enough (AABBBBCCC) I am an international student living in france and at the time I did not speak English very good because English is my fourth language and my school was only able to teach us about 60% of the recommended hours by the exam board. So my question is, is this enough evidence for Oxford to contextualise my gcse results and how would I let Oxford know in my application of my disadvantages during my gcse’s. I am predicted A*AA for my a levels in math bio and chem, do you guys think it is worth applying to Oxford during my gap year?
They will contextualise your grades to an extent, but how do your other grades and the rest of the things on your application compare? If you have excellent leaving qualifications (A-Level, French Baccalaureate, IB, etc) and a strong PS and reference, then you may still have a chance, however it is, unfortunately, very unlikely that they will give you an offer or even an interview without a seriously compensating application. Oxford looks at your proportion of A* equivalents (now 8/9s) compared to your cohort, and if you have no A*s, you won't come across well in that metric.

Your best shot is to absolutely excel between now and when you apply, for example, with Olympiads, getting straight A*s at A-Level, getting relevant super-curriculars and having an explanation on your reference for your comparatively poor GCSEs. Another option to consider may be applying to Cambridge for a similar course (such as Chemical Engineering through Natural Sciences) as they do not focus on GCSEs as much and they have an Extenuating Circumstances Form separate from your reference, where you can explain your circumstances.

You will be against many people who have similar circumstances: lost teaching time, EFL etc. who have got excellent grades so it is an uphill battle, I'm afraid.
Reply 2
Original post by melancollege
They will contextualise your grades to an extent, but how do your other grades and the rest of the things on your application compare? If you have excellent leaving qualifications (A-Level, French Baccalaureate, IB, etc) and a strong PS and reference, then you may still have a chance, however it is, unfortunately, very unlikely that they will give you an offer or even an interview without a seriously compensating application. Oxford looks at your proportion of A* equivalents (now 8/9s) compared to your cohort, and if you have no A*s, you won't come across well in that metric.

Your best shot is to absolutely excel between now and when you apply, for example, with Olympiads, getting straight A*s at A-Level, getting relevant super-curriculars and having an explanation on your reference for your comparatively poor GCSEs. Another option to consider may be applying to Cambridge for a similar course (such as Chemical Engineering through Natural Sciences) as they do not focus on GCSEs as much and they have an Extenuating Circumstances Form separate from your reference, where you can explain your circumstances.

You will be against many people who have similar circumstances: lost teaching time, EFL etc. who have got excellent grades so it is an uphill battle, I'm afraid.


Thank you for your response, so you really don’t think they will not look at my gcse grades as much I mean I do find it unfair as I was not able to speak English and I understand that people have lost teaching time due to COVID but I did my igcse’s in 2019 when COVID wasn’t here yet
Original post by Bebsedebbe
Thank you for your response, so you really don’t think they will not look at my gcse grades as much I mean I do find it unfair as I was not able to speak English and I understand that people have lost teaching time due to COVID but I did my igcse’s in 2019 when COVID wasn’t here yet

I don't think that's a good summary of what I was saying. I think that your application would have to be excellent in almost every other metric in order for you to stand a chance. They will look at your GCSE grades and they will notice that they are much lower than most applicants and will likely penalise you for that. I think it is very unlikely but not impossible.

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