Which Uni?

My DD got GCSE grades 8776665555 (7 in maths, 8 in English language, and 7 in English literature). She is in Y12 and is studying the A-levels Maths, Economics, and Politics. She wants to do a degree related to economics. Do good universities consider her application with her average GCSE grades? How to choose her 5 choices? Will retaking GCSE exams help her application, or should she consider doing further maths privately as a good option to improve her chances of getting into a good university?
Thank you

Reply 1

coolcatbea

10

Original post by inspirational-ps

My DD got GCSE grades 8776665555 (7 in maths, 8 in English language, and 7 in English literature). She is in Y12 and is studying the A-levels Maths, Economics, and Politics. She wants to do a degree related to economics. Do good universities consider her application with her average GCSE grades? How to choose her 5 choices? Will retaking GCSE exams help her application, or should she consider doing further maths privately as a good option to improve her chances of getting into a good university?
Thank you

Hi most places just require a 5 in your core gcses (even top unis) but the most important thing for good unis is trying to get high a levels (eg oxbridge you want to be predicted highly eg (oxbridge AAA-A*A*A*) but what matters A LOT is supercurricular activities but it doesn’t matter as much what they are but just how she talks about them, the passion has to shine through

Reply 2

pagan-scimitar

13

Original post by inspirational-ps

My DD got GCSE grades 8776665555 (7 in maths, 8 in English language, and 7 in English literature). She is in Y12 and is studying the A-levels Maths, Economics, and Politics. She wants to do a degree related to economics. Do good universities consider her application with her average GCSE grades? How to choose her 5 choices? Will retaking GCSE exams help her application, or should she consider doing further maths privately as a good option to improve her chances of getting into a good university?
Thank you

She could apply to UCL or Imperial as aspirational since they don't consider GCSEs heavily. Other safer options could include Nottingham, Exeter, Bath, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Lancaster, Loughborough etc. Potentially Warwick/Bristol but they do weight GCSEs a bit more. I'd recommend having a safety uni as well, as econ is competitive so sometimes even people with good stats end up with 4 or 5 rejections.

She could sit further maths privately if she wanted but it's only really required for Cambridge and LSE, other unis don't need it. I'd probably advise against it actually, it's already so late into year 12 and if she doesn't get a strong grade in it (i.e. an A or A*) it might actually work against her. Remember people applying to econ at top unis typically have A*AA or better, so it's better to have 3 strong A level grades. A*A*A will look better than A*AAB, even without further maths.

She doesn't need to resit any GCSEs or take further maths, what's more important is getting strong A level predictions in her 3 subjects and writing a good personal statement.

Reply 3

University of Bath

Official Rep

13

Hi there,

As has been said, most unis will not ask for anything more than a 7 in your core subjects (e.g. maths) and so this should not put you at a disadvantage.

What's most important is that you do some research (UCAS, uni websites etc) into different economics courses at different unis and seeing which ones you like the look of most (some modules will be similar, but there will be differences too!) - visit a few open days, chat to some students and lecturers and then try and assess which one you feel you'll be happiest at. We always advise to go for your fave as a firm (could also be your aspirational choice) then have one as your insurance that you'd also be very happy to go to but requires grades of 1-2 grades below your PGs.

We have 3 variations of Econ here at Bath: our straight Economics course, Economics with Politics and Economics with Maths - all with year-long industrial placements. Take a look at these and the equivalents from other unis and see what you make of the course contents!

I hope this helps and best of luck to your daughter in her A-Levels and decisions 🙂

Holly
University of Bath

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 4

inspirational-ps

OP

2

A heartfelt thank you to everyone for sharing your time, knowledge, and experience to help us gain a better understanding of the university application process. Your responses have been incredibly helpful in guiding us towards making the right decision, and we’re truly grateful for the time you dedicate to supporting others.

Reply 5

Muttley79

20

Original post by inspirational-ps

A heartfelt thank you to everyone for sharing your time, knowledge, and experience to help us gain a better understanding of the university application process. Your responses have been incredibly helpful in guiding us towards making the right decision, and we’re truly grateful for the time you dedicate to supporting others.

Her school should be able to guide her as well. What are her A level working at grades now?

Reply 6

inspirational-ps

OP

2

Original post by Muttley79

Her school should be able to guide her as well. What are her A level working at grades now?

