A*s and Oxbridge

[BrendaBlackhead]

Does anyone know with any degree of certainty if Oxford and/or Cambridge really field candidates on the number of A*s? (Excluding low-performing schools/special case candidates)

I ask because this year ds's cohort did unexpectedly worse than they were expected to in some humanities subjects. The school is battling on with the exam board but no news yet.

It seems so unjust when in the year above 80% achieved A* for Eng Lit and in ds's year (which was apparently a more able cohort) only 40% did.

Also I see that some schools (particularly private) routinely go for remarks which seems unfair on those students/parents who are less informed about the procedure or even that you can do this.

Obviously if you have generally low grades then it's curtains - but if you have 6A*s instead of 7, or 8 instead of 9 it seems not only tough but unfair.

All is not lost if these grades are not enough as she has just received her first offer!

Congrats to your DD littleham - the first offer always feels good......

Hi I'm a newbie, been stalking behind the scenes with interest and know exactly how you guys are feeling right now. For me its like a roller coaster of a ride. Its has been a real comfort to read others on how they are dealing with things and I'm not alone. My dd has applied to Oxford and her GCSE grades are similar to your dd littleham and also AS grades, she is still waiting for results on a remark for 1 history module so had to apply with history grade pending don't know if she will be at a disadvantage but OCR are really taking there time with remarks.

Same here, fairycakes. Just got a remark back for ds and - well, this is disgraceful - they forgot or didn't mark - half the paper! Imagine if we hadn't said anything! As it was, ds was astonished at his initial grade. It makes one lose faith in the system and feel angry that someone's chances could be wrecked by incompetence/laziness/tiredness or whatever went on.

Littleham

Your nerves must be shredded having to go through the application process so quickly again after your first DD! I'm just grateful I have a year's respite before facing it again, though DD2 doesn't have a clue what she would like to do, so that will be interesting.

Good luck to your daughter anyway whether for Oxford or for somewhere else .

Well at least I know this time not to take anything at face value until results day! DD3 is also doing 11 GCSE's this year.

Brenda what a coincidence! My dd just rung from school her remark for history has gone up extra 7 marks she now has A for history . So pleased over the moon. We had photo copies sent back and teachers felt it wasnt marked properly to the Mark scheme and examiners report. Well done for your ds it's a disgrace that hadn't we took the risk and request a remark these incompetence from examiners could have had a profound effect on our kids futures and choices they make. The Exam board didn't even apologise for it's mistakes!

My nephew got into Oxford with 3 A*, 2A and the rest B/C at GCSE.
He is a whiz at physics and his A's he did not work particularly hard for. He studied his best subjects at A Level, Maths Physics and Electronics and was predicted A/A in all of them.

He wowed them at the interview, that is the bottom line. They can in most cases see past all the children who just learn stuff.

If your kid is a natural, he will get in regardless

Completely agree with AllMimsy - things are changing, as they have to.

Plenty of kids get to Oxford and Cambridge without a straight run of A. Some colleges are stricter than others even though there's not supposed to be a quota system but to say '5A? Not a chance' is plain wrong.

5A/7A may be borderline for a humanities subject on the face of it and would almost certainly rule any applicant out of Medicine without mitigating circumstances but if you judge the grades against the subject with advice from admissions then there's every point going for it if you're encouraged by people who know what they're talking about, as the admissions lot do. I can't see that it does any harm to have low expectations of an offer of a place, even with 11 or 12A. Everyone knows someone with those grades who've been rejected. Nothing is a given, but managing expectations will help if things don't go well when the letters go out.

I've certainly advised DS that he's very unlikely to get an interview. That's realistic. I nevertheless completely support him applying and think he'd be fine with the work if he got a place. I just know that he'll have to do fabulously well on the aptitude test to counter his GCSEs, and that's a big ask. But still worth a shot I think, especially as he didn't have a fifth other uni he especially liked.

