What universities are these GCSEs good enough for?

[lawlawlaw]

Hello all,

We are very happy with our dd who did very well (imo) at her gcses and couldnt be more thrilled or proud of her.
She really wants to study history at uni,
DH and I were wondering what sort of university are they good enough for?

Oh, almost forgot to add what she had lol! She got 6a* and 6a from a comp.

Thanks:-)

Thanks Boys. It is selective to the extent that you need something like 3As and 5Bs from your best eight GCSEs. So I'm guessing not as selective as a grammar school.

Star I guess you have a point. If 20% of kids got three As at DDs college then they are doing something right.

Obviously the thing to do is to apply. Being deterred by low percentages getting in merely perpetuates the problem.

Absolutely Molio, like I tell the kids; you've got to be in it to win it.

Thing is, Westminster is like a well oiled machine when it comes to tertiary education. Their Oxbridge/LSE/imperial stats are very high. Ditto successful applicants for med school.

The numbers going to the US are also rising.

She needs to start reading, reading, reading - not just to be in a position to write a really good PS but also to check that history is really for her, and what period/type she most enjoys.

With those qualifications she can choose, so she might as well make the most of it.

I absolutely loved this stage (tragically - living through my children blah blah).

I encouraged my DD to read fiction and non fiction, thinking about questions like "where does history start??"; what's the difference between fiction and non fiction; whose voices are you hearing?; how do you decide where to dig and what to discard, and who decides (and what is their own baggage) etc etc; how can you tell whether something is "true"; is history repeating itself etc etc.

The other thing I did (DD ended up doing English not history) was to buy her a year's young person membership of the royal literature society as a "well done" for her gcses. Only £30! Being a member encouraged us to go together - me as her guest - ha ha - but a lot of the events are free (and podcasted). Through the rsl events, she discovered a lot of the books she eventually wrote about on her PS and I think it also helped her decide whether she was genuinely interested. We also went to some of the things at the annual "space for thought" festival - usually in feb I think - at the LSE - which is free - and also helped her PS.

From my searching around at the time, I remember finding out that there is no "national" history society open to all comers that you can join just by paying a sub, equivalent to the rsl. Instead you has to be a published historian.

I think all this 'only x% get into Oxbridge' is a bit misleading.IME a sizeable number of kids with excellent grades just don't want to go! They maybe like the look of a course elsewhere for example.

thing to remember OP, is that the kids who do well at GCSE are in many cases not the ones who do well at A level when 'hard work' does not suffice.A bit more understanding is required

Out of interest does anyone have any knowledge/experience of whether A level History is a pre-requisite for an offer to study a History degree. DD has just started year 11 and will soon be thinking about A level choices. She loved History until last year but does not like the teacher she has now, who also teaches it at A level, and is adamant she will not therefore opt for A level History. I am trying to work out how far that will limit her possible degree choices (and I do accept that a student with a true passion for the subject would hopefully be able to rise above their dislike of a particular teacher!).

Your daughter needs to check websites/contact Admissions Tutors, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't a disadvantage not to have History A level, and certainly for that reason!

It would seriously limit her ability on the uni front toucan, unfortunately. Some unis state it as an absolute requirement but that doesn't mean it isn't a de facto requirement elsewhere. If she might be inclined to want to take history at degree level I'd strongly encourage her to take it - the teacher thing is a pain, but it's objectively a pretty flimsy reason for not doing a subject you want to apply for at uni.

Maddy, of course some kids prefer elsewhere but when people say only 25% of applicants get in, that's usually in the context of 25% of applicants to Oxford itself. That's not misleading.

I don't know why people keep wanting to tell the OP her kid has reached her ceiling. She may have done but equally she may well not have done.

DS did not do GCSE history (obviously not the question you asked ) However it seems to me the Oxford history course will be judged more on innate ability / aptitude (HAT) and interest demonstrated at interview. One view only. Take Molio's advice - she has far better experience.

Hocus I think not doing history at GCSE and then doing it at A level is a very different kettle of fish from doing it at GCSE and then dropping it for A level.

My top tip would be to encourage her by getting hold of just a few (not too long!) and readable texts outside her syllabus that might fire her imagination and send her off in a "historical direction" of her own.

My most successful buy for my DD at this stage was "A room of her own" by Virginia Woolf - really short - just 100 or so pages - lovely clear and readable text - and sending a 16 year old off to wonder at why there were always so few female writers and historians. Perfect PS material too. I'm sure others will have good ideas for "sparky" reads.

You will need history A level to read history at university.

Ah sorry - read that too quickly - as you were.

Thanks all - I did rather suspect that A level History would be needed for History at university but useful to have confirmation. I will just ensure she is clear that not choosing A level History next year will preclude her from choosing a History degree.

Yse, they like you to show on the UCAS form not only the A level but huge interest in the subject you want to study. It is possible that a very very few home educated children without A levels might apply and get in but they'd need to show a lot of very good written work on history I suspect.