Do gcse's impact uni places/offers?

[Hardpillow]

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone's child has had their uni offers impacted by the gcse grades that their child achieved. I believe Oxford do on occasion look at gcse grades but do any other uni's please? Any input would be gravely appreciated. Many thanks

Depends what you're applying for - many unis require certain grades in Maths / English Language (eg 6 or 7 or above). If your DC intends to apply for medicine for example, some medical school use GCSE grades as part of their scoring process to determine whether or not you're invited for interview.

I was coming to post something similar. DS is smart and on a real upward trajectory at the moment but a combination of undiagnosed ADHD until a couple of months ago and the need for an urgent operation next week that will knock him out for at least two weeks means he's going to struggle to make up enough ground to get the 8s and 9s his teachers assure us he is theoretically capable of. Given the choice I'd get him to defer for a year (he's a summer baby) but that isn't an option so we are wondering what impact grades will have.

He doesn't want to do medicine. More interested in computer science and I think his maths grade should be ok as he's a capable mathematician. I am more concerned about the sciences where there is just a lot of content to cover. And DT - he's going to miss a key part of the coursework and I can't get any sense out of the school about how to manage that.

Can do, and they look at contextual information if relevant. Unless you are applying already with a level grades that is.

If a young person has 5's and 6's at gcse you can understand universities are suspicious of a* predicted a levels unless there's mitigation

They can do; English and maths are the most commonly required. It varies from university to university though; realistically if he's struggling at GCSE then Oxbridge probably isn't realistic anyway.

For computer science, he will need maths A Level, and making sure he has the maths grade to do the A Level will be critical.

Have a look at a sample of university websites and see the entry requirements listed there; it will all be laid out in black and white.

@LastOfTheChristmasWine we were pleasantly surprised when my DD was applying for Comp Sci that nowdays a number of universities don't stipulate Maths at A'Level - some notable ones being Nottingham, Leeds and Newcastle.

A lot different from my application days 30 years ago

My uni requires competent literacy and numeracy. For most Home students this requirement is satisfied by GCSE grades.

My STEM School requires AL Maths so that supersedes the numeracy requirement. Other than these we don’t care about GSCE results although our AL offer is very high indeed. We are a Russell Group university and in my discipline we are in the just below COWI.

we are in the tier just below COWI

Thank you all for your replies. He's likely going to get 8's and 7's but not 9's. I think they are fantastic grades but he's worried already that they will stop him getting onto the course he wants at where he wants, not that he knows what he wants to do or where he wants to go.

He goes to a selective grammar school and intends to go to their 6th form. They do prep work and organised visits to Oxford and Cambridge so I'm wondering if the added stress is going to be worth it if it's already impacting him.

• I meant greatly not gravely in the op.

7s and 8s are not going to stop him getting on to the course he wants.

This is something that can happen at selective schools; the kids who would be average or slightly above average at a regular school are considered the thick ones at a selective school. All of the kids lose any sense of perspective about what average looks like in the real world, and what is actually needed to get into a good university.

Oxford clearly say they look at exam results for Comp Sci and it’s not just A levels. I’ve attached some stats. The GCSEs offered by the majority of shortlisted candidates are very high grades. Let alone the successful ones!

However there’s plenty of other less choosy courses! So I would be realistic and go for RG but not Oxford or Imperial. Cambridge might be less bothered. Others will know. Bristol can weight GCSEs too.

Oxbridge do look at gsce grades on a contextualised basis. 7s and 8s are great grades but in the context of a selective grammar aren't likely to score highly for Oxbridge scores. School would be able tk advise if he wanted to try.

Some other unis eg Bristol score applicants on a mix of achieved gcse grades and predicted A level grades but are transparent about this in the entry criteria online.

Yes AAA predicted A levels were not good enough for LSE - no offer on the basis of GSCE grades none of which were below a 7
I guess it depends how competitive the course is

If there's a lot of competition for places, of course Universities will look at differentiating factors, because a lot of students have excellent predicted A level grades

In fact, GCSEs are the only actual achievements unless students do AS levels

Would they take personal circs into account. We have two children one with severe needs (at sen school for children with severe autism) and our eldest. Our eldest gets woken by him and I'm sure it's impacted on him in many ways (some positively), he is taking his ppl and we come from a very poor town (one of the poorest in the country). Am I clutching at straws? I just feel so deflated for him that he may not get that opportunity. (I do understand, the best candidate for the best places and they can choose the best). Just wondering if they will look at the full picture and see what he has overcome.

