Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

Predicted grade for Cambridge

Anonymous #1

Is there any chance that Cambridge invites you for an interview even with a predicted A*AA?

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by Anonymous

Is there any chance that Cambridge invites you for an interview even with a predicted A*AA?

Many courses at Cambridge have typical offers of A*AA, so yes.

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

Original post by DataVenia

Many courses at Cambridge have typical offers of A*AA, so yes.

But is it the same for Natural Sciences? I know that NatSci gets the highest number of applicants

Reply 3

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by Anonymous

But is it the same for Natural Sciences? I know that NatSci gets the highest number of applicants

No. For Natural Sciences (which you've only just mentioned) the typical offer is A*A*A. For 2017 - 2019 entry, 76% of applicants for Natural Sciences (Biological) and 91% of applicants for Natural Sciences (Physical) achieved at least A*A*A*. The likelihood of securing an interview with predicted grades of A*AA are fairly slim - although not zero.

I spoke to one Cambridge Admissions tutor who said that his team go through the applications, and filter out those which don't meet the requirements. He then goes through that pile and "looks for an excuse" (his words) to keep them under consideration. He didn't elaborate on what that meant, but one has to assume he was referring to the personal statement, mitigating circumstances, or similar.

So all is not necessarily lost with A*AA predictions against an A*A*A typical offer, but you need to be realistic about your chances.