[closed]

yellowFrog33

9

Thank you all for your responses :smile:

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 1

SofiiaI

9

Original post by yellowFrog33

Hello All.
I'm looking to apply for PPE at the unis listed in the title and my A levels are politics, philosophy, econ and maths.
Could someone please take at these and let me know.
GEOGRAPHY CIE | 8
HISTORY CIE | 9
LANG ENG CIE | 7 {{ to remark }}
LIT ENG CIE | 8 {{ to request paper & possibly remark }}
BIOLOGY EDEXCEL | 8
CHEMISTRY EDEXCEL | 8 {{ to request paper & possibly remark }}
FRENCH EXEXCEL | 8 {{ to remark }}
MATHEMATICS EDEXCEL | 9
PHYSICS EDEXCEL | 9
COMPUTER SCIENCE OCR | 9
FURTHER MATHEMATICS AQA | 8
Many thanks in advance.

Your getting an offer based on A-level results, good GCSE results shows your academic background but do not normally directly affect the selection process

Reply 2

yellowFrog33

OP

9

Original post by SofiiaI

Your getting an offer based on A-level results, good GCSE results shows your academic background but do not normally directly affect the selection process

Thanks! Are these results sufficient: do they show high academic backgroudn do you think? I'm studying at Kings College School Wimbledon BTW.

Reply 3

SofiiaI

9

Original post by yellowFrog33

Thanks! Are these results sufficient: do they show high academic backgroudn do you think? I'm studying at Kings College School Wimbledon BTW.

I don't know this school and don't it will matter for them at that point. These are high results, not everyone who goes to Oxbridge gets all A* and not everyone who gets all A* gets accepted. There are many factors affecting the decision: admissions test, interview, personal qualities and supercritical activities. Grades rather just a minimum, formal requirement.

Reply 4

totallyfine

12

As above. These are great results and congratulations! But it is how you perform at A levels and other admissions tests that will count.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 5

totallyfine

12

And that's a fair few remarks you are planning, which is an expensive game. I am assuming you are checking the grade boundaries to see which are close enough to be in with a shot?

Reply 6

yellowFrog33

OP

9

Original post by totallyfine

As above. These are great results and congratulations! But it is how you perform at A levels and other admissions tests that will count.

So they aren't horrible? They're just quite lower than I expcted and for FM im 4 marks off, 3 for french so I'm probably going to appeal those. Lang was horrific for me so I'm going to request paper to ask for a remark but say I get 4 A* and performe really well on these admissions tests will these results hold me back much or will OX and others look past them because my school has chosen CIE a lot and theyre a stingy board. Thanks in advance : )

Reply 7

SofiiaI

9

Original post by totallyfine

And that's a fair few remarks you are planning, which is an expensive game. I am assuming you are checking the grade boundaries to see which are close enough to be in with a shot?

Always look through the papers before applying for a remark, it's too risky otherwise😬

Reply 8

SofiiaI

9

Original post by yellowFrog33

So they aren't horrible? They're just quite lower than I expcted and for FM im 4 marks off, 3 for french so I'm probably going to appeal those. Lang was horrific for me so I'm going to request paper to ask for a remark but say I get 4 A* and performe really well on these admissions tests will these results hold me back much or will OX and others look past them because my school has chosen CIE a lot and theyre a stingy board. Thanks in advance : )

No, they won't hold you back in any way and unis definitely won't care about the exam boards. They may have a look at your GCSE results but as I said earlier it doesn't affect your application much. I would recommend putting your efforts in starting to prepare what you need for uni early rather than remarking your gcses.

Reply 9

totallyfine

12

I think you are panicking about a set of results that are perfectly good. Applying to these universities is always hugely risky because they are very competitive indeed but it will be your A levels and admissions tests and interviews that decide it.
Its a long way off yet but always offset a few competitive apllications with some safer bets.

