How much does Oxbridge care about GCSE Grades?

I am a year 12 student, who is highly considering on applying to oxford for a BA in Mathematics and Statistics. However my GCSE grades aren't like the typical Oxbridge applicants.
I attained: 98876666655
Alevels I take: Maths, Further Maths, Econ, Russian and EPQ
However, I have already done these extra/super curriculars:
- IMC (Bronze) /SMC (Gold) + BMO1 Qualifier /Maths Competition for girls (Participation)
- Lloyd banking insight webinar
- Attended 2 maths lectures at imperial
- Maths mentor (help three times a week at lunch year 11s)
- tutored GCSE maths (3 times - (1h each)
- award for maths excellence (GCSE) in my year
-silver and bronze dofe
- Doing Ritangle (MEI) Maths team comp
- tour guide (open evening/morning)
- Reading Fermat's last theorem
- EPQ (Can Mathematical Modelling suggests ways in reducing economic inequality?)
- Doing National Cipher Challenge
- Volunteered in charity shop for 9 combined months
- Young Enterprise (Finance director)
- Applied to lse finance and banking course (waiting on decision)

The Oxford grade requirements A*A*AA which I am not yet sure if I am reaching, as I am now 2 months into sixthform, and first further maths test I got a B.
If I am able to attain those predicted grades, will my GCSE grades interfere with the chances of admission ?

Reply 1

xyz1234567

Whether your GCSE grades are an issue depends a lot on context. How are they relative to your school cohort? If you got those grades but are one of the top performers at a low performing school, that is rather different from if you got them from a high performing or selective school. Were there extenuating circumstances that should be taken into account?

Reply 2

UniofLawstudent2

Official Rep

Original post

by lizziekoz09

I am a year 12 student, who is highly considering on applying to oxford for a BA in Mathematics and Statistics. However my GCSE grades aren't like the typical Oxbridge applicants.
I attained: 98876666655
Alevels I take: Maths, Further Maths, Econ, Russian and EPQ
However, I have already done these extra/super curriculars:
- IMC (Bronze) /SMC (Gold) + BMO1 Qualifier /Maths Competition for girls (Participation)
- Lloyd banking insight webinar
- Attended 2 maths lectures at imperial
- Maths mentor (help three times a week at lunch year 11s)
- tutored GCSE maths (3 times - (1h each)
- award for maths excellence (GCSE) in my year
-silver and bronze dofe
- Doing Ritangle (MEI) Maths team comp
- tour guide (open evening/morning)
- Reading Fermat's last theorem
- EPQ (Can Mathematical Modelling suggests ways in reducing economic inequality?)
- Doing National Cipher Challenge
- Volunteered in charity shop for 9 combined months
- Young Enterprise (Finance director)
- Applied to lse finance and banking course (waiting on decision)
The Oxford grade requirements A*A*AA which I am not yet sure if I am reaching, as I am now 2 months into sixthform, and first further maths test I got a B.
If I am able to attain those predicted grades, will my GCSE grades interfere with the chances of admission ?

It’s true that Oxford’s typical applicants tend to have mostly 8s and 9s at GCSE, especially for very competitive courses like Maths and Stats. Your grades (98876666655) are below that average, so they might be a disadvantage compared with the strongest applicants.
However, Oxford does take your whole context into account,including the school you attended, your academic trajectory since GCSEs, and how you perform in the MAT(if you have extenuating circumstances you should contact them directly).

In reality, your MAT score and interview performance will carry far more weight than your GCSEs. If you can show clear mathematical strength through those, you’ll still have a real chance.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting a B on your first maths test, that's how it normally goes as you're not familiar with the exam material yet.
So at this stage all you can do is keep pushing for top predicted grades, focus on MAT prep, as well as any relevant extracurriculars that could give you an edge.

Reply 3

Muttley79

Original post

by lizziekoz09

I am a year 12 student, who is highly considering on applying to oxford for a BA in Mathematics and Statistics. However my GCSE grades aren't like the typical Oxbridge applicants.
I attained: 98876666655
Alevels I take: Maths, Further Maths, Econ, Russian and EPQ
However, I have already done these extra/super curriculars:
- IMC (Bronze) /SMC (Gold) + BMO1 Qualifier /Maths Competition for girls (Participation)
- Lloyd banking insight webinar
- Attended 2 maths lectures at imperial
- Maths mentor (help three times a week at lunch year 11s)
- tutored GCSE maths (3 times - (1h each)
- award for maths excellence (GCSE) in my year
-silver and bronze dofe
- Doing Ritangle (MEI) Maths team comp
- tour guide (open evening/morning)
- Reading Fermat's last theorem
- EPQ (Can Mathematical Modelling suggests ways in reducing economic inequality?)
- Doing National Cipher Challenge
- Volunteered in charity shop for 9 combined months
- Young Enterprise (Finance director)
- Applied to lse finance and banking course (waiting on decision)
The Oxford grade requirements A*A*AA which I am not yet sure if I am reaching, as I am now 2 months into sixthform, and first further maths test I got a B.
If I am able to attain those predicted grades, will my GCSE grades interfere with the chances of admission ?

