Do universities REALLY care about GCSE results?

Scroll to see replies

Hmm, don't they like all your A levels to be taken at the same time? Still pretty impressive though.
Evidence of keeping French up for two years before you start uni would be good. (Edit: Unless you are billingual and speak it at home perhaps)

Reply 21

ily_em

Inkstains

The Facts: I have done a French A-Level, and will be doing a Spanish A-Level; I have a large interest in languages... I also have a deep, bordering on obsessive, love for literature, and simply yearn to be able to pursue it at a good university.

Thus, I would very much like to study French coupled with English literature as an undergraduate course.

The Problem:

For GCSEs - I'm predicted A*s and As in History, Spanish, English, ICT, and Geography, and have already got an A* in French. But for Science and Maths, two of the CORE subjects, I'm probably going to achieve Bs, maybe an A if I'm lucky for Biology.

For A-Levels, this won't be a problem as I'm dropping the sciences and maths, and taking on English, Spanish, Politics and History. (I've already done my French A-Level.)

So please help! Will it make a difference; and more importantly, do I sound like the type of person who is making a realistic goal of wanting to get into Oxford? I don't want to be a pipe-dreamer.

Thank you ever so much for this time, and for hacking your way through this somewhat incoherent ramble. :smile:

You sound perfect for Oxbridge! If you were up against somebody with all A*s but they weren't really that interested in the subject then you would get the place seeing as you seem so much more interested in studying it and would be able to contribute to the university. Don't forget, when applying to oxbridge they look at:

GCSE's
AS level grades
A level predicted grades
Essays you've sent them
Personal statement - which should have evidence of your extra work you do outside of the curriculum, eg books you've read, theories you've read about etc
Extra-curriculars
The Interview - REALLY important as this is how they assess if you'll be good enough for them/ really want to study the subject, etc

As you can see GCSE's are only a tiny part and getting B's is not that bad, especially if it's only going to be 3-4 of the subjects and you have a few A*s as well as A's. You just have to make sure you are reading outside of the curriculum to further your knowledge of the subject, etc, as this shows your passion.