Are son’s grades good enough for Oxbridge?

[LuckyMumOf1]

My son has just completed his GCSEs and has really high ambitions of going to Oxford but I don’t know if his GCSEs are good enough and don’t want to burst his bubble if not

He got: 9999988887

Those GSCE results are excellent and you must be proud.

Yes they are. I think Oxford focuses a bit more on GCSE grades compared to Cambridge but it is still mostly about A Levels, interviews, supercurriculars etc.

What does he want to do at Oxford? Is it a subject he got a 9 in?

My son is applying with lower grades (still lots of 7/8/9) but he's at a state school which will hopefully help him.
However a lot will also rest on UCAS, test (if any) and interview.
And most importantly even if he is brilliant Oxbridge entrance is a dark art so please make sure he is prepared for, and has a plan B he's excited about.

He wants to do Biochemistry, he got a 9 in chemistry but an 8 in biology.

I’m not sure it really has an impact. DD got all 9’s, 3 A* at A level and grade 8 on two instruments and didn’t even get an interview at Oxford. She was gutted at the time but so happy where she is now and feels like it actually suits her better.
But well done! Those grades are fab and set up well for A levels.

Good enough to apply. But nothing is a guarantee for Oxbridge

@chickenpieandchips " he's at a state school which will hopefully help him"

Be careful about this-it depends on the state school and the demographic. It's not automatic.

Sounds like my DD. It will be because your DD didn't do well enough in the relevant subject test (like my DD!). Also happy she gave it a swerve. Her brother's live at Cambridge was quite monastic.

So yes, OP - good enough to apply, but make sure your child has an inkling as to how to tackle the entrance tests. Many schools tutor. Ours didn't.

Yes those grades are fine for applying to Oxford, they count 8s and 9s the same and it's number of 8s and 9s. It's done in context of the school as well.

@CurlewKate, I've heard of some private schools only putting through their straight 9 students (there was 1 at DS's school) so the state school comment was in that context.

Absolutely. I hope he gets to live his dream.

Definitely worth a try but unfortunately, many many straight A star, all 9 candidates don't get offered. A lot rests on the subject test results, interview and evidence for interest in the subject (supra curriculars).

There are Oxbridge entry threads on Mumsnet which you might find useful to read. Totally anecdotally, the people we knew who were offered Oxbridge places fell into two categories; contextual candidates and those where there was a family history of Oxbridge entrance. All bright though. Just my broad observation over the last few years of my own child's school and the threads on here.

Yes, those grades are good enough. I'm a tutor at Oxford and we accept people every year with grades in that range. The majority of the students we accept have better grades but, alas, too many of these students went to academically outstanding private schools or state grammars. From a normal comprehensive those are excellent grades and we wouldn't give it any further thought; the most important the thing would then be any further subject test and the interview. But if he went to Westminster then I wouldn't fancy his chances.

@hopsalong It’s interesting to hear that. Out of interest, what would you think of that grade set if the a pupil attended a not very academic private school with little history of sending pupils to Oxbridge?

@Turmerictolly in what way does family history work? Because of the name or the parents know the system a bit better. I would hope that it's not because of who you know these days. Both DH and I went so we have an idea of how the system works but he's avoiding our college/subjects and is hardly going to shout about it on UCAS.

I don't know @chickenpieandchips. It's just an observation I've personally made over several years of watching the Oxbridge threads on here and from the people we know whose dc have Oxbridge offers. For example, there are families on here whose entire sibling set are at Oxbridge (and they went too). So totally anecdotal but I guess it must be advantageous knowing the system, alumni dinners etc.

Thats reassuring to hear. He performed 2nd best of his cohort in the exams but is now going to a far more academically selective school so I personally think now he’ll be ranked in the top third maybe middle. It was a private school actually but not academically selective at all.

He went to a private school but it was not academically selective at all and he performed (tied) the best in the cohort. The average grade was a 6 or 7 I believe

My DSs private school would be unlikely to recommend he did Oxbridge with those grades, but it is selective and in the past few years have not had success other than with the top pupils… 9 A* or v similar. You need to be advised by the school. But congratulations to your son… brilliant results.