Can anyone shed any light I know there always articles discussion that Oxford has a preference of high percentage of at gcse but would this be still the case if the candidate had all A gcse and say just above average AS grades against a candidate who has just above average gcse grades mix of and A's and a odd B but has straight A's in AS. My dd is the latter, late bloomer?? im curious as dd still has alot of potential and is hopefully still on a upward trajectory whereas someone with staight A at gcse would there be a expectation that they should have gained all A's at AS so if not may have peaked at gcse obviously I think I might be a bit simplistic on my analysis but any thoughts as I too wonder is their any hope for dd apart from nail the TSA exam.

I've certainly advised DS that he's very unlikely to get an interview.

We have said the same Molio. As the odds are so low, the whole family is taking part and everyone is having a lot of fun dreaming up possible test / interview questions. My son makes a mean interviewer - Oxford you should employ him!

DD2 is just downloading past tests & it all helps towards the A Level, so it isn't a waste of time.

fairycakes. My dd's school said that upward trajectory is looked on favourably.

Oxford tutor here again. Yes, AS grades are more important than GCSE in that a B at makes an A/A* at A level much harder to achieve. If it was a B in a subject that the student plans to continue then I'd need a very good mitigating circumstances story. If the AS subject is non -core and being dropped then it is less disastrous but still a significant black mark. More so than weaknesses in GCSE grades - because they are more recent and some students are late developers and particularly blossom once they focus on their preferred subjects. Having said that GCSEs may end up being more important in practice as it is pretty rare to see candidates without straight As at AS whereas we do see more variation in GCSEs.

Thanks irregular you've cleared up a big niggle that's been stuck in my brain for quite a while now.

When my son applied to Oxford three years ago, he didn't put his AS grades/UMS on his application at all. They weren't required anywhere, as they weren't going to be certificated as separate qualifications. The school's advice was not to mention them unless specifically asked - which UCL did, his other four choices didn't. There was nothing wrong with his AS grades - all As overall - but he didn't get stratospherically high marks, which was the main reason he applied to Oxford, not Cambridge. Cambridge would have required higher UMS and as he was at an academically selective independent school he would have been given no leeway at all.

I assume the reason nobody except UCL asked about his AS results was because he had 11 A GCSEs and his A level predictions were AAAA (which was what he got, in fact), all in tough, traditional subjects. His HAT score must have been OK as he got an interview.

So if all applicants have AAA at AS and are predicted AAA for A2, then it goes to the GCSE grades? So then anyone with less than a full house is f**ed?

I mean AAA* for A2 (bolds and asterisks went haywire!)

still went haywire! Three A stars is what I meant.

Brenda - But if that was true, the admissions at Oxford wouldn't have encouraged my dd to apply surely? (because she told them her grades). Also, why would they bother having aptitude tests? Or I am I just being completely naïve?

Anyhow...tis done now.

No, I've said earlier that it is nowhere near as formulaic at that. A whole set of measures are taken into account. Aptitude tests are very important in some subjects. Teachers references can also be very important especially if they include objective information such as rank in year. We also look at exam results in the context of the school. But there's no getting away from the fact that most candidates have very high grades and most successful candidates have even higher grades.

Brenda it just doesn't work like that. It's far less formulaic and the aptitude tests, written work and interviews are hugely important.

Littleham is your DD's school pretty good or pretty bad? I'm interested because they took her to Oxford and seem to be helping her with the HAT, which suggests the school is actually ok. Or interested in the more able students at least. FWIW DS's grades are almost identical to your DD's and I really do think he won't get an interview unless he does an amazing HAT, which I don't think he will. But then he does attend a state school which gets good results (so diminishing his) and he's getting no help at all with the HAT.

Cross post with irregular!!

While trying to cook for large number of DC!!

What is your subject irregular? Or if you don't want to be too specific, your broad area?

Can I ask if the total spread of grades weighs at all?
Dd has 6 A and 6 As - which I think is bloody impressive . Surely that has to be enough for Oxbridge? Would that be viewed more highly than say 8 A, a B and a C?