The Student Room Group
Reply 1
im doin 12, but 9 is enough
Yeah, 9 is what most people do. 5 is the minimum needed to do A-levels, so that's fine.
Reply 3
thanx
Yeah, it's fine. Universities prefer you to have 9 good grades at GCSE rather than 13 average ones.
Reply 5
oh really. thanx. so if i have got like 9 A's that would be pretty good?

got to work hard then. have the yr sci exam after half term
Yep, really just try to get as many As (or even A*s) as you can, but a few Bs and Cs won't doom you to rejection.
im doing 10 but most at my school do 9. dont worry about gcses, they really dont matter. as long as you get 5-6 solid A*-Cs you're pretty much set for A levels,
Reply 8
but my dad's boss who is doing the interview with students who want to go to Cambridge says GCSE grade is really important.

cos they want someone who is working hard during gcse and alevel
they might matter for cambridge or oxford where competition is really tough, or for really popular course like medicine, but in general universities just go by A levels, other qualifications, work and activities out of school and how you come across in your interview and personal statement
Reply 10
so if i want to go somewhere like cambridge or oxford is 9 gcse enough?
don't know really. at cambridge or oxford it would mostly depend on the course and college you choose as some are heavily oversubscribed and that's why they are so picky. Get decent gcses by all means, but for courses like medicine they would look at your A levels and then whether you have experience by doing stuff like community work in hospitals. most people do about 9 gcses so im sure that would be fine.
Reply 12
Yes u moron, read the above posts ^
Reply 13
xxjayx
Yes u moron, read the above posts ^


oh thanx alot for your "lovely" advice. :mad:
Reply 14
Yep, if your school, as mine does, only offers 9 for the majority of students (obviously some do less and a couple might take some early/do additional through other means etc) it'd be unfair and unlikely that you would get penalised for having that number.
Reply 15
Egan1
Yep, if your school, as mine does, only offers 9 for the majority of students (obviously some do less and a couple might take some early/do additional through other means etc) it'd be unfair and unlikely that you would get penalised for having that number.


alright.. thanx a lot :smile:
9's absolutely fine! i wouldn't worry about it, A level grades are more important - just make sure you don't do too badly - like get less than a C for more than a couple of them. Obviously for Oxbridge it's good to have all A* and A's but you can still get into a good uni with, say, 9 B and C's if you've got As and B's at A level!
Well, according to a thread I was reading somewhere here on Cambridge, quite a few students there got a few Cs at GCSE.
Although saying that, I got 1 A*, 7 As and 2 Bs, and I didn't get in, and as my interview and AS grades were fine, I think it was that that let me down majorly...