Reply 10

azaaaa9000

12

Original post by yellowFrog33

Hello All.
I'm looking to apply for PPE at the unis listed in the title and my A levels are politics, philosophy, econ and maths.
Could someone please take at these and let me know.
GEOGRAPHY CIE | 8
HISTORY CIE | 9
LANG ENG CIE | 7 {{ to remark }}
LIT ENG CIE | 8 {{ to request paper & possibly remark }}
BIOLOGY EDEXCEL | 8
CHEMISTRY EDEXCEL | 8 {{ to request paper & possibly remark }}
FRENCH EXEXCEL | 8 {{ to remark }}
MATHEMATICS EDEXCEL | 9
PHYSICS EDEXCEL | 9
COMPUTER SCIENCE OCR | 9
FURTHER MATHEMATICS AQA | 8
Many thanks in advance.

it's probably worth mentioning to you that I'm pretty sure Oxford doesn't differentiate between 8s and 9s. I believe that for some courses (at least ones I've looked at), they do consider how many A*s (their words) you get. And they consider an A* to be an 8 or 9. Basically it doesn't matter for all of your subjects. And your results are still really good so you should be proud of them!

"For applicants who did not complete the majority of their GCSEs between summer 2020-summer 2021, any individual GCSEs that were taken in this period were discounted from our measure of overall GCSEs taken, number of A*/9/8 and mean proportion of A*/9/8 used in the automatic shortlisting stage.":https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/statistics

I just noticed you wanted to do PPE sorry and I checked this https://www.ppe.ox.ac.uk/files/ppeadmissions2022-23informationforapplicantsfinalpdf and the same rule seems to stand true for other courses

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 11

UtterlyUseless69

12

Original post by yellowFrog33

Hello All.
I'm looking to apply for PPE at the unis listed in the title and my A levels are politics, philosophy, econ and maths.

Could someone please take at these and let me know.

GEOGRAPHY CIE | 8
HISTORY CIE | 9
LANG ENG CIE | 7 {{ to remark }}
LIT ENG CIE | 8 {{ to request paper & possibly remark }}
BIOLOGY EDEXCEL | 8
CHEMISTRY EDEXCEL | 8 {{ to request paper & possibly remark }}
FRENCH EXEXCEL | 8 {{ to remark }}
MATHEMATICS EDEXCEL | 9
PHYSICS EDEXCEL | 9
COMPUTER SCIENCE OCR | 9
FURTHER MATHEMATICS AQA | 8

Many thanks in advance.

Your GCSEs are fine. 8’s and 9’s for all intents and purposes are identical to uni admissions teams and so you have basically straight A*’s, which makes your results a complete non-issue, even if it is a traditionally high-performing school at GCSE. Your A levels will matter far more, as will the TSA.

I would perhaps add some safer choices to the list of unis you are considering applying to as all the ones you have listed will be very competitive and so even getting an interview isn’t guaranteed, even with excellent A level predictions and your incredible set of GCSEs.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 12

yellowFrog33

OP

9

Original post by UtterlyUseless69

Your GCSEs are fine. 8’s and 9’s for all intents and purposes are identical to uni admissions teams and so you have basically straight A*’s, which makes your results a complete non-issue, even if it is a traditionally high-performing school at GCSE. Your A levels will matter far more, as will the TSA.
I would perhaps add some safer choices to the list of unis you are considering applying to as all the ones you have listed will be very competitive and so even getting an interview isn’t guaranteed, even with excellent A level predictions and your incredible set of GCSEs.

Thanks. Also I should mention English isn’t my first language and I only started learning it at age 7 so perhaps I could use that as excentuatjng circumstances because I do have a disadvantage over my peers?

