Gcse importance

If i dont do great in my gcses and i get an average of 5s 6s maybe 7s and lets assume that i get an AAB in a levls can i still go to a top good university and will my gcses have an affect on a job that i do in the future which correlates to my uni degree ?

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Walkis321

It depends on the individual degree course, but generally if you score at least a 6 in GCSE Maths and English Language you should be fine. For some degree courses, they would be asking sometime like 7 GCSEs at grade 7+ or similar.

AAB is not likely going to get you into a top uni for some degree courses by the way (AAA is usually the bare minimum). Depending on how competitive the degree course is, you might be looking at A*AA with the A* in one of the more difficult subjects.

Having said that, it's always more prudent to check what the entry requirements are for the specific degree that you want to do as opposed to going it by ear or reading what anybody else says. All degrees will vary in entry requirements, even for the same subject at different universities (sometimes for similar degrees in the same subject at the same uni).

Also, most employers don't care what grades you got in which subjects at GCSE. The only ones that they generally care about are again English Language (for literacy skills) and Maths (numeracy). In some cases, they might care about your sciences in case you are going into a science based apprenticeship. Most other GCSE subjects don't really matter for jobs or uni (they can matter for college though, so do check).

Some professional certifications (e.g. accounting) would require you to have certain grades at GCSEs. The ones the professional bodies care about are again English Language and Maths, but they can ask for 3 more GCSEs at grades 5+.

I have no idea what you want to do in the future, so it's going to be difficult to advise. If you want more specific information, you would need to be specific about :

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Which degrees you want to do, in which subjects, and at which universities

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What career do you specifically want to do

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If you don't manage to get into the degree that you want to do, what alternative means of getting into the line of work that you want to do are you willing to look into e.g. apprenticeships, working your way up, adult college, etc.?

Reply 2

princesschip

5s, 6s, and 7s are all decent grades. If you really push for the 7s especially you could go to an academic school for A levels which could very well boost your A level predictions up. With the little extra push to AAA or A*AA you could for sure get into a good uni for a massive variety of courses. Remember that top uni offers for subjects like languages are much lower than for STEM subjects right now, as not much people choose these courses. Provided you get good enough grades to let you study what you want at a high standard for A Level, that's pretty much the extent of the use your GCSEs can do you :smile:

Reply 3

YSJstudents

Official Rep

It really depends on what subject you want to do your degree in, but generally 5s, 6s, 7s are all decent grades, most universities will primarily be looking at your A level results and making sure that you have GCSE's in English Language, Maths and science at the least.

Maybe have a little look on some university websites and see what their grade requirements are, and if they require certain subjects at A level or GCSE. Each course at the university will have different requirements per course, so make sure you look at the specific's for each course and not just per university

Have you spoken to the careers team at your school? They should be able to support you, with looking at different courses that are open to you, that your interested in and will help you in your future career aspirations.

Suzan - Student Ambassador