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Higher education

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Any point in applying to Oxford with GCSE grade 6…

29 replies

Testerical · 20/08/2025 22:47

in Maths? She got 7/6 in combined science. The rest were all 7s + 2 9s in non-STEM subjects.

DD is interested in experimental psychology.

She won’t have the required A Levels for similar at Cambridge.

She is predicted A star/ A star/ B in Psychology A Level/ Criminology (WJEC - L3 equivalent)/ Philosophy and Ethics A Level respectively.

She has tried out the screening tests Oxford use for logic, verbal and mathematical reasoning, and is scoring ~= 90%.

Loads of highly relevant paid work and voluntary work experience - circa 8 hrs a week over 2 years.

She always thought she was “not academic” throughout her schooling. But, her predicted grades and her unexpected success with the screening tests (plus sheer stubbornness about not having been “put forward” for Oxbridge by her school) has made her do a bit of a rethink.

She has another very niche, very expensive course in mind which I’m sure she would love and do well at so this is a “what if” sort of proposition rather than her singleminded goal.

Also, on that subject - do institutions you’ve applied to through UCAS see which other places you’ve applied to? I’d naively presumed it was like schools, where applications were blind … but maybe not: if not, I think they’d be baffled by the other application choice as although in the same ballpark it isn’t immediately adjacent.

She won’t be covered under any school or neighbourhood- based widening participation criteria, which is fair enough, as both parents have degrees and own their own houses with mortgages. She does have a moderate SpLd and gets 25% extra time but I’m not sure that’s relevant here aside from getting her additional time for the screening tests.

(edited because the formatting did weird things to predicted grades)

OP posts:
foxglovetree · 21/08/2025 14:08

I have been involved with Oxford admissions (not for Psychology).

At shortlisting stage, you have to get it down to about 3 candidates per place. The first thing to look at is A level predictions - it’s extremely unlikely that an admitting tutor would shortlist anyone whose school is signalling that they don’t think they can make the offer conditions.

A 6 at GCSE maths might not be a dealbreaker in some subjects but if they say for Psych they expect a 7 minimum, that is also likely to increase the risk of deselection. But the 7 is only a recommendation, GCSEs are looked at contextually, and I guess if she did stonkingly well on the TSA and showed her mathematical aptitude in there, then it might compensate. The B prediction is a bigger problem as achieving A*AA is a requirement not just a recommendation.

ClearFoundation · 21/08/2025 18:28

@Littleorex I understood that to be the case, unless you "remove" them as a choice and then I don't think they get to see anything.

GlobalTravellerbutespeciallyBognor · 02/02/2026 19:47

What are the screening tests you are referring to? Your DD did very well in those.

Fatsnowflake · 02/02/2026 21:40

There will be candidates applying from state school backgrounds with all 8s and 9s at GCSE and 3 to 4 A* predictions for A level. I think it would be a waste of an option with a B prediction and gcse grades in that ballpark. It’s so competitive, they are looking for reasons not to invite you to interview.

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