3 vs 4 a levels for Oxbridge

Hi all, i am in year 13 taking maths, further maths, bio and chemistry. I plan on taking a gap year next year then applying to either Cambridge or oxford for maths. I really want to focus as much on maths as possible on maths this year and am struggling a tiny bit with chem, although it is repairable. I am considering dropping chem, but since i go to a selective independent school where pretty much everyone does 4 a levels, i was told i would be less likely to get in if i do 3. All admissions data from my school show that everyone who gets in from here takes 4 a levels (and get 4a*). Will i be at a disadvantage if i drop chemistry such that i do 3 a levels, or alternatively will i be at a disadvantage if i drop chemistry this year, do three a levels now and do chemistry as an extra a level in the gap year? As ive heard Oxbridge want you to sit all a levels within two year course. Please help

Hi all, i am in year 13 taking maths, further maths, bio and chemistry. I plan on taking a gap year next year then applying to either Cambridge or oxford for maths. I really want to focus as much on maths as possible on maths this year and am struggling a tiny bit with chem, although it is repairable. I am considering dropping chem, but since i go to a selective independent school where pretty much everyone does 4 a levels, i was told i would be less likely to get in if i do 3. All admissions data from my school show that everyone who gets in from here takes 4 a levels (and get 4a*). Will i be at a disadvantage if i drop chemistry such that i do 3 a levels, or alternatively will i be at a disadvantage if i drop chemistry this year, do three a levels now and do chemistry as an extra a level in the gap year? As ive heard Oxbridge want you to sit all a levels within two year course. Please help

you were right, know some ppl applying to oxbridge maths, almost every single one of them has done 4 a levels with 4 a* predicted, for the one that hasn't he excelled in the interview, he's literally like international olympiad level no lie lol so yeah it's just super competitive. taking a gap year will just make it worse since oxbridge tends to be more selective when it comes to that, they'll see you dropped the subjects or took a gap year because you're simply not good enough. out of the ppl I know who applied, a levels are just very easy for them like they don't even study that much to get a*s, these ppl are the ones that are qualified to study math. not to mention the entrance exams like step and mat which are generally hard

Yh I agree , but I just don’t understand as both Oxford and Cambridge say on website that it doesn’t give an advantage to do 4. So I’m just wondering who to listen ti

You listen to the website. If there was an advantage they would say so. Word of mouth and anecdotal evidence is not and will never be more reliable than what the website and admissions tell you. There is no preference for 4 A levels.

You listen to the website. If there was an advantage they would say so. Word of mouth and anecdotal evidence is not and will never be more reliable than what the website and admissions tell you. There is no preference for 4 A levels.

"There is no preference for 4 A levels." Regardless of your definition of preference, Cambridge still expects those applicants who do three A-Levels but go to schools where the majority do four A-Levels to explain why they didn't.

Thing is that oxford and Cambridge both say there is no advantage for four, yet data from my school shows way more people get in with 4 than 3. Also Cambridge also say that ‘if the majority in your school do 4, you are expected to do 4, unless you have a valid reason’. Therefore how can it be that there is no advantage to 4 over 3

Preference and expectation are two different things. If you go to a school where the majority of students take 4 A levels you will be expected to have 4 A levels, unless there is a good reason for not having 4. However, having 4 A levels as opposed to 3 does not make you a preferable candidate or give you an advantage in the overall admissions process because, as stated on the website, only 3 A levels are required. If there was a preference for 4 A levels, it would be stated. All that is stated on the website is that where an applicant comes from a school where the majority of students take 4 A levels, they will be expected to have 4 as well.
This could simply be a case of correlation rather than causation. You might want to take this into account before jumping to conclusions, but regardless, this is something that you could quite easily contact admissions to ask about, though I doubt they will tell you anything other than what’s already written on the website.

What is the difference between preference and expectation in this instance? When they say they expect 4 a levels, and i dont have that, wont that make me less preferable? Otherwise what is the point of them mentioning it