Number of GCSES

@SukumaWeeki I very much agree that those are some excellent unis.

NTU is localish to me and I know lots of YP who have done really well there and afterwards. Sheff Hallam also; and Edge Hill I think is a real unknown that deserves more notice. Especially if you enjoy athletics. But it is also known as good for pastoral support on a close-knit campus. I'd add Leeds Beckett to your list as well.

@SukumaWeeki that's really good to hear.
At my work over the past few years we have recruited several graduate applicants from our local ex-poly uni (standard offer BBC in my subject) over those from more prestigious unis like Warwick (Astar Astar A), Bath and Bristol. Just straight wins in a standard competency based interview. And they are really competent people - good hires.

That's brilliant @SukumaWeeki!

Sounding a different note
My son got 776655554 (4 for history, teacher was very poor and retired that year, they hadn't even covered the full syllabus), achieved this at a decent comp not a high attaining selective school where you might expect high teaching standards.

He found A levels hard and got CCC - one of which was in psychology, which was a miracle, but he spent so long revising psychology that he rather neglected the other 2 subjects.

Anyway he is very happy in a decent ex-poly and absolutely thriving there, on line for a high 2:1 or first class Hons and looking at a masters in his subject.

The point being that if your DD is in an excellent school with excellent teaching but still only in line for decent GCSEs, not stellar, it would be worth putting the work in on opening her up to a wider range of unis. I have actually been extremely impressed by my son's uni (Nottingham Trent) - completely unaffected by lecturer marking strikes, for example. I also hear very good things about other "mid tier" unis such as Edge Hill, Man Met, Sheffield Hall am, Liverpool John Moores. The point being - it will all be ok in the end. Not getting into Oxbridge or UCL is very unlikely to matter except in rare law-type subjects.

For clarity my son got 8 7 6 6 6 5 at GCSE.

Was interviewed by Oxford but didn't receive an offer. Is now at UCL but also received offers from KCL, QMUL and Royal Holloway all 'decent' universities.

As others have said her predicted GCSEs might be an indicator that she will not be getting top grades at A Level (or they might not).

The number of GCSEs she is taking, which is the purpose of the OP, won't be a consideration but then nor will the grades for many courses.

Predicted/ Achieved A Levels much more important.

I know a few kids who got top GCSEs 9 or 10 at 7-9 who didn't achieve at A Level.

I think people make out that degree courses are more competitive than they sometimes are, at least to achieve offers. Most universities are actually recruiting for bums on seats in courses. There are obviously exceptions for some courses, computer science/ medicine/ economics spring to mind here from what others tell me.

OK well my dc with 6s had offers from Warwick, Birmingham, Loughborough, Newcastle, Leeds, Nottingham, all pretty decent.

Obviously it depends on PG for A level and uni subject but lots of people are wrong tbh.

There will still be a good range of options and as PPs have said and show from experience, it’s A level PGs and actual grades that matter most.

I am not really aware that any unis apart from Oxford, Cambridge and some of the very popular London ones (UCL, Imperial, LSE) look at GCSEs and even then not for all courses. Some unis will specify a grade - for example, I recall seeing an ask of a 7 in maths GCSE for an economics course – but IIRC that was for people with no maths A level.

The vast vast majority of uni courses will be open to her. GCSEs are to some extent a predictor of A level grades but not totally as others have pointed out. You can do well and bomb at A level or vice versa.

DS2 has three 6s in his (frankly excellent) GCSE list and got offers from RG unis and is doing a STEM masters at an RG+. DD got two B/6 grades and had offers from some top unis too. I promise that apart from the very highly sought-after unis and courses (I am thinking things like CS and econ and even then, not everywhere) unis will be fine with those GCSE grades. Who has told you different? Hoping they haven’t also told your DD.

Lots of universities barely look at GCSEs but most will need maths and English. They may not differentiate between getting a 5 or a 9, just a progression to the next stage of consideration for anyone that gets (for example) at least a 5 in both. Humanities/arts courses may not want above a 5 in maths as loads of people only sit foundation maths but excel in humanities/arts.

Universities who do look at GCSEs usually only look at the top 8. It’s to not disadvantage applicants who come from schools where 8 is the norm.

Most universities don’t discriminate between an 8 and a 9 because there is no 9 alternative in Scotland (not sure about the other nations) as an A* is 8/9.

In short, if she gets 6677788888 she will “rank” the same as someone who got 77788888 and someone who got 77799999 - if she is ranked at all.

