If your child got into Oxbridge from a state school what GCSE grades did they get?

[Battisborough]

if your child was offered a place at Oxbridge from a state sixth form what GCSE grades did they get?

Just interested as DD says there is no point applying as she doesn’t have all 8s and 9s. Do you have to have all 8s and 9s to stand a chance? I know predicted a levels are more important but she says GCSEs come into it too. We don’t have her predicted A levels get as she is year 12.

She wants to read history. She got 5 9s (in History, 2x English, RE, Art), 3 8s (Spanish, Bio and Latin), 2 7s (Maths, Chem), 1x 6 (physics). So all 9s in subjects similar to History but weaker in science and maths.

Mine had similar to your DD - a 6, 2 7s, rest 8s and 9s
just had an offer
his 6s and 7s were closer to his subject than your DD’s are too

My dd has just had an offer from Oxford. State school educated and did not do well in her GCSEs - took 8, got mainly 6 & 7s, one 8, one 5 & one 2! So a far cry from 8s / 9s. She turned things around in 6th form, is predicted AAA and is massively passionate about her subject.

Her secondary said to apply, it was a long shot but not impossible, she did an additional 2 week summer school course linked to her study area at a good uni in London between year 12 & 13 so add to her application. She was also told lower GCSEs did not rule you out if there was evidence of progress & growth.

Apart from Oxford she got conditional offers from all the unis she applied for which includes 3 RG. So really, low GCSEs are not a blocker at all.

Her Oxford offer is conditional of both getting the grades and full participation in the Oxford opportunity scheme (for kids from underrepresented groups) . Personally, I am not convinced Oxford is the right place for her or that she will thrive there, but she’s keen!

Just to add - the opportunity scheme must be to do with being at a not very high achieving state secondary / 6th form as she’s white so not from an ethnically under represented group.

Friend of DS2's went to Cambridge to study maths with at least one 6 – I know bc DS got a 7 in the subject and was pleased haha. English language btw. Friend is a total maths whizz and got (IIRC) 4 x A-star at A level (maths, FM, CS and a n other). He got very strong GCSEs but the odd lower grade is not such an issue at Cambs as it is at Oxford apparently.

Your DD's GCSEs are excellent @Battisborough and for sure she should apply if she thinks she will enjoy it. Oxford and Cambridge have a very specific offer (short intense terms, lots of tutorial work) which does not suit everyone but can certainly be amazing.

Ds got a mixture, lowest 6 I think, offer from Cambridge from state.

Mine has 9 grade 9s and a grade 6 in further maths, which was taught fortnightly after school. I did vaguely worry that the 6 would be an issue even though he has applied for history so not a related subject. Oxford (and presumably Cambridge) publish the weighting given to different elements of candidates' applications and I believe for Oxford it's 30% each to exam grades and predicted grades, entrance exam and interview, and 10% to the written work they have to submit. They also look at the context of the school and what pupils typically get so would look less favourably at someone not getting all 8s and 9s at a school where most do, though they still wouldn't rule them out on that alone I don't think. They also publish data revealing the grades entrants each year that new entrants hold and that shows that all 8s and 9s is not essential, though obviously a lot of entrants do have this type of profile.

Ds is from a state school that sends the odd student to Oxbridge now and again but is not deprived and he didn't qualify for any outreach stuff. There were 4 applicants this year and only ds was successful and 2 got to the interview stage. The other interviewee had GCSEs very like your dd's.

I don't think she should dismiss the idea at this stage based on her grades.

My DD got into Oxford with a spread of GCSE grades from 9 to 5.

My son who is at Oxford got all 9s (but that was the COVID year when they didn’t do exams so it was teacher assessment grades.) He did go on to get 4 A stars at A level. My daughter has just received an Oxford offer and got 5 grade 9s and 5 grade 8s.

Depends on which subjects have the lower grades. My DP state educated son got in with 6s in Maths and one science as he went for History so the maths clearly not relevant.
I know Cambridge spend a lot of effort looking at grades in context, so if typical results at school are a range 6-9, they aren't going to expect people to get all 9s. But if the school typically pumps out a high proportion of all 8 and 9 then they will expect that.
My DS goes to private and got one 7 in his GCSE and got through to interview at Cambridge. Again the 7 was in a non relevant subject.

Thank you for this post - we were wondering about my DS as he had an unexpected disaster in GCSEs last year despite being predicted 7-9s. Mainly 6s. He is doing A Levels and predicted As and doing AS levels this year (the college does ASs as they are good practice and give additional data for the UCAS application, then they go on to do the full A levels the next year). He had covid 4x and glandular fever during yrs 9-11, so we kind of have a medical case for his unexpected results and he was wondering whether Oxbridge is also out, I may suggest he applies now, so long as he has 4 other colleges where the 6s/plus As at AS would be a easier bet!

Op without knowing what course the posters above dc are applying for this has little meaning.
Some courses are so popular and some less so.

Oxbridge take a holistic approach - look at A level predictions, references, personal statements, entrance exams, interviews, GCSEs in context of the type of school and area.

