How hard is it to get into Oxbridge?

I have a Cambridge offer, but haven’t started there yet (still need to meet the conditions of my offer for my a level grades)
My GCSEs were similar to your mocks. I got 7s, 8s and 9s mostly (with two 6s in chemistry and physics). I also did an extra gcse in year 7, which I failed and got a D in (why do they let year 7s do GCSEs??) but they didn’t seem to care about that.
As for extra-curriculars, they are more interested in what is called “super-curriculars”. The difference is that extra curricular means activities unrelated to your course like music or sport (unless you study that of course), whereas super curricular means things like extra reading related to your course. It would also include MOOCs, which are online courses. The website coursera has loads you can sign up for. It will ask if you want to pay £40 for a certificate but you don’t need a certificate, and the course itself is free. Also work experience that is directly related to law would be good if possible.
Stuff like this is great to talk about on your personal statement because it shows you have a real interest in the subject and are willing to go out of your way to pursue it.
Also if your schools offers an EPQ then doing one on law would be very impressive.
Btw I also didn’t go to a private school, and I know a lot of people at my school also got offers so it is not impossible.

Yeah I did an extra GCSE earlier on this year in French and I got a 9. I’ll have 11 GCSEs by the end of the year. I’m not very certain on anything atm, nevermind potential unis and I’m not even sure if I’d even want to attend an Oxbridge one. I feel like I’d get singled out because I’m not exactly from a higher class area, and I’m not even certain on Law yet. Would you recommend I did A-Level music though? Considering I’ve already got my grade 8, would it lower the value of my grade 8 if I did A-Level Music too? I was also considering history maybe.
(Oh and good luck with your A Levels!)

I had an Cambridge interview for law with much poorer GCSEs then you ( rejected post interview but eligible for adjustment due to the area I live in ) . I would suggest taking “hard “subjects like history , English lit , mathematics , physics , another language or anything along those lines as I myself took a mix of soft and easy subjects which is most likely why I did not get in along with some other factors like a poor second interview performance.

I’m currently GCSE student, going onto A-Level in September. I’m thinking about my future or what possible careers/degrees I could take...I’m just very curious - how hard is it to get into an Oxbridge University?
I (might be) taking maths, physics and music A-Levels in September, and what grades would I need to get a place for Law at Oxbridge? I’ve taken my Grade 8 piano, got a distinction and I’m working towards DipABRSM on top of my studies. I’m also working towards my Grade 8 in music theory. My GCSE mocks were mainly all 7s, 8s and 9s (except for a 5 in Spanish and 6 in Chemistry oop). I’m very passionate in Law and considering becoming a Human Rights Lawyer when I’m older. I’d just like a very honest opinion about how hard it really is to get in. I don’t attend a private school, and I heard a very large percentage of Oxbridge students attended some of the top private schools!
Those who got into Oxbridge, what did your grades look like and what is it like studying there? Do extra-curriculars helps, like musical instruments?

The only grades in those A levels you'd need would be AAA/A*AA - i.e. meet the grade requirements for the course. Your music grades, though no doubt impressive, are irrelevant for a law degree and are not a factor in admissions. For Oxford especially, your application would be helped by a high number of 8 and 9s at GCSE. Most UK students at Oxbridge did not go to a private school (around 60% went to state).

More important than any of the above is good performance on any admissions tests and interviews. They are used to decide amongst applicants, many of whom will have similar grades.

Some one else mentioned taking more "hard" subjects at A level - I don't think that advice was very useful. However, you might consider taking an essay based subject, if only because it may be helpful in admission test and useful preparation for the degree itself. Having said that, you wouldn't be the first to get in without an essay subject.

The best thing to do for now is learn about the study of law.

I’m currently GCSE student, going onto A-Level in September. I’m thinking about my future or what possible careers/degrees I could take...I’m just very curious - how hard is it to get into an Oxbridge University?
I (might be) taking maths, physics and music A-Levels in September, and what grades would I need to get a place for Law at Oxbridge? I’ve taken my Grade 8 piano, got a distinction and I’m working towards DipABRSM on top of my studies. I’m also working towards my Grade 8 in music theory. My GCSE mocks were mainly all 7s, 8s and 9s (except for a 5 in Spanish and 6 in Chemistry oop). I’m very passionate in Law and considering becoming a Human Rights Lawyer when I’m older. I’d just like a very honest opinion about how hard it really is to get in. I don’t attend a private school, and I heard a very large percentage of Oxbridge students attended some of the top private schools!
Those who got into Oxbridge, what did your grades look like and what is it like studying there? Do extra-curriculars helps, like musical instruments?

