What GCSEs do you need for top unis?

I applied to Cambridge this year and got an offer for HSPS , and from my experience they look at a lot of things , not just GCSEs (pretty sure Oxford put more weight on them). Generally my GCSE results were good , 9s, 8s , 7s but I had a 4 in further maths and they managed to overlook that. Basically , I think it's still definitely worth applying as there's so many other parts of an application (predicted grades , entrance exams , essay submissions, interviews , personal statements ) all of which are more important to Cambridge. 7s are really good (still would be As in old grades!) and Cambridge looks at all data contextually, so as a fellow bad high school alumnus haha , I would definitely encourage you to apply if it's something you really want to do. Sorry if that was really rambly but please don't think you need all 9s or anything to apply!

Can I ask what you did in college and for extra curricular stuff aswell, because as of now I have like no extra stuff so how much did you do during college? Also thanks that's definitely calmed me down for GCSEs so as long as I do alright I have a chance, as long as I lock in during a level ig

I applied to Cambridge this year and got an offer for HSPS , and from my experience they look at a lot of things , not just GCSEs (pretty sure Oxford put more weight on them). Generally my GCSE results were good , 9s, 8s , 7s but I had a 4 in further maths and they managed to overlook that. Basically , I think it's still definitely worth applying as there's so many other parts of an application (predicted grades , entrance exams , essay submissions, interviews , personal statements ) all of which are more important to Cambridge. 7s are really good (still would be As in old grades!) and Cambridge looks at all data contextually, so as a fellow bad high school alumnus haha , I would definitely encourage you to apply if it's something you really want to do. Sorry if that was really rambly but please don't think you need all 9s or anything to apply!

GCSE’s don’t matter hugely as long as you get the highest grades. Your priorities should be A Levels doing 4, and maybe an EPQ as well.

Hi, may I ask what A-level subject you are doing? It is my dream to study HSPS and want to ensure that my A-levels would be appropriate!
Thank you!

I do English Language, Politics,French and Religious studies but HSPS is really broad so I feel like you can make anything work if you can talk about it from a social/political perspective

Cambridge are keen on supra-curricular activities that show a real passion and interest for your subject. They’re not looking at hobbies etc

Hey, also a current Cambridge offer holder, at my school we have lots of applicants for Oxbridge (25ish in my year) and many get interviews based on their GCSE grades however a lot struggle to get offers as the Unis, of course aren't just looking at your GCSE grades. I would also say that 4 A Levels are great - I do 4 but they aren't always necessary to go to top universities, of the 5 people who got Oxbridge offers (3 Oxford & 2 Cambridge) I was the only one who did 4 A Levels and the other Cambridge offer holder just did 3 with no EPQ either and still got an offer for Law at Trinity. - I go to a state school btw we just are a big cohort where teachers *heavily* encourage you to apply to top unis.

GCSE’s don’t matter hugely as long as you get the highest grades. Your priorities should be A Levels doing 4, and maybe an EPQ as well.

My 4 are slightly random but French, German, Maths and Further Maths , my UCAS predictions were A*, A*, A*,B but current predictions are more like A, A/A*, A*, A - at the time of deciding I hadn't been sure on what to do at Uni but as someone who's going to study AMES I think the inclusion of Further Maths probably did help my application to stand out more. Although in keeping with this I did have a friend with A*A*A*A* + EPQ A* predictions and he didn't even get an interview for Cambridge which felt slightly crazy as he literally couldn't have been better gradeswise