I would say the hardest part is the interview. They want to stretch you and it can be uncomfortable as they put you on the spot- but this is like their supervisions where you have to argue your point. They are not looking just at academics; personality fit is important. Their teaching style isn't for all. It's intense and the workload is huge.

I do wonder if city financial firms hire from Oxbridge and Imperial because they know they can work under pressure and to tight deadlines.

I tried to discourage DS from applying as I wanted him to enjoy uni rather than endure it.

@JulietSierra same as my dd what course, is your dd doing please

Can I ask where/ how you found the two week summer course? And which university?

DD had all 7s,8s and 9s. She was surprised that she had the highest grades of all her friendship group at Oxford.

She had many extra-curricular activities relating to her subject, such as winning a prestigious national competition, various summer schools and had read extensively and immersed herself in the subject.

@Battisborough if your child's school gives students access to Unifrog for researching Higher Education options be aware that, unless they've now changed it, it will only suggest courses requiring two A-stars (often required for Oxbridge and other competitive unis) if they put in a clean sweep of top GCSE grades. I wrote to them to complain about that a few years back and they replied to say "we worked with some of our partner schools to come up with the most appropriate, broad conversions". Clearly it is nonsense.

Could also be your postcode @JamNittyGritty - don't know about Oxford but a fair few RG universities will do lower offers based on postcode

I went to Cambridge back in the day.

Many Oxbridge courses have additional exams above and beyond a level. If you do very well in their tests and are predicted good a levels they don't give a shiny shit that you got a 6 in Spanish or whatever when you are applying for maths or engineering or history.

You do not need to be an all rounder. You do need to be interested in the world around you and shit hot at your subject.

Oxford look at the gcses in the context of the school where she sat them. So assuming she still outperformed the average at her school she would get a positive score for her gcses.

12 x 8s and 9s which count the same at Oxford and an A in level 3 FSMQ. E&M. Underperforming comp for GCSEs. Varies by subject what is normal and is taken in context of where sat, those grades are fine for applying.

DC1 has just received an offer (although obviously that's only half the job done - there are still results to be achieved). She sat her GCSEs at a comprehensive school which gets slightly less than average results, and then moved to a large inner-city 6th form college.

From what I've seen of my DC and their peers this year the successful ones have been bright and keen, but not noticeably brighter or keener than their high-achieving peers, with a spread of GCSE results using including a few 8-9s in some relevant subjects.

The one thing that can be said for certain is the group of people who get in is a subset of the group that apply! Her college's view is that anyone capable of achieving the typical offer should be supported to apply if they want. This group of kids are bound to get other attractive offers and so can "spare" one of their five choices for an Oxford or Cambridge application how speculative that might feel.

My nephew is in his first year at Cambridge, science subject.
He got all 9s at GCSE, all A*s at A level.
State school education throughout.

https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/undergraduate/admissions-feedback Last year's history admissions report is here, it's for the university and says the average number of GCSEs at 8s, 9s or A stars for history, remember this includes private school entrants and it will be taken in context of school. Her grades will be fine.

Daughter took her GCSE's in 2020 (first set of exams lost to Covid) so Centre Assessed grades (8x9, 2x8). Not sure how Oxbridge handled these - probably less weight attached. State school, slightly below average and in a disadvantaged post code for school and home. Applied for maths. Average MAT - no summer school and little supra curricular - decided to apply beginning of Yr13 after mulling it over in the Summer (without telling us!). She was extremely panicked about interviews as her whole school career had been built around barely speaking in class despite stellar grades from Yr 11. Predicted 3xAs 1xA. Achieved 4xAs. All over 92%. Received no help with interview practice but to be fair she would have declined it anyway if offered due to embarrassment. She really did do the application herself apart from reference and predicted grades.

Felt that the interviews went badly and indeed didn't get an offer from any of them. Was interviewed by 4. On results day got an unexpected offer from a College she had never interviewed at with an Opp Ox condition attached.

Attended the Open Day for Offer holders. Don't think she was convinced at that point that Oxford would work for her or that she would fit in. She was not in awe of the buildings and the history (unlike me!)

The Opp Ox residential was the turning point and the best thing that could have happened. She loved it and started to see herself as an Oxford student and the opportunities it could bring.

I don't know how much she talks in tutorials (they are rare now in Yr3). I don't ask. This is her journey not mine and I don't think Oxford can change your personality! But she has managed to get to Yr3 with no dramas - other than the pain in the proverbials that is emptying your room at the end of each term.

DD studied PPE. She was accepted with 4 x 9s, 3 x 8s, 2 x 7s, 1 x 6 and D for further maths at GCSE. She was the first from her school to get an offer from Oxford or Cambridge for around 10 years.

In Feb of year 12 she applied to UNIQ for a summer school at Oxford. The support continued with past papers for the TSA test and an interview workshop. Many of her friends from UNIQ went on to study at other universities. It helped to convince her to apply and that PPE was the right course.

She's now studying for a master's degree at another RG university.