This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

English at Oxbridge with only 'A's in Lit/Lang at GCSE?

Scroll to see replies

im so academic

Good subjects! They like languages and the maths! But OP, what English? From peoples' opinions on here, I strongly advise you to take English Lit (or English Lit and Lang to a lesser extent).

Yeah I'm doing Lit.

Reply 21

im so academic

bodybuilder22

Yeah I'm doing Lit.

Excellent! I'm sure with English Lit, Maths, History, French and German, providing you get good grades, ELAT, PS etc you have a good chance as anybody! Don't fret over that A. Anyone can have a bad exam! :smile:

Reply 22

peanutbutternjelly

Well I got a B in English Language (re-took it and got an A, but still) and it doesn't seem to have been a problem with the universities I've applied to, except UCL.

Reply 23

chessking

You want to do english at Oxbridge with just a's in english and english lit. Hahahaha I am soooo crap at english and even I got an A* and an A. I pity you fool.

Reply 24

necessarily benevolent

chessking

You want to do english at Oxbridge with just a's in english and english lit. Hahahaha I am soooo crap at english and even I got an A* and an A. I pity you fool.

Oh my God. I bow down to you. :adore:

I'm sorry. I'm just so overwhelmed by this amazing individual in our presence. Must catch breath.

Reply 25

The West Wing

I don't think it will matter _that_ much. If English is your academic passion they will judge you more on other factors.

Reply 26

Craghyrax

There's never any harm in trying...

Reply 27

Supergrunch

I have an A in English language GCSE (the closest school subject to linguistics) and am currently doing linguistics (not MML) at Cambridge. It has no bearing on University level linguistics, or on most kinds of literary analysis, come to that.

Reply 28

peanutbutternjelly

I felt that English Language stifles rather than promotes creativity. I'm very proud with my B :biggrin:

Reply 29

Captain_cherry_tango

bodybuilder22

Is it realistic, considering most of the rest of the GCSEs are at A*, and assuming of course, that I get AAAA/AAAB at AS level?

I had an interview at Cambridge yesterday and I got an A in lit at GVSE and A* in Language. They (probably) won't care.

Reply 30

LH123

I only got an A at GCSE for my chosen subject. Then again, I have only had an interview, which didn't go that great. :p:

Reply 31

Captain_cherry_tango

Tbh, Oxbridge care more about As grades than GCSE. As long as you get 3/4 A grades at As you have a chance.

Reply 32

SouthernFreerider

inksplodge

If I had the teacher I have now at GCSE level, I certainly could have got an A*. :p:

Sometimes the school/teaching is to blame!

OP: I'm sure it's possible...!

lies lies lies

Reply 33

inksplodge

SouthernFreerider

lies lies lies

Why is it? :confused:

People I know in my English class from secondary school are achieving higher grades at A level than they did at GCSE... simply because the teaching is better.

Reply 34

SouthernFreerider

inksplodge

Why is it? :confused:

People I know in my English class from secondary school are achieving higher grades at A level than they did at GCSE... simply because the teaching is better.

teaching helps.

but you said, sometimes the teachers/schools are to blame.

gcse and even most of a-level is easy enough to teach yourself using the internet.

especially if the student is bright enough to consider oxbridge, they should stop blaming the school system and take control of their education. EVERYONE has a few bad teachers.

I opted out of 2 classes during gcses because the teaching was so crap. i still got A*s. and this is a pretty good private school that I got 2 crap teachers.

Reply 35

tigrrmilk

^ okay, well good for you then??

i got an A in english lit and nobody ever mentioned it to me.

Reply 36

peanutbutternjelly

I got an A* in Lit and a B in Language. I stressed so much about the B but now I realize that it doesn't matter much if everything else is good. Don't worry, just work hard at everything else.

Reply 37

skagitup

just got a place at oxford and i only have an A in lang. so yes, it's very possible.

Reply 38

Grapevine

Hard to answer, because nobody on this forum knows for sure, and it will change from college to college and from admissions tutor to admissions tutor.

In my view though, I don't see it as too much of an issue. People can improve a lot academically in the space of two years, many people don't achieve their full potential at GCSE, exams can go wrong on the day, and I'm sure Oxford will be more concerned about what you are like now/will be like in a few years...

Reply 39

soffeee

Well I applied for English Lit with an A at GCSE and i got an interview... waiting to hear if ive got in... probably will know tomorrow- eek! :s-smilie: