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.

Oh, I see.

That's why I was commenting that the Hills Road intake is mostly not-posh, and not-private. Relatively privileged, yes, by dint of the area and the mostly decent state school options there.

Cambridge from state 6th form college, 6x9 2x8, 2x7.

Agree that the written work could be a problem if the school is not engaged. For MML, DC's Cam college asked for two essays in the target language, and they hadn't done any yet at 6th form. Fortunately, his language teacher was good enough to set and mark two essays , one timed, one homework, off-syllabus and he submitted them. I'm not sure that would happen at all state schools.

For the pre-tests, I found the mark scheme and did a couple of mocks, the school - and many parents - wouldn't have had the time/resources to do this but I'm sure private schools are all over it.

@tortoise18 where did your dc take their GCSEs?

I’m just starting to look at POLAR and ACORN scores to see how that might affect dc’s application (if they decide to apply). Does anyone have much knowledge of this?

We need to register for the MAT test, fortunately we won’t have to worry about essays.

Bog standard comp 2x9 6x8 2x7

In terms of parents and schools sometimes not having the time or resources to find past papers and mark schemes etc I agree, but surely the main driver of it all should be the young person themselves? I sometimes think I'm too involved in ds and his endeavours, but he has been the one doing all the research. He exhausted all the past papers online for the entrance test he had to do and created some of his own. As a teacher of a different but similar subject I had a go at marking some when he gave me the mark scheme but it was pretty much a stab in the dark! I think some schools don't do enough to encourage students to apply but I tend to think if a student has a parent capable of going online and finding all the requisite information then by definition they should be doing that themselves.

@coffeerevelsrule completely agree with this.
DD didn’t need to take an admissions test for her subject so her application really was straightforward and required no input from myself or DH.
DS completed the few available past papers he could find online for his subject but could not find a mark scheme/answers for all of them. We didn’t purchase any additional practice papers as we did not know they existed at the time and DS had left his prep rather late anyway and would not have time to do them.