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Should I aim for Oxbridge with these GCSEs or are these too low

Hi, I’ve wanted to go to imperial or Oxbridge for medicine but I worry that my GCSEs are too low due to the contextual method these Uni’s use. My school is a grammar school and ranked at around 40th in terms of state schools. I achieved 99999888877. 9s in triple sci, maths and comp sci, 8s in economics history English language further maths and then 7s in french and English lit. My top 8 is 69/72 points and overall average grade point in the 11 subjects is 8.27. I understand that Bristol doesn’t look at GCSEs at all however I’m trying to aim for Oxbridge and imperial in order to more easily gain recognition in other countries since it’s unlikely the situation of the NHS will improve.
Original post
by Neurosurgeonfr
Hi, I’ve wanted to go to imperial or Oxbridge for medicine but I worry that my GCSEs are too low due to the contextual method these Uni’s use. My school is a grammar school and ranked at around 40th in terms of state schools. I achieved 99999888877. 9s in triple sci, maths and comp sci, 8s in economics history English language further maths and then 7s in french and English lit. My top 8 is 69/72 points and overall average grade point in the 11 subjects is 8.27. I understand that Bristol doesn’t look at GCSEs at all however I’m trying to aim for Oxbridge and imperial in order to more easily gain recognition in other countries since it’s unlikely the situation of the NHS will improve.


It looks you're achieving great grades and you should still strive for the top, whatever you achieve. You don't know until you try. Even if you miss that top spot, there'll always be something to fall back on.

Reply 2

Original post
by -Eirlys-
It looks you're achieving great grades and you should still strive for the top, whatever you achieve. You don't know until you try. Even if you miss that top spot, there'll always be something to fall back on.


Thanks, no harm in trying!

Reply 3

not sure how much this helps but someone in my year said her sister got three 9s, a number of 8s, and a few 7s in her gcses but she goes to lse, which i know youre not looking to go to but that's still in the same league as the unis you mentioned

that being said, i have no idea how long ago her sister did her gcses or whether the unis look into different factors and whether they weigh them differently

Reply 4

Original post
by swansong3
not sure how much this helps but someone in my year said her sister got three 9s, a number of 8s, and a few 7s in her gcses but she goes to lse, which i know youre not looking to go to but that's still in the same league as the unis you mentioned
that being said, i have no idea how long ago her sister did her gcses or whether the unis look into different factors and whether they weigh them differently


No, that definitely helps, thank you so much!

Reply 5

Imperial doesn’t look at GCSEs

Reply 6

lowk feels like ur showing off here

Reply 7

Original post
by ibelieve-icanfly
lowk feels like ur showing off here


No definitely not bro im just genuinely asking cuz I’ve heard about unis looking at schools contextually so although I’ve done well I would be average at my school. Mb if it seems that way

Reply 8

Original post
by Neurosurgeonfr
Hi, I’ve wanted to go to imperial or Oxbridge for medicine but I worry that my GCSEs are too low due to the contextual method these Uni’s use. My school is a grammar school and ranked at around 40th in terms of state schools. I achieved 99999888877. 9s in triple sci, maths and comp sci, 8s in economics history English language further maths and then 7s in french and English lit. My top 8 is 69/72 points and overall average grade point in the 11 subjects is 8.27. I understand that Bristol doesn’t look at GCSEs at all however I’m trying to aim for Oxbridge and imperial in order to more easily gain recognition in other countries since it’s unlikely the situation of the NHS will improve.

with those grades, you can definitely make it to imperial or oxbridge, you could do some extracurricals to make it look better.

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