Maths degree

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In order to take maths with physics, is a gcse English necessary at grade 6? Do got 9 in both physics and maths gcse ( as well as in biology, chemistry, geography and history) but a 5 for English language. I'm going to ask for a review of his paper in any case, but wondering if it would be worth doing a resit if this fails

He managed a 6 for English lit, but I don't suppose that counts

My ds did Maths, Physics & Further Maths for A Level. For GCSE English Language he got a 5, for English Lit a 6. There was no problem doing Maths with those English grades & I don’t see why there would be. Schools only really care what the grade is if the pupil wants to continue that subject or if pupils fail English & Maths.

Thank you for your reply. Did it make a difference when applying to university? Ds is set on doing maths at university, probably with physics, he has also chosen maths, further maths, physics and chemistry for A level. The school had no problem accepting him to to take these A levels. It I'm thinking ahead to university.

I don’t think it will matter. I know one young person who redid English Language to get their grade from a C to a B, which was needed to study medicine at university - they got in - but not for maths.

What makes you think a 6 would be needed? (curious)

In my maths degree a million years ago there were loads of letters but no essay writing. I can't really think why they would stipulate a certain grade.

I've only just found out that top universities require it for maths degrees

You need to contact admissions tutors to check I would think.
Have you got hard links or just hearsay?

I've only just found out that top universities require it for maths degrees

Eh? Grade 5 English Lang is fine for top, and all other, universities. Where are you getting your information from?

Maths, physics &engineering admissions generally seem aware that some students have asymmetric talents.

Have you seen it actually stated on some uni website course requirements that more than a pass in English language is required?

Warwick maths - 'English to GCSE grade C or above.'
warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/maths/admissions/ug/offer/

Cambridge, afaik, doesn't have any specific gcse requirements at all...

Have you seen it actually stated on some uni website course requirements that more than a pass in English language is required?

Some high tariff universities are distinguishing between standard and higher GCSE requirements for numeracy and literacy, with 6s in the reformed GCSEs required for the latter while 5s suffice for the former. I cannot see why a maths/physics course would ask for the higher requirement in literacy though.

I can see no mention of needing a 6 in English for a maths degree at a set of highly regarded universities picked at random -Warwick, King’s London, Bristol, Exeter, Edinburgh.

Thank you for all the replies. I think I need to look into it further

The only way to find out for certain would be to contact the universities I suppose. I have seen that Imperial requires a 6 in English Language. Ds wants to live at home and be London based. Obviously I want him to have the best chance at what he wants to achieve, but not have to make unnecessary effort.

He managed a 6 for English lit, but I don't suppose that counts

can see no mention of needing a 6 in English for a maths degree at a set of highly regarded universities picked at random -Warwick, King’s London, Bristol, Exeter, Edinburgh
When we looked 5 years ago Imperial for engineering they wanted a B, they now require a 6. DS had a C and an A for literature and history but they said it had to be a B in English language.

How did you resolve it Bruffin?

That's unfortunate, Imperial does seem to be the exception.

Re unis, yes Imperial state they want a 6 in Eng Lang. Ds was annoyed at that! However, I suspect there is some wriggle room. I think one of our pupils had an offer from them & didn’t have a 6. I’ll check next week.

Thank you, that would be so helpful

It didnt , imperial said no chance without a B He even had A* in one unit . He is dyslexic and very spiky can be brilliant one day having the whole of the maths faculty discussing his questions and the next day failing badly because he had the calculator on wrong setting.
He went to Surrey butended up dropping out of uni, but actually landed on his feet with a great job in "big pharma" writing technical reports .

That's a great ending on quite a journey

OP if you are based in London then why not to go the Imperial open day on 14 Sept and have a chat with them. We did the same with my DD (a few open days at the very start of year 12). It helped her to get a really good idea of what she wanted to do and she actually swapped one of her A levels subjects after chatting to students at Imperial. I wonder if he could retake English GCSE alongside his A levels (check they accept resit grades) although already doing 4 subjects would be quite a lot of work. My DD just finished A levels (same subjects apart from she did computer science and not physics) about to start Maths at York. We didn't look at Oxbridge or London based but Warwick/Durham/Bath/Nottingham/York/Lancaster and more and I don't remember any of them having specific GCSE requirements.

LSE require a 6 too. I think I have seen a few of the top ranked universities asking for a 6 in English for maths courses. But only the very top of the league tables. More typically, it's a 5 or even a 4

I looked at UCL for maths and they said a 5 in English but, interestingly, they also want a 5 in a foreign language.

they also want a 5 in a foreign language.
It's not actually a requirement- students who don't have language gcse have to do a language course during their degree at UCL. There is now no uni which has a general requirement for language gcse.