The Student Room Group

Do gcses matter after alevels?

i just sat my last couple of gcses yesterday now i need some advise. for context im homeschooled and my experience was not amazing at all i ended up missing two years of content for both maths and all science and had to learn the entire syllabus around 6 months before the exam for nearly every subject. i ended up only doings 6 gcse and these are what i predict i’ll get:

english lit - 7 (sat last year)
english lang - 7
maths - 4
double science - 3,4
islamic studies - 6

with my grades i have two options
option 1: get these results and go to a meh/alr local collage in my small home town

or

option 2: i take one extra year off and i resit both my maths and sciences then apply for a rlly good collage (if i take this option would it be possible for me to do one alevel at home in that same year?)

i can’t rlly explain this but all of this is to do in regards to getting into a good uni, my question is, is that will these gcses above effect my chances of getting into a good/top uni and studying law or would u advise me to resit my gcse again?

if you’d advice the second option is doing one alevel from home along side resitting some gcse doable in one year?

if u were in my position what would u do? i truly believe i have the capablity to achieve so much more in my gcse but due to my homeschool and my home environment i was not able to…

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

depends on what you mean when you say 'top uni'. Name some that you want to go to then it's much easier to give advice

Reply 2

Original post by resonanthunder
depends on what you mean when you say 'top uni'. Name some that you want to go to then it's much easier to give advice


some top unis for law (preferably in the uk) such as: Cambridge, Oxford, Kings Cambridge

Reply 3

Original post by zaxnab
some top unis for law (preferably in the uk) such as: Cambridge, Oxford, Kings Cambridge

k my honest advice- resit ur gcses. if u rly want to go to one of these, i dont think these grades would be enough, i mean i wouldn't apply with those grades. I think you probably have the potential to get 9s in all of these subjects (idk how hard islamic studies is tho) and that you can easily achieve this potential. it would defo be possible to do an a level as well tho i worry that with 6 GCSEs you may not be considered for oxbridge level unis. well im not part of the admissions committee so i dont know for sure but you'll defo need some crazy extracurriculars to get in with these grades. the 7s in englit and englang are good but 3/4 in science and 4 in maths is defo not good enough for oxbridge. thats why u should prob resit and do a levels asw. how many a levels are you planning to do? you should be doing at least 3. also if you went to school what year would you be in? otw with these grades and 1 or 2 a levels you stand no chance at a good uni unless you have amazing extracurriculars, work experience, sport etc. even then the chances would be really slim like maybe less than 1%. i know a guy from imperial admissions committe he said that they were looking for at least 7s and above for engineering which is also competitive like law, so i would defo resit to get all the grades apart from english up. ig u could sit english again if u think u can get a 9. if u want resources lmk in dm ill email them to you or something bc i learnt pretty much all of gcse and a level maths in <6 months so ik how to revise that

Reply 4

Original post by resonanthunder
k my honest advice- resit ur gcses. if u rly want to go to one of these, i dont think these grades would be enough, i mean i wouldn't apply with those grades. I think you probably have the potential to get 9s in all of these subjects (idk how hard islamic studies is tho) and that you can easily achieve this potential. it would defo be possible to do an a level as well tho i worry that with 6 GCSEs you may not be considered for oxbridge level unis. well im not part of the admissions committee so i dont know for sure but you'll defo need some crazy extracurriculars to get in with these grades. the 7s in englit and englang are good but 3/4 in science and 4 in maths is defo not good enough for oxbridge. thats why u should prob resit and do a levels asw. how many a levels are you planning to do? you should be doing at least 3. also if you went to school what year would you be in? otw with these grades and 1 or 2 a levels you stand no chance at a good uni unless you have amazing extracurriculars, work experience, sport etc. even then the chances would be really slim like maybe less than 1%. i know a guy from imperial admissions committe he said that they were looking for at least 7s and above for engineering which is also competitive like law, so i would defo resit to get all the grades apart from english up. ig u could sit english again if u think u can get a 9. if u want resources lmk in dm ill email them to you or something bc i learnt pretty much all of gcse and a level maths in <6 months so ik how to revise that

sorry if this is upsetting, just trying to be completely transparent and honest with you

Reply 5

Original post by resonanthunder
sorry if this is upsetting, just trying to be completely transparent and honest with you


this is not upsetting at all and honestly i appreciate it so much that u are being honest. is it okay if u give me ur email and dm me notes and stuff i can explain my situation through there?

