Maximizing chances of GCSE grades at 8/9 is essential

But only to check they have the minimum requirement - they don’t care who got 9s at GCSE!

If you want to go Oxbridge or other top unis or study something like medicine then 8s and 9s are pretty much essential. They don’t care about your extra curricular activities. They want super- curricular- so other academics which have supported your subject and show greater depth of study.

Extra and super curricular can be the same - a student applying to English at Cambridge, which has such a prominent theatrical society, would be ahead of the game if they were heavily involved in school theatre productions. A student applying for PPE at Oxford who can talk about their volunteer work with a local food bank and how this has given them an understanding of economic inequality in their town is going to have an edge. I think this is why it's really important to encourage teens to have balance between school and life at this age - if they're not engaged in anything other than school work, they can't convince a university that they really understand the wider implications of the courses and career paths they're claiming to be 'passionate' about.

. A student with all 9s who does nothing other than study is going to be a much less attractive candidate than one with all 7 and 8s but who is also on the school rugby team, is the lead in the school musical and volunteers at the local Scout pack on the weekends, for example.

Unis don’t look at all this. They want evidence of interest and passion for the subject to be studied.

And Yy a C in GCSE is certainly not the same as a 7 today! More like a 4/5.

Yes agree with @TeenToTwenties you need the grades you need, no one here is saying grades don’t matter. They do. But it’s vanishingly unusual to need all 8/9 at GCSE for any uni course.

Cambridge: "We will look at your GCSE results as an indicator of your academic performance. But this will be within the context of the performance of the school/college where you achieved your GCSEs."

A 7 is equivalent to an A in "old money".
4/5 is around a C.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48993830

An old GCSE at grade C isn’t the equivalent to a 7 now.

4/5 are comparable to an old C.

4 is a pass and 5 is a strong pass.

7 is the equivalent to a low A in old money.

A student with all 9s who does nothing other than study is going to be a much less attractive candidate than one with all 7 and 8s but who is also on the school rugby team, is the lead in the school musical and volunteers at the local Scout pack on the weekends, for example.

Some of the 'top courses' really don't seem to give a shit about that (some of which may be mostly a marker of privilege) , but they may care about 'supercurricular' activities demonstrating engagement with their subject.

Depends on the reason 8-9s aren’t common at the school. If it’s because parents don’t support but staff are eager to ensure children are stretched if they are interested, then I’d probably just encourage DC myself. But if the school is unlikely to support your DC academically to achieve what they are capable of (without hothousing), then I’d get some tutors to support them.

It’s possible to have academic support outside of school without pressurizing and endangering mental health and that’s what I’d be aiming for. Look for people who can instill good study habits and cover metacognition as well as subject specific support.

Having the option of going to a top uni is a good one to keep open. And being supported to achieve well in GCSEs will help with doing well at A levels too.

I was talking about after uni RE jobs.

My children’s (state) school requires a 7 to study a subject at A level.

as far as the original OP my children are at highly ranked universities (I’m not sure what you classify as top) and neither took GCSE’s into account or used them in the selection process.

I always regret my C grade in GCSE maths (equivalent of a 7 now). You might not think these things matter, but they can do, depending on the subject. I know I could have done better.

I mean, the bottom line is that to be a contender at Cambridge you need to be the sort of person who can read three difficult books to prepare for one supervision (and do this 2x a week), look at the five questions that an eminent professor in the field has set, and not only be able to answer them, but also be able to work out why they weren't exactly the right questions to be asking. Without ANYONE at all making you do it. Your tutor groups are 2-4 people so you can't even talk to your friends about it. If it sounds insane, that's because it is.

A person capable of doing this is as likely to have got 7s at GCSE with no tutor, maybe even no revision, as they are to have got 8s/9s. Tutored GCSE results are connected to Cambridge degrees about as much as being really good at card tricks. The mad political theory book you read at 2am for no reason other than personal interest, when you were 16 and supposed to be doing your GCSE practice papers, will be more use to you. The degrees require a particularly intense and unusual skill set which is quite hard to explain if you haven't been through it.

Yes, you need the grades you need. Only a very few, if any places need 9s (except maybe further maths).

I would also say as well, as someone quite involved in the UCAS process every year, universities are really looking less at grades now and more at the whole student. They've taken away the open-ended personal statement from next year and will now ask candidates to answer a set of closed questions instead, which are focused on enabling students from a wider range of backgrounds to be able to show their potential (or so UCAS says, anyway).

If, in order to get top grades, your child is spending all their time out of school revising or with a tutor, at the expense of developing any extracurricular interests, then this would be counter productive for them. There are so many students achieving top grades now that the differentiator between candidates is what else they can offer. A student with all 9s who does nothing other than study is going to be a much less attractive candidate than one with all 7 and 8s but who is also on the school rugby team, is the lead in the school musical and volunteers at the local Scout pack on the weekends, for example.

The way I see it with the whole "no one cares" and the "grades don't matter brigade" is that good GCSEs allow you to do the A-levels you want. Good A-levels mean you get to go to a good university.

Doing well at university hopefully leads to a well paying and satisfying career. Each helps you get onto the next step.

That won't get you on to A levels in many schools. Almost everywhere will ask for 7 in maths to do maths A level, and many ask for 6s in relevant subject for any A level.
In some places it may not get you on to T-levels.

I’d be disappointed if my kids thought 5 x 4’s was all they were aiming for. And I would be extremely upset if that’s all the got given they’re neurotypical bright kids. It’s not enough for A levels. I’ll be honest, 6x6 is the absolute minimum they should be aiming for if they want to keep A level options open at a decent 6th form.

@Elizo sorry, I live in scotland, but are A levels not more imprtant than gcse????

I always thought that the thing to aim for was 5 C's (or 4's nowadays) and anything more than that was just a bonus.

Ok read the thread and some great posts eg @MrsAvocet and @Octavia64

Agree that great grades in A level choices are a good thing - 8/9 in maths is the best prep and as an MFL specialist I would not be keen on anyone with lower than 7 taking A level - but in general I see most agree. All 8s and 9s not needed for any uni really apart from perhaps Oxford.

I got top grades at GCSE, A-level, and then a First from a ‘red brick’. I now work in an administrative role that is graduate level but frankly I could have got to where I am with a 2.1 and a less stellar academic record. Given my time again I would do Duke of Edinburgh to Gold level , something I felt I simply didn’t have the time for while I was on a conveyor belt of courseworks and exams.

One of mine is at Oxford with four 7s in the mix (and a B in RE from yr 10, I think). So indeed 'might' be relevant but also might not be.

I’m only quoting what DH has been told about his grades (apparently a PhD in his subject doesn’t completely offset the concerns they have that he won’t be able to stretch the most able).

My ds is looking at applying to Oxford. For his course they do look at the results at the school compared to the child's results and this number goes into an equation with their entrance exam result and is taken into consideration for their application (physics). 8's and 9's are treated the same. If you can afford it I'd support your child to get more 8's and 9's if they are capable just to give them more options. Maybe have a look at the kind of courses they may apply for eg humanities or science and see if it does make a difference.

If you're child is likely to sit an entrance exam you maybe better saving some or all of the money and paying for tutoring for that (some of the pat content is covered by ds school) or super curricular.

Your kid sounds like they're doing amazing regardless.