Her working at grades are BBC

Reply 7

Muttley79

20

Original post by inspirational-ps

Her working at grades are BBC

She'll need to improve those as her predictions will be based on them. This will be more of a problem than her GCSEs if she is predicted those grades ...

Reply 8

Jessica.morris

4

Original post by inspirational-ps

Her working at grades are BBC

I would say it depends how aspirational the uni is but most will ask for an A in maths so depending what subjects those grades relate too if she is getting and how far off an A in maths is. Maybe try to do some form of maths competition (UKMT) or admissions test (TMUA or STEP) if she feels confident enough in maths often times a strong TMUA although not required unless applying to oxbridge or LSE can be really helpful from what I’ve heard to demonstrate mathematical ability. Although I do maths and further maths and I have to say they can be quite challenging so I would definitely say work on improving alevel maths first and her chances are still good for a competitive uni.
For reference I’m also in year 12 and doing looking to do Econ as well 😁

Reply 9

pagan-scimitar

13

Original post by Jessica.morris

I would say it depends how aspirational the uni is but most will ask for an A in maths so depending what subjects those grades relate too if she is getting and how far off an A in maths is. Maybe try to do some form of maths competition (UKMT) or admissions test (TMUA or STEP) if she feels confident enough in maths often times a strong TMUA although not required unless applying to oxbridge or LSE can be really helpful from what I’ve heard to demonstrate mathematical ability. Although I do maths and further maths and I have to say they can be quite challenging so I would definitely say work on improving alevel maths first and her chances are still good for a competitive uni.
For reference I’m also in year 12 and doing looking to do Econ as well 😁

A lot of your advice is misleading.

For someone who is currently working at a B (or possibly a C) in maths and not doing further maths, advising them to do STEP is ridiculous (and irrelevant for an econ degree anyway). Oxford doesn't require TMUA, Cambridge/LSE/Imperial/Warwick/UCL will for 2026 entry. If the uni doesn't require TMUA, they will not be able to see the score.

The priority should be getting A level grades to AAA minimum (and preferrably more unless eligible for contextual offers). None of the supercurricular stuff will matter if grade requirements aren't met.

Reply 10

Jessica.morris

4

Original post by pagan-scimitar

A lot of your advice is misleading.
For someone who is currently working at a B (or possibly a C) in maths and not doing further maths, advising them to do STEP is ridiculous (and irrelevant for an econ degree anyway). Oxford doesn't require TMUA, Cambridge/LSE/Imperial/Warwick/UCL will for 2026 entry. If the uni doesn't require TMUA, they will not be able to see the score.
The priority should be getting A level grades to AAA minimum (and preferrably more unless eligible for contextual offers). None of the supercurricular stuff will matter if grade requirements aren't met.

I said this is my reply, you have to prioritise getting your actual grades. But as this person is considering retaking GCSEs they obviously are aiming very competitively at a uni that weights GCSEs and i acknowledge that they are hard but it depends how hard you want to work for it and also you don’t necessarily need to do the best it’s good to show a passion for maths ( I got told this from LSE when I enquired at their open day ). Personally I think if they really want to work hard and go to a top uni for a competitive subject without FM it is good to show an extra interest in maths even for less competitive unis it will make you an outstanding candidate.
From what I can see her GCSEs are good but if she does well in an admissions test it substantially increase her chances of getting into any uni. But I agree ( as I said ) you need to work on improving the maths grade first.

Reply 11

pagan-scimitar

13

For LSE that would make sense, since they weight the personal statement more than any other uni. If I'm being honest, I wouldn't apply to LSE at all without FM regardless (same goes for Cambridge). For other unis though, not having FM shouldn't be a problem. I applied to econ at uni this year without FM and it hasn't limited me, I just had to avoid Oxbridge/LSE. My point about the TMUA was that unis that don't require it don't get sent the score, so it would make no difference to her application whether she got a 9.0 or a 1.0 (i.e. it wouldn't change her chances at all).

I do agree with you though, it's good to show extra maths knowledge, but how important that is depends on what unis she's applying to. Some unis like Bristol don't even read personal statements other like LSE weight it very heavily. The OP mentions "good universities" which is quite vague. I assumed they were referring to most RGs/top non-RGs, you seem to be referring to mainly Oxbridge/LSE so I guess we interpreted it differently.

I think it would be helpful to know which unis OP's daughter actually wants to apply to.

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