Thank you all for your replies

Can't remember where but I thought some unis (oxbridge etc) looked at best 8 grades . I assume now grades are numerical it will be easier to get an average. I would not be surprised if they also note what you get in certain subjects (e.g. if you want to do a course requiring further maths a-level they may be less reluctant to make you an offer if you got a 4 at GCSE).

OP as others say, it very much depends on the course and the uni. So economics at LSE which has become very popular and competitive - yes, I imagine they would reserve the right to look at GCSEs. As a pp says, that is the only actual exam result they have to look at.

My DD had excellent grades esp in her chosen subject, and she got offers from top RG unis. In the end she did less well at A level and went somewhere else but it all worked out well.

DS2 had a more mixed bag with one 9 (in his uni subject) then 8s in his other A levels, 7s and 6s. Still got good offers from Leeds, Nottingham, Newcastle. He (and we) were very happy with his grades btw, Only on MN have I come across the idea that anything below multiple grade 9s (and 8 = A*, 7 = A) is any kind of disaster.

To some extent yes; it's known as contextual admissions. In some cases, it leads to an offer two grades lower than standard (e.g. ABB not AAA)

However, the sibling's disabilities are less likely to be 'counted' as it's so subjective and hard to verify. Your address, school performance, free school meals, time spent in care and similar are all much quicker and easier to define.

Some examples are

www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/

www.leeds.ac.uk/access-to-leeds/doc/am-i-eligible (would look at the SEN siblings and their impact)

www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/contextual-admissions/admissions/

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/decisions/contextual-data

www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/contextual-data (has an extenuating circumstances form where the SEN siblings can be detailed)

I posted the GCSE stats for Oxford for Comp Sci. The chance of getting in is 11:1. Of course they will be choosy. The average grade was 8.5 at GCSE so of course that tells you everything about most shortlisted candidates. I think judging what might help in terms of family circumstances is quite difficult. It’s obviously subjective.

@LastOfTheChristmasWine thank you, if I’m reading that correctly I can get the family’s disability social worker to sign off on an extenuating circumstances form and that may help, at some uni’s? It’s a while off yet but I think it’s good to be prepared and to be in a position to manage expectations.

Policies will vary from university to university on contextual admissions, but Cambridge says

"The Extenuating Circumstances Form is usually completed by an applicant's school/college if an applicant has suffered particular personal or educational disruption. If the school/college is unaware of the circumstances, the applicant’s doctor or social worker can complete and submit the form."

So school / college in the first instance, but your disability social worker could do it if they are unaware. Alternatively, you could take a hybrid approach, with the disability social worker writing to the school, if you feel they have some information but not the full picture.

I would definitely inform school/college of your home life circumstances and ask about it being referenced on the UCAS form. Lots of unis class 9s and 8s as the same because they are both A star equivalents. Even the top of the top don't all make it into Oxbridge due to pure numbers, far too many people apply so they have to reject a lot of them.

@LaurelGrove awful that this is happening to your son, as if year 11 wasn't stressful enough. I know you have said he is a capable mathematician, if he is looking to take A level maths please be aware that a 7 at GCSE usually results in a C/D at A level due to the knowledge gap. noblegiraffe who is a maths teacher has posted about this extensively so be prepared.

I assume he is taking computer science for A level. Depending on where he is applying, I know they are saying maths isn't essential but lots of applicants will have maths and probably further maths too depending on the university. It might be something to ask the admissions departments. I would look ahead now and see what universities are asking for. 3 years ago Leeds was asking for Maths A level for computer science.

Your son's school should have a copy of "Degree Course Offers 2023" published by Heap. It lists the standard offers and requirements of every course at every university. It covers A level grades, required subjects, and if the have requirements at GCSE they will be listed too. It is really useful to be able to check requirements on a course your DC has set their heart on, and also if predicted grades are a little lowe, you can check which universities offer a similar course with a lower offer. Good luck.