Can i get into top universities with bad GCSEs?

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if it’s still possible to get into top universities like Cambridge, UCL, King’s College, Edinburgh, or Queen Mary for Computer Science despite having relatively weak GCSEs. None of my GCSEs were above a 7, and I passed 8 in total, including a 5 in English Language and a 7 in Maths. However, I’m currently studying A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science, and Government & Politics.
Assuming i get 3A*s and 1 A, what are the realistic chances of getting in and what can I do to improve my chances?
I’ve been putting much more effort into my studies since starting my A-levels compared to GCSEs, and I’m passionate about Computer Science. Outside of school, I’ve built several small projects and created a portfolio website from scratch to showcase them. For my Computer Science NEA, I’m currently working on a complex game that integrates AI.
Unfortunately, I missed out on opportunities like the UKMT challenges and other competitions, but I’d like to know if there are any upcoming challenges or events I can participate in to strengthen my application.
Would it also be worth retaking any GCSEs, particularly English Language?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if it’s still possible to get into top universities like Cambridge, UCL, King’s College, Edinburgh, or Queen Mary for Computer Science despite having relatively weak GCSEs. None of my GCSEs were above a 7, and I passed 8 in total, including a 5 in English Language and a 7 in Maths. However, I’m currently studying A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science, and Government & Politics.
Assuming i get 3A*s and 1 A, what are the realistic chances of getting in and what can I do to improve my chances?
I’ve been putting much more effort into my studies since starting my A-levels compared to GCSEs, and I’m passionate about Computer Science. Outside of school, I’ve built several small projects and created a portfolio website from scratch to showcase them. For my Computer Science NEA, I’m currently working on a complex game that integrates AI.
Unfortunately, I missed out on opportunities like the UKMT challenges and other competitions, but I’d like to know if there are any upcoming challenges or events I can participate in to strengthen my application.
Would it also be worth retaking any GCSEs, particularly English Language?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

Probably depends on the uni, the 5 in english language could be a problem since some want a 6 (I'm not sure if this applies to the unis you chose but you should check). You also need to clarify what you mean by 'weak' GCSEs. You said none were above a 7, so do you mean you got mostly 7s and 6s (which isn't bad) or mostly 5s and 4s? Anonymous #2 makes a good point as well, it depends on your school and you probably won't get rejected purely because of your GCSEs.
In any case applying to all of the choices you mentioned probably isn't wise, since a lot of them are crazy competitive for CS. Maybe just pick 2 from that list and have 3 safer choices. If you're looking for supercurriculars look at Cambridge's reading list for CS: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/before/improve-application

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if it’s still possible to get into top universities like Cambridge, UCL, King’s College, Edinburgh, or Queen Mary for Computer Science despite having relatively weak GCSEs. None of my GCSEs were above a 7, and I passed 8 in total, including a 5 in English Language and a 7 in Maths. However, I’m currently studying A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science, and Government & Politics.
Assuming i get 3A*s and 1 A, what are the realistic chances of getting in and what can I do to improve my chances?
I’ve been putting much more effort into my studies since starting my A-levels compared to GCSEs, and I’m passionate about Computer Science. Outside of school, I’ve built several small projects and created a portfolio website from scratch to showcase them. For my Computer Science NEA, I’m currently working on a complex game that integrates AI.
Unfortunately, I missed out on opportunities like the UKMT challenges and other competitions, but I’d like to know if there are any upcoming challenges or events I can participate in to strengthen my application.
Would it also be worth retaking any GCSEs, particularly English Language?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

I got 776665554 at GCSE and just got an offer from King's college last week, waiting for responses from Imperial, UCL, Warwick and Durham.

Congratulations! What A-Level grades are you predicted? and did you receive a contextual offer?

Predicted A*A*A, no contextual offer. Standard offer of A*AA

Thanks, that gives me a bit of hope. I'd appreciate if you kept me updated on the others too! Especially Warwick and Imperial since they have a higher average GCSE requirement (atleast for the courses I looked at).

Thanks, that gives me a bit of hope. I'd appreciate if you kept me updated on the others too! Especially Warwick and Imperial since they have a higher average GCSE requirement (atleast for the courses I looked at).

Im also in the exact same position as you, I got a 7 in maths and 5 in English language. I missed out on the UKMT as well. I take maths, further maths and computer science

That makes me feel a lot better about my chances now, thank you. Was there anything you did in particular that you think helped improve your personal statement and/or grades?

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if it’s still possible to get into top universities like Cambridge, UCL, King’s College, Edinburgh, or Queen Mary for Computer Science despite having relatively weak GCSEs. None of my GCSEs were above a 7, and I passed 8 in total, including a 5 in English Language and a 7 in Maths. However, I’m currently studying A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science, and Government & Politics.
Assuming i get 3A*s and 1 A, what are the realistic chances of getting in and what can I do to improve my chances?
I’ve been putting much more effort into my studies since starting my A-levels compared to GCSEs, and I’m passionate about Computer Science. Outside of school, I’ve built several small projects and created a portfolio website from scratch to showcase them. For my Computer Science NEA, I’m currently working on a complex game that integrates AI.
Unfortunately, I missed out on opportunities like the UKMT challenges and other competitions, but I’d like to know if there are any upcoming challenges or events I can participate in to strengthen my application.
Would it also be worth retaking any GCSEs, particularly English Language?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

I dont think my personal statement was that good to be honest, I just went through it a couple times with a teacher then just sent it. For the grades I just started revising, i did no revision for GCSEs. I got 96% in my further maths mock, 91% in my maths and an A in my computer science. Just make sure you do lots of exam questions, that's all I did. I think the main thing that helped my application was the TMUA

One of my friends got into UCL with a 5 in maths and 6 in eng lang (they met the entry requirements for their course) and applied with A*A*A and got an offer of ABB !

How did they get an offer of ABB? I'm guessing it was contextual

All of the unis I listed say that they dont require any GCSEs, or they only require a 5 in English language and a 6 in Maths, but I'm not sure how much I trust that. My grades were very spread from 5s to 7s with mostly 5's. But that was because of the high lack of effort I put in during GCSEs. At the moment i'm on A*A*AB and I'm hoping my grades beforehand won't make a huge difference but i'm not sure. Im mostly focussing on my PS since that could be what makes the most difference.

Are you aware that the PS is changing?