Alright thank you, that was very helpful. I have a family friend who was accepted into Oxford a few years ago. Apparently during the interview they were particularly impressed with her music grades (two grade 8s), hence why I asked about whether it matters or not. I mean obviously it is irrelevant to Law but apparently they like to see what other interests you have and how determined you are. I mean obviously the most important factor is good grades and showing large amounts of wider reading into the subject you want to do, but I mean I don’t even think Oxbridge would be for me even if I did get in! Also, apparently Music A Level is considered a ‘harder’ subject - or from what I’ve heard it is considered an essay based subject and Universities regard it highly, but I’m not sure whether this still applies from an Oxbridge perspective! And yes I’m going into further reading of law - again I’m really unsure about everything at the moment, I have slight dyslexia and I hate reading so I’ve been told it would be very determined of me if I did pursue a law career!

Irrelevant extracurricular activities are not normally really considered by Oxford and Cambridge (although may be considered by other unis). So your music activities are not really going to be of enormous interest if you aren't applying to music, for those two unis. They are mainly going to be looking at your general academic abilities and critical reasoning skills. How well you can play X instrument doesn't tell them how good you are at writing essays about legal problems.

They realise of course applicants will be applying to other unis that may be interested in those things so aren't going to prejudice personal statements that mention them, but if you spend the majority of it writing about your music background they're just going to wonder why you didn't apply to music if anything. Certainly I wouldn't suggest bringing it up in an interview as that would be sort of besides the point of reasoning about the particular problem or question posed to you, which undoubtedly is not going to be related to music specifically (or if it is, only in a very superficial way e.g. some legal problem about someone playing loud music or something maybe).

Oxford consider GCSEs a fair bit (although also have the LNAT to consider), although normally they are focused on your overall grade profile, rather than individual subjects and grades gotten in individual subjects (except maybe English language and maths). Cambridge do not put a great deal of weight on them however. Note both consider grade 8 and grade 9 at GCSE as the same and equivalent to the old A* grade.

Your proposed A-levels are all (or mostly) traditionally academic subjects, so you are neither going to be helped or hindered by those. Music won't be seen as particularly better or worse than any other A-level by Oxbridge (it should be noted that for several departments at LSE however, including I believe law, it would be considered as a "non-preferred" subject).

Also it's far too early to be deciding what "kind" of lawyer you want to be later, especially as you've never studied law and have no idea what it would be like to either study or practice in that area of law. Indicating an interest in some area of law is fine (provided it's supported by relevant wider reading to evidence that interest and you aren't just writing that you are interested in something and hoping they believe that), but I would definitely not go about telling them you want to be a human rights lawyer in interview or in your personal statement. It just seems glib and makes it seem more like you're interested in the idea of some apparently prestigious career than any actual substantive interest in the subject and nature of the work.



Were they applying to law, or to music? I would be quite surprised if an interviewer for law would care about or even bring up music grades, because it just seems like a waste of their time and of the interviewees to be discussing that, except maybe very briefly as an icebreaker. They have a fair bit they want to figure out from the interview about the applicant, and spending that time talking about something which doesn't really tell them anything about the applicants ability in this subject area (law) seems wasteful. Obviously if they were applying to music it would be very relevant of course though.

The interviews are not, as I understand, normally that long. In that time they want to gauge how well the applicant will fare in the Oxbridge tutorial/supervision format, by having them discuss their reasoning and approaches to unfamiliar problems. Generally my understanding is the interviews are sort of a "mock" tutorial, and essentially just an academic discussion between the applicant and the admissions tutors where they are trying to see how "teachable" you are in that format. How well one can play an instrument does not, as indicated, tell the admissions tutor how well you can learn in the Oxbridge tutorial environment, nor how well you can grapple with legal problem solving and reasoning. It does indicate some level of personal commitment and dedication which is generally a useful transferable skill, but they will be sort of assuming that of all applicants I imagine and want to see more specific commitment to the subject area in the personal statement etc.