These 9s put so much pressure on them, it's ridiculous. And I have yet to find a single thing you actually need a 9 for, anywhere. Maybe Oxbridge look at 9s, although they say they count 8s and 9s. Other than that, it just seems to be extra pressure and opportunity for self flagellation.

Not sure who told you 9's were required - apart from the super selective universities (oxbridge, imperial maybe) they are interested in all good passes not perfect (no failures) plus your a level predicted grades. My dd got 3 9's, 2 8's, 2 7's, 3 6's and a 4, got into a highly competitive university course considered the best in the U.K. for that subject and the best in the world on some league tables! The a*aab at a levels mattered far more

Sorry appalling not appealing, I can't edit for some reason

As others have said, no university requires straight 9s or even straight 8/9s. Who told you that? Was it a teacher? Appealing to put a teenager under such pressure.

6-9s are perfectly fine even for top level courses, the only distinction would be maths where students without 8/9 at GCSE will likely struggle to keep up at A level.

Psych is her easy subject - content heavy, but has needed less skill development I suppose

I think this is true. DD said that she didn't find psychology challenging in terms of difficulty. It was the volume of boring content that she hated. I think the school covered the boring stuff in year 12 and did the more interesting stuff in year 13.

The school had told DD that she had to start with 4 subjects and psychology was the one that interested her the most until she started her A level studies. Her other subjects were more relevant to what she wanted to do so dropping psychology was a no brainer.

All the best to her. it is stressful, especially with the pressure for top places.

This is such a helpful thread. I still find it incredible that so few people get all 9s, I feel like every smug parent I meet is bragging about their child acing every exam! Maybe some of them are exaggerating.

That is amazing, well done him! My daughter got all 8s and 9s at GCSE but A level's no walk in the park and she is very nervous of the pressure of AAA+ offers.

Sorry misunderstood.

GCSE grades are not always a predictor of A Levels though, as you no doubt know.

My son was expected to get CCC based on the algorithm from his GCSE grades but got 3 As at A Level. Pulled his finger out when it mattered.

@lifeturnsonadime by 6/7s I meant grades 6 and 7, not 6 or 7 GCSEs, as per OP.

I know 6 GCSEs is plenty, but if she is getting grades of 6 and 7 with support then she shouldn't assume she'll be on track for the full set of As and A stars at A Level that some courses at the unis mentioned would require. If she is then great. But not everyone who gets 6s and 7s at GCSE will successfully convert them into As and Astars.

@Greenary

I think keeping a range of options open is a good idea but my DS started UCL this year with 6 GCSEs (not top grades only one 8 in his chosen subject).

They seemed much more interested in predicted A Level grades and teacher references/ personal statement, than the GCSE results.

Completely shocked me as I thought his GCSEs would mean they wouldn't be interested given that they are 'selective' and sought after due to the ranking/ status.

UCL and Bath are both top 10 in the Times list at the moment, in a list of 130 institutions. They are not by any means mid range. Realistically if she is hoping for 6/7s at GCSE she should keep the door open to a wider range of unis. It does depend on subject but it would likely be wise to be looking at unis that include at least Bs in their standard offers.

That said it really does seem to be all about A levels. Doing 10 is pretty brutal come exam time. The benefit of doing more is mainly that they gain wider background knowledge in my view, not that it gets them a competitive advantage in most cases. Mental health is everything and it's not unusual for Y11s to drop some subjects to help them cope. It often turns on whether there is somewhere for her to go during her missing lessons. Maybe if she is at private school that is not an issue.

Anecdotally my daughter has found the step up from GCSE English Lit to A level far harder than starting Psychology from scratch. Psych is her easy subject - content heavy, but has needed less skill development I suppose. Maybe it just suits her strengths more. Friends who are doing Politics, sociology and law all rate them as their favourite subjects. I can see that the advice not to do all new subjects probably is sensible, but my daughter would, I think, have suited more of these new subjects rather than keeping with the somewhat illusory familiarity (but massive step up) of English and History.

Yes psychology is very content heavy and is not a soft option.

I think a lot of students are surprised by that.

Sounds like the right decision for your DD!

@lifeturnsonadime As DD was taking three other subjects she found the content heavy volume of work of psychology too much. She enjoyed her other three subjects more and needed them more. Interestingly, psychology had more students dropping or swapping it than any other subject.

Her teacher was disappointed because she achieved an A at AS level, and she told her she was throwing away an A*.

Dropping the subject meant that DD improved the grades on two other subjects so it was the right decision.