Do universities only look at your top 8 GCSEs?

[Juliadoesyoga]

DS was advised that most uni admissions officers run algorithms which average your ‘top’ 8 GCSEs, ignoring the rest. Is this true? We hoping so as he took 11 and did brilliantly in 8 (all grades 7-9) but got three 5s (in the sciences). He’d be applying for French and History (9s in both).

Well, yes, I realise Oxbridge interviews

Maths can have extra tests. Bristol weight GCSEs. Other courses like law and medicine have extra tests. Not everywhere. Top RG doesn’t mean much. It’s the course that matters and how competitive it is.

I think it's a mistake to assume universities base their decisions on the same set of criteria. There is no homogeneous admissions procedure and different universities or even admissions tutors within a university may do things idiosyncratically.
In practice, some unis barely look at GCSEs, except perhaps to look for a pass in English and Maths. Some look at the best 8 (Cambridge have said they do this). Some look at both the number taken and the ratio of top grades, i.e. 8, 9 or A* (I've seen Oxford say they do this for certain courses). UCL prefers a modern language GCSE but allows those without it to make up equivalent credit either before they start or in their first year. Manchester requires students to have followed a "broad and balanced" education and e.g. for Medicine requires at least seven GCSEs at grade A (7) or above. I looked recently at a FOI request for Oxford admissions which showed those with 7 GCSEs were not much less likely to get an interview than those with 8, but it did tail off quite sharply for those with 6 or fewer.
Where the university sets or uses additional exams for competitive subjects, such as medicine or maths (MAT, PAT, TMUA, BMAT etc.), these will tend to be weighted heavily - more heavily than GCSEs. Additional exams tend to be used for highly oversubscribed courses where most applicants will have good GCSE and predicted A level grades, so the additional exam is a more effective way of distinguishing between the large number of applicants.

Additional exams tend to be used for highly oversubscribed courses where most applicants will have good GCSE and predicted A level grades, so the additional exam is a more effective way of distinguishing between the large number of applicants.

Additional exams and interviews, while time consuming, are an excellent way to find the most suitable candidates, those that will most likely thrive on the course!

Loads of students achieve excellent GCSE and A level grades (sometimes though very hard work and or extra tutoring) - that doesn't necessarily make them the best candidates for certain degrees.

OP,

We are a highly competitive Russell Group STEM School and we barely look at GCSE grades. Our university has an English language requirement that most home students meet with their GCSE and a numeracy requirement that we essentially ignore because we require grade A or A star at Maths A level. If an applicant only had a few GCSEs we would query but, to turn tables, we have admitted many with 5s in ML, Art, etc as long as the other parameters look good.

I really don’t think this is a concern, and I write as a former admissions tutor at said School. Best wishes

PS Oxbridge are said to use GCSEs heavily and I think that is true. However quite a while ago now, DH was admitted to an Oxbridge STEM programme with a distinctly mediocre English O Level, two others that were no advertisements for his selective school, and an outright Fail. But four superb A levels and more.

Oxbridge definitely look at GCSEs

I had 3 (english, maths, biology) at Cs and Bs and they accepted me for primary teaching, psychology and social work degrees. So I think they must not look at all?

And there’s no leyway even if it’s positive!!

There is no "universities" when it comes to admissions. Different universities and different courses within them will do different things and use different criteria. There is no requirement for universities to follow a common procedure. There is also no requirement for universities or courses to make public what procedure or criteria they use to assess applicants.

Some will have an official scoring metric for GCSEs. This will be composed of some number of GCSEs, or all GCSEs, or GCSEs in some subjects. It might be used to rank applicants. It might produce a number that contributes to an overall score for each applicant. It might be used to exclude some applicants. Or it might not.

Some will use some GCSE grades, or all GCSE grades, to assess the likelihood of an applicant achieving their predicted A Level grades. Or achieving the standard offer for the course.

Some will look at GCSE subjects, or number of GCSEs, or spread of grades across subjects, to assess such things as well-roundedness, work ethic, ability to cope with high workloads or attitude to less favoured subjects to make an assessment of the attitude an applicant may bring to the course.

Some will have minimum requirements that mix university and course requirements in English, Maths and any other subject they think is relevant. Sometimes these minimum requirements will reflect the basic standard of literacy or numeracy the university or someone else feels are necessary for all students. Sometimes they will reflect the basic standard of literacy or numeracy required to succeed on a particular course. Sometimes they will just reflects a need to limit applications.

Some will consider GCSEs very important for some applicants, but not others.

Some will use GCSEs, in some kind of formation, to break a tie, at some point in the decision-making process.

Some will just feel, in some kind of abstract way, that GCSEs should matter as part of a holistic review. They'll think about them.

Some will not use them at all.

My course asks for 2 x A* and 1 x A and must find a way to reject two thirds of our applicants that doesn't rely solely on the uncertainty of a very narrow range of predicted A Level grades. For us, all things matter, in some way. For less oversubscribed courses, this would not be the case.

If your child is Oxbridge potential, they do look at GSCEs…. So it is worth trying to get as higher grades as possible.x