How much do GCSE’s matter?

[quoque]

Ambitious DD, will do well in her A-Levels and currently getting ready for her (9) GCSE’s. She’s predicted all 8/9, but with one 6 (not a subject she plans to keep).

I keep reading that GCSE’s get evaluated by Oxbridge. Am I overthinking this 6? Is it a big deal?

You are overthinking everything. Anything can happen between now and applying for University. Does she even want to go to Oxford or Cambridge? Will she still want to in 3 years?

Be thankful she is doing well at the moment and what will be will be

Please slow down! One 6 in a sea of 8/9s is not going to make a difference at any university.

Thank you! I overthink everything and this is a situation tailor made for me to stress over.

She Is perfectly content and I have no intention of pushing her on this particular subject because she enjoys it and is happy. I just wondered.

The one to keep an eye on Ime is maths if planning university.

I'm the other side of uni, and some degree subjects need a higher mark in maths.

Particularly psychology.

Probably others but that was one that surprised me.

Afaik Oxford does evaluate GCSEs relative to the performance of the school. Cambridge less so, especially for subjects unrelated to the degree.

Oxford info is in here.

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/admission-requirements/uk-qualifications

English language is also important from that point of view and needed for Apprenticeships - grade 4 in both. Still, a 6 is a B on 'old money'.

My understanding is that Oxbridge does look at your GCSEs in a contextual way - if her school often gets straight nines, one 6 is an issue. But otherwise it should be okay, though bear in mind many (most) applicants will have 10 strong GCSEs.

For other unis it’s fine! (Except maybe for medicine)

DS2 is predicted 4 A* for his A levels and has an offer from Cambridge for Maths. His GCSEs were 8s and 9s with one 6 for English.

One 6 won’t make much difference to anything if she aces everything else! It might if it’s maths or English. Bristol also look at GCSEs but most universities want the best A levels for the course. Oxford often have additional tests and many pieces of info to establish a full picture. So just encourage her and hope for a 7.

DC was rejected from Durham for which they give their reason. It stated that their 10 GCSE grades were not as competitive as other applicants. The course was cut throat and very oversubscribed. Their A level predicted grades were 3 A stars and 1 A with one of the A stars in their chosen subject.

Their GCSE grades were 6 grade 9s, 3 grade 8s and 1 grade 7. So yes some unis will use it to cull applicants and my personal feeling is that they culled anyone with a 7, that might be incorrect but most unis treat 8s and 9s as the same grade.

It all worked out as they are now at Warwick and very happy and had 4 offers just the one rejection from Durham. I would say that honestly it doesn't matter about the 6, better to ace out the others. If your DD is worried then post on the Secondary board for guidance on how to help her increase it. GCSEs are a point scoring game and you need to know how to score those points.

1 6 is fine.

Oxbridge and medicine do take GCSEs into account but they look at it in the context of the school attended (eg how a student has performed compared to their peers), they usually only use the top 8 grades achieved, they also look at number of top grades achieved compared to the number of GCSEs taken, and also take other factors into account eg is the 6 in a subject that requires talent rather than academic ability (art, music, PE), mitigating factors like illness, no teacher, dyslexia for a language GCSE.

Occasionally, courses have specifications for specific grades in some subjects, usually Maths and English or a subject directly relevant to the course, particularly if it isn’t studied at A level.

What subject is the 6 in and what type of degrees is she interested in?

They’re predictions, op. She could do better than a 6 in the one she’s predicted a 6 in, and worse in the others 🤷🏻‍♀️
You write as though it’s all a foregone conclusion, “She will do well in her A Levels”…
She hasn’t sat GCSE’s yet.

It can matter for specific courses. Eg a friend’s child was told a medicine application to Cardiff wouldn’t be competitive with a 7 because 9/8s are scored as a 3 and 7 is scored as a 2. That 1 mark difference on a very competitive course, would make them unlikely to be selected for interview.
It’s wrong that universities aren’t obliged to be fully transparent on their websites, but this is the value of going to open days and asking questions to pick up these nuances. Otherwise your DC could be wasting a slot on their UCAS form.