Reply 6

if i went school i would be finishing year 11. my biggest concern was that if i had to resit my gcse that would mean i would have to skip a year and go into college one year late but i understand that if i want specific things such as going to a good college need to make some sacrifices

Reply 7

Original post by resonanthunder
sorry if this is upsetting, just trying to be completely transparent and honest with you


in the collage nearby me you can only do 3 alevels. i’m not entirely sure if it’s possible for my to do another alevel with the collage. i can easily get good work experience if i try reaching out to a friends father who owns a law firm.

Reply 8

Original post by resonanthunder
k my honest advice- resit ur gcses. if u rly want to go to one of these, i dont think these grades would be enough, i mean i wouldn't apply with those grades. I think you probably have the potential to get 9s in all of these subjects (idk how hard islamic studies is tho) and that you can easily achieve this potential. it would defo be possible to do an a level as well tho i worry that with 6 GCSEs you may not be considered for oxbridge level unis. well im not part of the admissions committee so i dont know for sure but you'll defo need some crazy extracurriculars to get in with these grades. the 7s in englit and englang are good but 3/4 in science and 4 in maths is defo not good enough for oxbridge. thats why u should prob resit and do a levels asw. how many a levels are you planning to do? you should be doing at least 3. also if you went to school what year would you be in? otw with these grades and 1 or 2 a levels you stand no chance at a good uni unless you have amazing extracurriculars, work experience, sport etc. even then the chances would be really slim like maybe less than 1%. i know a guy from imperial admissions committe he said that they were looking for at least 7s and above for engineering which is also competitive like law, so i would defo resit to get all the grades apart from english up. ig u could sit english again if u think u can get a 9. if u want resources lmk in dm ill email them to you or something bc i learnt pretty much all of gcse and a level maths in <6 months so ik how to revise that


again if it’s okay can u dm me ur email for the notes they’d help a lot

Reply 9

Original post by resonanthunder
k my honest advice- resit ur gcses. if u rly want to go to one of these, i dont think these grades would be enough, i mean i wouldn't apply with those grades. I think you probably have the potential to get 9s in all of these subjects (idk how hard islamic studies is tho) and that you can easily achieve this potential. it would defo be possible to do an a level as well tho i worry that with 6 GCSEs you may not be considered for oxbridge level unis. well im not part of the admissions committee so i dont know for sure but you'll defo need some crazy extracurriculars to get in with these grades. the 7s in englit and englang are good but 3/4 in science and 4 in maths is defo not good enough for oxbridge. thats why u should prob resit and do a levels asw. how many a levels are you planning to do? you should be doing at least 3. also if you went to school what year would you be in? otw with these grades and 1 or 2 a levels you stand no chance at a good uni unless you have amazing extracurriculars, work experience, sport etc. even then the chances would be really slim like maybe less than 1%. i know a guy from imperial admissions committe he said that they were looking for at least 7s and above for engineering which is also competitive like law, so i would defo resit to get all the grades apart from english up. ig u could sit english again if u think u can get a 9. if u want resources lmk in dm ill email them to you or something bc i learnt pretty much all of gcse and a level maths in <6 months so ik how to revise that


Hi
It’s really nice of you to be quite honest and stuff with OP

I’m currently in year 11 and I’m going to do maths (edexcel) bio and chem a levels next year. Could you possibly set me up with some resources or ways of revising for maths a level.

Reply 10

Don’t take a year out just to resit your GCSE’s and apply to a better college. Unless you’re going to a private college, they’re all equally as sh**, and you’d be much better off going to sixth form. But no, universities and jobs and apprenticeships do no care about your GCSE’s, nor do they care where you went for year 12 and 13. If you’re tryna get into a top 5 uni, they might care, but you’re very unlikely to get into one of those uni’s so there’s nothing to worry about. Sorry if this was harsh but I’ve seen a few people telling you to resit stuff, they’re GCSE’s, I only did them last year and they’re already irrelevant to me

Reply 11

Original post by E7han
Don’t take a year out just to resit your GCSE’s and apply to a better college. Unless you’re going to a private college, they’re all equally as sh**, and you’d be much better off going to sixth form. But no, universities and jobs and apprenticeships do no care about your GCSE’s, nor do they care where you went for year 12 and 13. If you’re tryna get into a top 5 uni, they might care, but you’re very unlikely to get into one of those uni’s so there’s nothing to worry about. Sorry if this was harsh but I’ve seen a few people telling you to resit stuff, they’re GCSE’s, I only did them last year and they’re already irrelevant to me


good advice is never harsh so dw about that. but i want to understand why you’d say i won’t get in i have good job experience at a law firm and extra curriculars that i’ve taken part in. and due to the fact that i was homeschooled collages / sixth forms understand why i’d like to join one year late. so isn’t it best if i resit my gcse end up with 8/9 carry on with alevels hopefully achieve A* and As and apply for a top uni?

