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Original poster

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

81 replies

Battisborough · 19/01/2025 07:56

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.

OP posts:
Risingroad · 18/03/2025 16:52

One of my state school kids got a Cambridge offer with all 9s bar two 8s. The other got a C interview but not an offer with something like a 5, a 6, a 7, 3x8 and 2x9. Personally, I think the writing samples were more of a problem for latter than the GCSE results. State school kids probably indirectly disadvantaged if they don't have a good selection of marked take-home essays to choose from. Just a hunch.

coffeerevelsrule · 20/03/2025 11:03

Just to pick up on the comment about written work samples, ds has an offer from Oxford and used one of his Y12 mock responses for the written work. He goes to nice but quite average state school and didn't have loads of essays to choose from but I have a feeling Cambridge requires more than one? I don't think it would be an advantage to have lots of written at home essays as it could be that students had help/took ages etc. DS was advised that using a mock response made it clear that it was completely his own work and he had done it in timed conditions, which was a positive.

ApriCat · 20/03/2025 14:42

DD applied post-results, CoffeeRevels, and had a real struggle to find marked work to send in as she hadn't thought about it the previous year.

PettsWoodParadise · 21/03/2025 07:15

@coffeerevelsrule i don’t know all subjects and all colleges but DD had to submit two pieces of written work. These did not have to be for the subject she was applying for so she sent in one English essay and one classical civilisation. These were purposefully not timed pieces as iirc they wanted marked pieces I think so they could see what sort of feedback and support (or lack of) they were getting. She had the timed assessment as part of the application process so they in effect got a third example that way.

ScratchyBoat · 21/03/2025 18:04

JamNittyGritty · 19/01/2025 08:17

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!

Out of interest what subject will she be reading?

PandaG · 21/03/2025 18:12

10 A star, 1 A (one mark off A star) and A in additional maths (highest grade possible). He also got 4Astar at A level, though his offer was 2 A* and 2A. Went to our local comp, but there is plenty of parental support and a fairly leafy catchment, so perhaps not so typical. School had 14 of his year go to Oxbridge, was a particularly bumper year for Ox/Cam in his school, but having a bunch of sparky, bright, motivated friends pushed each of them further, his friendship group was so good for him.

Edit to try to make clear, the asterisks bolded instead of showed up, and I can't delete them!

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 21/03/2025 18:15

If 14 people from the same state school all go to Oxford that surely isn’t right either?

PandaG · 21/03/2025 18:32

As I said, it was a particularly bumper year, really sparky kids. Hills Road sixth form in Cambridge, have around 75 students a year at Oxbridge - yes it has an intake of about 2000, in comparison to the approx 500 in the sixth form of our local school, but still a higher percentage .

ofteninaspin · 21/03/2025 19:59

Brampton Manor secured 50 offers last year and I think the intake is around 400.

ChangeTheBeds · 21/03/2025 20:12

Niece at Cambridge got 9x 9s and an 8 at GCSE.
I'd say research the colleges really carefully- look for those that offer most places to state school pupils. It's not all about grades.

growinguptobreakingdown · 21/03/2025 20:23

Mine has an offer for Cambridge. 1 x 7 ,4 x 8s and the rest all 9s.She did an extra self studied GCSE at home and got a 9, and is continuing it as a 4th A level and I think that got her the interview.Plus she got on a higher aspiration scheme over the summer for state pupils and did really well there.
Edited to say she is the only 1 who got an Oxbridge offer in her year.

JamNittyGritty · 21/03/2025 23:04

ScratchyBoat · 21/03/2025 18:04

Out of interest what subject will she be reading?

Show quote history

Classics

PermanentTemporary · 21/03/2025 23:19

Ds - comp to Cambridge CompSci with a 6, a couple of 7s, then the rest 8s and 9s. I do think CompSci is its own little bubble, but not that different from other courses in that they look at performance compared to school average, specialist exams, predicted grades and interview performance. Offer rates are not high for it though, history is a bit better in that regard.

Original poster
Battisborough · 22/03/2025 06:13

PandaG · 21/03/2025 18:32

As I said, it was a particularly bumper year, really sparky kids. Hills Road sixth form in Cambridge, have around 75 students a year at Oxbridge - yes it has an intake of about 2000, in comparison to the approx 500 in the sixth form of our local school, but still a higher percentage .

I always get cross about Hills Road which seems to take a lot of kids who were privately educated to 16, dress them up as private school kids and feed them over to Oxford to improve the state school stats (few want Cambridge as they live there and more often than not they have a parent who is an academic there).

OP posts:
Fernandoo · 22/03/2025 06:18

Nephew. 10 A * 1 B

ApriCat · 22/03/2025 06:34

Battisborough · 22/03/2025 06:13

I always get cross about Hills Road which seems to take a lot of kids who were privately educated to 16, dress them up as private school kids and feed them over to Oxford to improve the state school stats (few want Cambridge as they live there and more often than not they have a parent who is an academic there).

Show quote history

Some. Many or most of the Oxbridge acceptances are from the local 'village college' state schools. (And typically it's been fairly 50:50 Cambridge vs Oxford, from what I've seen.)

You could certainly argue that the average Hills student is fairly privileged, and the college is also selective in its intake.

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 22/03/2025 07:36

Shocking!

ApriCat · 22/03/2025 08:14

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 22/03/2025 07:36

Shocking!

Absolutely!

Umm, which bit of which post?

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 22/03/2025 09:41

Posh kids being dressed up as state school kids and then all going to Oxbridge.

sakura06 · 22/03/2025 09:55

One of my relatives got straight 9s at GCSE (state school) and is there now. I had an offer in the 2000s (but messed up my A levels 🫣😔) with GCSEs at A*/A from a state school.

sakura06 · 22/03/2025 10:03

She should definitely apply if she wants to go. Those results are great.

Muchtoomuchtodo · 22/03/2025 10:33

ChangeTheBeds · 21/03/2025 20:12

Niece at Cambridge got 9x 9s and an 8 at GCSE.
I'd say research the colleges really carefully- look for those that offer most places to state school pupils. It's not all about grades.

How easy is it to find that information, is it broken down into subjects or just the number of successful state school applicants?

ramonaquimby · 22/03/2025 10:35

State schools
all 8s and 9s
3 A stars

have no idea what their uni friends got, not something I've asked about

ChangeTheBeds · 22/03/2025 10:43

The unis publish overall statistics on admissions. You could look at The Tab for more information- and just a general google brings up articles which rank colleges by public/ state school admissions. Be aware that post grad only or education colleges may skew the figures.
www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publications/ug_admissions_statistics_2023_cycle.pdf