Reply 13

yellowFrog33

OP

9

Original post by azaaaa9000

it's probably worth mentioning to you that I'm pretty sure Oxford doesn't differentiate between 8s and 9s. I believe that for some courses (at least ones I've looked at), they do consider how many A*s (their words) you get. And they consider an A* to be an 8 or 9. Basically it doesn't matter for all of your subjects. And your results are still really good so you should be proud of them!
"For applicants who did not complete the majority of their GCSEs between summer 2020-summer 2021, any individual GCSEs that were taken in this period were discounted from our measure of overall GCSEs taken, number of A*/9/8 and mean proportion of A*/9/8 used in the automatic shortlisting stage.":https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/statistics
I just noticed you wanted to do PPE sorry and I checked this https://www.ppe.ox.ac.uk/files/ppeadmissions2022-23informationforapplicantsfinalpdf and the same rule seems to stand true for other courses

Thanks. Also I should mention English isn’t my first language and I only started learning it at age 7 so perhaps I could use that as excentuatjng circumstances because I do have a disadvantage over my peers?

Reply 14

yellowFrog33

OP

9

Original post by SofiiaI

No, they won't hold you back in any way and unis definitely won't care about the exam boards. They may have a look at your GCSE results but as I said earlier it doesn't affect your application much. I would recommend putting your efforts in starting to prepare what you need for uni early rather than remarking your gcses.

Thanks. Also I should mention English isn’t my first language and I only started learning it at age 7 so perhaps I could use that as excentuatjng circumstances because I do have a disadvantage over my peers?

Reply 15

UtterlyUseless69

12

Original post by yellowFrog33

Thanks. Also I should mention English isn’t my first language and I only started learning it at age 7 so perhaps I could use that as excentuatjng circumstances because I do have a disadvantage over my peers?

I’m not sure it would qualify for extenuating circumstances, especially given it has been near enough a decade you’ve been learning the language for.

It may be something that will go into your reference, but that’s for your teachers / form tutors etc to be the judge of.

Reply 16

yellowFrog33

OP

9

Thanks for the advice!

Reply 17

Jeanie-a

8

Hey so kinda related but; I recently did my GCSEs and was really disappointed to see I got a 5 in English language this came as quite a surprise as I have never gotten below a 9 and got a 9 in all my other subjects. I want to say it’s a mistake but it would seem weird for Both my papers to be wrongly marked (I got 44/80 on each) CIE IGCSE. Now I’m afraid I won’t be able to get in any top uni. Does anyone have advice on ppl who have been in any similar situations and if a remark is wise if I’m 4 off a 6 :frown:

Reply 18

Anonymous #1

Original post by yellowFrog33

Hello All.
I'm looking to apply for PPE at the unis listed in the title and my A levels are politics, philosophy, econ and maths.
Could someone please take at these and let me know.
GEOGRAPHY CIE | 8
HISTORY CIE | 9
LANG ENG CIE | 7 {{ to remark }}
LIT ENG CIE | 8 {{ to request paper & possibly remark }}
BIOLOGY EDEXCEL | 8
CHEMISTRY EDEXCEL | 8 {{ to request paper & possibly remark }}
FRENCH EXEXCEL | 8 {{ to remark }}
MATHEMATICS EDEXCEL | 9
PHYSICS EDEXCEL | 9
COMPUTER SCIENCE OCR | 9
FURTHER MATHEMATICS AQA | 8
Many thanks in advance.

It completely depends on how you perform in the Lower & Upper Sixth. I wouldn’t fixate too much on whether these GCSE Grades are good enough because they are contextualised based on your school, location, wealth & background and your situation with English would probably be taken into account. KCS is a great school though and I am starting next week.

Reply 19

Stiffy Byng

19

"GCSEs
GCSEs will be taken into account when we consider your application but they are just one aspect that we look at. GCSE results will be considered alongside your personal statement, academic reference, predicted grades and performance in any written work or written test required for your course.
If you are shortlisted, your performance in interviews will also be taken into account. Higher grades at GCSE can help to make your application more competitive, and successful applicants typically have a high proportion of 7,8 and 9 grades. However, we do look at GCSE grades in context."

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/admission-requirements/uk-qualifications

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