Bristol frequently say GCSEs are factored in, often 20% GCSE and 80% A level. It’s not correct to say only Oxbridge and medicine. However they don’t say what candidate profile they are looking for but obviously there’s a cut off point but the A level typical offer might push up GCSE requirement.

Thank you - that’s really helpful. The subject is arts-based rather than a core academic subject and she wants to do languages or similar at uni. She’s predicted 9’s in her languages and is also doing well in a good spread of others, so there’s room to change her mind. She loves this subject, but I think you have to have a lot of innate talent r to excel (I did so badly at art for my GCSE but enjoyed it tremendously!).

I’m not interested in sucking the joy out of it by making it into a huge deal, but curious to know if it might have repercussions.

And of course she could surprise us all!

I miscounted above - she’s doing 10 subjects.

Thank you all for the really helpful answers - much appreciated.

I think having one subject they don’t find easy is a good thing - reminds them they do need to work. And good to learn something out of their comfort zone although I know we all obsess about grades

I really doubt anywhere does a score by totting up points for each gcse taken, because that would be grossly unfair on applicants from schools which only allow 8 or 9 subjects vs those which allow 10 or 11.
My understanding is that typically they'd look at no more than 8.

Only up to a point. GCSEs can easily be gamed with intensive teaching and all universities know this and look at GCSE profiles within the context of a school's overall GCSE profile rather than compare results nationally (which GCSEs were designed to allow but hey...)

It entirely depends what the school is like and what the 6 is in.

A 6 in art when someone is applying to do French - not a big issue. A 6 in French - more of a problem.

A 6 among 8s/9s when that performance puts her in the top students of the school will get overlooked more than a 6 in a school where everyone gets straight 9s. But even then tutors will look at what the 6 is in and apply common sense as to whether it matters for the chosen course.

At Oxbridge the process of who gets shortlisted and who gets a place is not algorithmic- it is human beings looking at the information holistically and trying to make a decision in the round. The way it is sometimes talked about on internet forums is as though everything was done by stats and algorithms.

At Oxbridge the process of who gets shortlisted and who gets a place is not algorithmic- it is human beings looking at the information holistically and trying to make a decision in the round. The way it is sometimes talked about on internet forums is as though everything was done by stats and algorithms.

Some other unis may have to be much more 'computer says no', at least for some oversubscribed courses, because they're not doing all the additional tests and interviews. Oxford and Cambridge put the time and effort into selection and it's not just on GCSEs and predicted A levels - an applicant with asymmetric talents may get a place whereas an all rounder with perfect school grades may not. Oxford's required A level grades are often a bit lower than elsewhere... given they evidently allow for something not going perfectly at that stage I find it very hard to believe that a gcse 6 alongside 8 8/9 grades will rule out an applicant. And it definitely doesn't at Cambridge.

@quoque If it’s her art based subject, I would not worry.Apart from Oxbridge, MFLs are not that competitive anywhere. Not hugely competitive at Oxbridge when compared to some subjects! If she wants MFL at university, is she doing 2 MFLs now? My DD was able to do that and then keep 2 for A level. She really enjoyed them and did her degree in them. I agree it’s GCSE profile they can look at and for MFLs, essay subjects are useful but a 6 in an arts subject really won’t matter.

Yes I could have added more detail. They list the subjects they include in their scoring (can’t remember exactly but I think it was Maths, English and sciences) and she had a 7 in one of those, all the rest 9s. It is unbelievable, but when they have a scoring system they will apply it and if you fall on the wrong side of the line your application wont be competitive. They were very clear.

It’s the Maths, English language, Biology and Chemistry (or double science) grades plus their highest 5 grades in other subjects. The maximum score is 27 but the cut off for interview can be 25/26 points.

That is just for medicine at Cardiff though. You don’t need 8+ 8/9s for medicine, even at Oxbridge.

Nolonger, after today's announcement that a level 2 English and maths qualification is a must-have to complete an apprenticeship.