There are 5 spaces on the UCAS form. With decent GCSEs and predicted A Levels, it's always worth trying. There is also subject specific entrance exams.

No one should set their heart on Oxbridge as it's never a certainty. But it is worth trying if they want to. So long as your other UCAS options are a good spread, you lose nothing having a go.

At the Oxbridge open days, no one ever said you need xyz in your GCSEs to get a place, it's not a thing.

My son's GCSEs aren't as good as your child's, but he's going to have a go. Why not? He's also quite happy with his other choices too.

That's what my DC got and they interviewed at Oxford (but didn't get in).

Oxbridge don't do contextual offers. They may contextualise, ie take into account that a clutch of A stars or 9s from a comp are likely a more impressive achievement than the same from a public school. Which is surely fair enough.

This is the Oxford admissions report for biochem and shows the average number of GCSEs at 8s and 9s broken down by school type of shortlisted and offers. It is done on where you sat the GCSEs and within the context of each schools results.

https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/inline-files/Biochemistry%20Departmental%20feedback%20paragraph%202023.pdf

I’d say that those grades mean an applicant can be a realistic applicant. They would be looked at and those GCSEs wouldn’t work against them in terms of preventing them getting to the next stages IF their predicted ALevels are strong enough, they also perform well in admissions tests and any other criteria (such as submitted written work). Then there is the interview.

Who actually gets an offer will be determined by a mix of things, but particularly admissions tests and interviews. I’d see GCSEs and A Level predictions as a first level of application. They’ve got to be good enough to help you stay in the game. Your admissions test will need to meet a threshold to still be in the game and get to interview. Large numbers of excellent students who have perfect GCSE grades and predicted A Level results don’t make it to interview as they fall at the admissions test stage. Lots of others get an interview but don’t get an offer. There are simply too many good candidates.

Ive often heard people be cross that their relative with all 9s at GCSE and top A Level results didn’t get an offer or even an interview. They say ‘what did they want? What more could they have done? It must be prejucidce’. What they don’t realise is the admissions process uses much more than just these exams and that far more people have brilliant grades than there are places, but also that admissions tests, interviews etc test things beyond what the standard exams test.

It’s why students with good but not stellar GCSEs sometimes get in - they excel in the admissions tests and interviews and show something some of those with better exam results didn’t show. But it should be pointed out that most successful candidates do also have very very strong GCSEs. There is a correlation between the strongest GCSEs, particularly the strongest admissions tests and strongest interview scores and getting an offer. It’s not surprising really.

So, that DC in the OP could have a go. Some schools would encourage it and others would say he wouldn’t be strong enough. What he will need to do is to have really excellent predicted grades and also then to have done the wider engagement with the subject to broaden and deepen his knowledge and develop his interest and also be able to perform really well in the admissions tests and interviews, if he gets that far. When your GCSEs are not absolutely top notch, you probably have to outperform some of those whose GCSEs were better in the admissions tests and interviews. Different subjects weight different elements differently in deciding who gets offers. Loads of excellent candidates don’t get offers. But if you don’t apply you definitley won’t. So it’s worth him trying if he’s still interested at the end of yr12 and has strong predictions and has really engaged with the subject. But everyone needs to know it’s a long shot and the fact they’ve got great exam results doesn’t guarantee anything. There are no guarantees.

Yes they are good enough. He is clearly very intelligent.

You (as his mum) should be aware that at least five times as many young people are good enough for oxbridge as there are actually places, so a large number of people who are good enough nevertheless don't get places. Do not emphasise that to him though, he needs confidence and hope rather than pessimism.

He should certainly look at the relevant courses and decide whether they are actually the right ones for him - sometimes the oxbridge courses can be more theoretical and formal and less innovative and exciting than an equivalent course at a less ancient university. But if he loves the specific topics of the courses and can speak about why enthusiastically then he should go for it.