Can I still go to UCL,KCL,LSE OR QMUL with a 4 in maths and english gcse

I came to the uk 3 years ago and was couch surfing for a while during the pandemic and also missed school as we where on lockdown due to all this i didnt do so well in my gcses. I then went to sixth form and once again doing bad as i worked 2 jobs to help support my parents and my dad got put in jail so me working was keeping us alive at the time, 2 years later after my exams . I got bdd and now im thinking of going back to school to retake my alevels as things are better at home. i think i can realistically get a's if I fully focus on school but im scared i wont get let in any russel group uni in london to study law due to takinfg a gap year, doing bad at my gcses and so on. its currently november and im now emailing my old sixth form to let me back to retake my alevels if not ill see if i can take a loan or something and do it privately but i dont want to work this hard for nothing

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

If you look at their websites you will see what their GCSE requirements are. Most unis have minimum requirements in GCSE Maths and GCSE English language, and I believe most of those expect a 5 or above. I would recommend aiming to retake those GCSEs, particularly because even outside of university, quite a few jobs look for the same requirement as those two GCSEs are used as standards for literacy and numeracy. If you get 5 or above in those as resits though then they generally won't have an issue - GCSE resits are much less of a concern for unis in general in those two subjects.

The A-level resits may be a concern for some unis, although many will consider applicants who are resitting in a gap year. Given your background of disrupted education etc, as well I suspect stronger attainment now would be viewed positively relative to weaker attainment when you had other personal challenges ongoing. Your academic referee should explain the situation in which you recieved those grades though i.e. about sleeping rough and working to support parents and other family issues and so on.

You may well be eligible for a contextual offer too given the background, although note that usually contextual offers still require you to meet an GCSE requirements! They might just give you a lower A-level offer.