Oxbridge look at super-curriculars which a lot of these aren't.

Think carefully about what you mention and why it is relevant to what you want to study e.g. tour guide isn't worth mentioning.

Reply 4

hi_itsme

Original post

by lizziekoz09

I am a year 12 student, who is highly considering on applying to oxford for a BA in Mathematics and Statistics. However my GCSE grades aren't like the typical Oxbridge applicants.
I attained: 98876666655
Alevels I take: Maths, Further Maths, Econ, Russian and EPQ
However, I have already done these extra/super curriculars:
- IMC (Bronze) /SMC (Gold) + BMO1 Qualifier /Maths Competition for girls (Participation)
- Lloyd banking insight webinar
- Attended 2 maths lectures at imperial
- Maths mentor (help three times a week at lunch year 11s)
- tutored GCSE maths (3 times - (1h each)
- award for maths excellence (GCSE) in my year
-silver and bronze dofe
- Doing Ritangle (MEI) Maths team comp
- tour guide (open evening/morning)
- Reading Fermat's last theorem
- EPQ (Can Mathematical Modelling suggests ways in reducing economic inequality?)
- Doing National Cipher Challenge
- Volunteered in charity shop for 9 combined months
- Young Enterprise (Finance director)
- Applied to lse finance and banking course (waiting on decision)
The Oxford grade requirements A*A*AA which I am not yet sure if I am reaching, as I am now 2 months into sixthform, and first further maths test I got a B.
If I am able to attain those predicted grades, will my GCSE grades interfere with the chances of admission ?

Your GCSEs depend on how you performed relative to your cohort and whether or not you have any extenuating circumstances. If you were one of the top students for your cohort, then Oxford will consider that. However, the average applicant applying for Maths at Oxford in 2024 had 8 A*, and the average offer holder had 9, which reflects the emphasis Oxford places on GCSEs. Oxford interviews around 40% of applicants for Maths, and the average MAT score for shortlisted applicants is 70, so it is also dependent on your MAT performance. For predicted grades, I would suggest getting them as high as possible, as although the entry requirement is 2A*2A, most applicants applying for STEM subjects at Oxbridge will have 3-4A*, and some even higher. Hope this helps clear things up a bit, and all the best :smile:

Reply 5

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by lizziekoz09

Oxford's requirements are A*A*A if taking A-level Maths and A-level FM (A*s in maths/FM): https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/our-offer

While colleges I believe can set a 4 A-level offer if you're taking 4 A-levels they aren't obliged to from what I understand?

GCSEs seem to be less important for maths at Oxford since they have the MAT to discriminate between applicants pre-interview.

You're doing a lot of things and honestly I think some of them are rather tangential (also as a lot were done during your GCSEs I'm not sure how relevant they will still be when you come to applying anyway). Obviously if you're interested in something you should pursue it to the extent you can, but reams of extracurricular activities will not ameliorate weaker performance in your A-levels, so you need to ensure you are doing extremely well in your maths courses. Obviously it's early still but I would recommend easing back from some of those extracurricular things and focusing on your studies more, and continue with just the extracurricular activities you genuinely have a specific enjoyment for and make the most of those. If later towards the summer you have a bit more time and want to pick up more stuff you'll have plenty of time then.

Also remember, in general for your personal statement, just listing a bunch of extracurricular, or even "supercurricular", activities is rather "low value". Anyone can write "I did this" and even if you can prove it, just saying you basically showed up doesn't really demonstrate a lot to admissions tutors. You want to write thoughtfully about key, relevant activities you've done.

For example, you don't just say you're reading Fermat's Last Theorem (almost every maths applicant seems to read that) without elaborating further. Talk about why you chose to read it/how you came across it, what you think of the maths involved, whether it lead you to changing your approach to how you think about or do maths perhaps, anything to indicate you actually were thinking about what you were doing instead of trying to tick an imaginary box. The same applies to your other activities of course as well. Did these activities expose you to new maths, or make you think about the maths you know in unexpected or different ways? It's not about what you did it's about what you took away from it, and how well you communicate that - as that will demonstrate a genuine interest in, and curiosity about, your subject area.

Reply 6

dangermouse999

That is a long list of extra/super-curriculars. Might be wise to put greater emphasis on super-curriculars for uni admissions and go for quality over quantity.

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