They were applying for chemistry and got in! She did have excellent A Level and GCSE results, so I suppose the music grades were a cherry on top. I think it shows a level of personal commitment, many people do not get anywhere close to achieving two Grade 8s in instruments on top of As and A*s at GCSE and A Level and she did put a LOT of the time any teenager would usually spend playing videogames or hanging out with friends, into her instruments. From her experience, they wanted to know about who she is as a person as well as her academic grades written on paper - again as you mentioned, how ‘teachable’ she is. Obviously I get your point ‘How well one can play an instrument does not, as indicated, tell the admissions tutor how well you can learn in the Oxbridge tutorial environment’ but from just doing one Grade 8, I can tell you the amount of time and effort it takes to get there and for someone to achieve not one, but two distinction grade 8s, as well as getting perfect academic grades? - it’s rare. I might be a little bias since I have a grade 8 myself which took 9 years to achieve, and obviously it wouldn’t have any sort of relevance towards my future law career, but they do like to know a bit about your other hobbies (from what I’ve heard). I just wanted to hear something from an actual Oxbridge student and what their experience is like - I probably won’t end up applying there even if I did have the grades! I’m just curious!

I’m currently GCSE student, going onto A-Level in September. I’m thinking about my future or what possible careers/degrees I could take...I’m just very curious - how hard is it to get into an Oxbridge University?
I (might be) taking maths, physics and music A-Levels in September, and what grades would I need to get a place for Law at Oxbridge? I’ve taken my Grade 8 piano, got a distinction and I’m working towards DipABRSM on top of my studies. I’m also working towards my Grade 8 in music theory. My GCSE mocks were mainly all 7s, 8s and 9s (except for a 5 in Spanish and 6 in Chemistry oop). I’m very passionate in Law and considering becoming a Human Rights Lawyer when I’m older. I’d just like a very honest opinion about how hard it really is to get in. I don’t attend a private school, and I heard a very large percentage of Oxbridge students attended some of the top private schools!
Those who got into Oxbridge, what did your grades look like and what is it like studying there? Do extra-curriculars helps, like musical instruments?

Hi!

I think one of the first things you need to consider is how competitive Law in general is, let alone Law at Oxbridge. At Oxford, there are 8.4 applicants per place for Law, and at Cambridge it's 6.7. That, in the crudest way possible, means you have to out-compete upwards of 6 people to get a place to read Law at Oxbridge, in your academic profile, personal statement, LNAT and Interview, as well as the references given by your 6th form/College.

As well as this, none of the subjects you are planning to take for A-level are entirely essay based, which would be quite off putting for Oxbridge. I'm not suggesting that you change to 3 essay based subjects, but you certainly need to be doing at least 1, as without this Oxbridge may not believe that you have the academic capabilities to do well on their course, as your essay skills wouldn't be strong enough. As for grades, a Freedom of Information request from 2017 uncovered that for the 2017 admissions cycle for Oxford, the average number of GCSE A*s (8/9s) for successful Law applicants was 7.76, with the average number of GCSE Cs (4/5s) being 0.08, with the majority of applicants achieving exclusively A*s and As, with some Bs. Furthermore, you would be required to sit the LNAT, and the score you get on this can dramatically affect your chances of being offered a place.

So overall, your GCSEs would likely be okay for Oxbridge, but only if you could show strong academic capabilities, specifically in essay based subjects at A-level, and unfortunately your current A-level options just wouldn't demonstrate that. It is also very likely that as you would not be studying any essay based subjects, your 6th form/college wouldn't support your application to read Law as they have a lot of extra admin they have to do, especially with the admissions tests and extra references and written work required, so would likely not support your application, as your chance of being successful is very low if you're not studying an essay based subject, or two such as History, Law, Politics, Philosophy, English Literature etc.

That isn't meant to come across as telling you to give up! I just want to give you genuine advice because if Law is really what you want to do, you may find many doors slammed shut due to your A-level options.

my friend got into cambridge
her stats 9999999998
a*a*a or something

Wow. Did they go to a private school or something, those grades are astonishing! What are they studying?

nah she went to camp hill girls grammar school
she got into law this year as in got an offer for 2021 entry
for a levels i think she took eng lit history psychology?? i might be wrong

Planning to start Classics at Cambridge this year if A levely things go to plan (:
Your grades sound defo good enough, but maybe consider taking another essay based subject for as/ a level if u can? I'm not totally sure but I think that is considered desirable for law applicants. Also there's many excellent law essay writing competitions, if that hasn't been mentioned yet