Reply 12

Original post by zaxnab
this is not upsetting at all and honestly i appreciate it so much that u are being honest. is it okay if u give me ur email and dm me notes and stuff i can explain my situation through there?

yh sure ill dm u and im also about to finish yr11

Reply 13

Original post by Dentipreneur
Hi
It’s really nice of you to be quite honest and stuff with OP
I’m currently in year 11 and I’m going to do maths (edexcel) bio and chem a levels next year. Could you possibly set me up with some resources or ways of revising for maths a level.

sure ill dm u

Reply 14

Original post by Dentipreneur
Hi
It’s really nice of you to be quite honest and stuff with OP
I’m currently in year 11 and I’m going to do maths (edexcel) bio and chem a levels next year. Could you possibly set me up with some resources or ways of revising for maths a level.

yo dm me it's not letting me send anything to you it says no user called Dentipreneur

Reply 15

Original post by resonanthunder
yo dm me it's not letting me send anything to you it says no user called Dentipreneur


Done

Reply 16

Original post by Dentipreneur
Done

for some reason its still not letting me send to u but here's what i would have said

Reply 17

Original post by resonanthunder
for some reason its still not letting me send to u but here's what i would have said

for sciences i cramspammed with seneca- cram whole subject, then step 1 past paper, then step 2 learn from mistakes, do weak topics with seneca cram mode, learn model answers, learn stuff you don't know, then immediately repeat step 1 and 2.
For maths try doing corbettmaths higher 5 a day first, then move to higher+ (top tip if ur cramming DO NOT ONLY DO 5 A DAY, DO AT LEAST 50-100) they also have the answers there.
then once ur done with corbettmaths try finding really hard questions, if you can't find them just let me know and ill send some

Reply 18

Original post by zaxnab
i just sat my last couple of gcses yesterday now i need some advise. for context im homeschooled and my experience was not amazing at all i ended up missing two years of content for both maths and all science and had to learn the entire syllabus around 6 months before the exam for nearly every subject. i ended up only doings 6 gcse and these are what i predict i’ll get:
english lit - 7 (sat last year)
english lang - 7
maths - 4
double science - 3,4
islamic studies - 6
with my grades i have two options
option 1: get these results and go to a meh/alr local collage in my small home town
or
option 2: i take one extra year off and i resit both my maths and sciences then apply for a rlly good collage (if i take this option would it be possible for me to do one alevel at home in that same year?)
i can’t rlly explain this but all of this is to do in regards to getting into a good uni, my question is, is that will these gcses above effect my chances of getting into a good/top uni and studying law or would u advise me to resit my gcse again?
if you’d advice the second option is doing one alevel from home along side resitting some gcse doable in one year?
if u were in my position what would u do? i truly believe i have the capablity to achieve so much more in my gcse but due to my homeschool and my home environment i was not able to…

I'd go to the collage and get those A levels most university's will accept you with a 4 unless you want to go to Oxford anyway yo can always resit the math alongside your first year of a levels if you want to.

Reply 19

Compared to other applicants to top unis, your GCSEs will be quite weak. Most applicants will have exclusively 7s 8s and 9s, having taken almost twice as many subjects. I can't comment on how competitive law is, but as a general rule As and A*s at GCSE are the norm, same with at A-Level. I'm not sure as to whether or not it is worth resitting, but it may be a good idea to read on the course webpages for more information regarding how each university view resits (although my understanding is that top unis don't look particularly favourably on resits). However, you may well have to resit either way, as if you don't have some stellar A-level grades and good entrance exam score + good PS, your GCSEs stand a very good chance of holding your application back. If you were choosing between Oxford and Cambridge in this case, Cambridge may be a be better shout as they are known to be more lenient with regards to GCSEs, at least from what I've heard. Good luck whatever you choose.

Quick Reply