If you child went to Oxbridge what GCSE results did they have?

[MockBatter]

Just wondering whether you need all 8s and 9s for a shot at Oxbridge. My child just got slightly worse results than expected and says that has dashed their chances of applying to Oxbridge. Is that true?

In answering it would be helpful to know whether the child was applying from state or private school as I suppose that could make a difference in the grades Oxbridge would consider.

It's regarded as equivalent to an A'Level. Not broadly relevant to dd's degree but she went to a college famous for its choral activities. It's a bit of enrichment of the application I think.

Oxbridge doesn't care about extra curriculars unless relevant to the subject applied for.

State school. All 9s. 2 x A*, 1 A at A level and an A in the EPQ.

You are kidding loads get all 8s and 9s

I don’t have stats on that as I don’t think they are recorded. I guess “loads” is a bit subjective anyway. How many do you mean?

It’s genuinely the case (look it up) that of students taking seven or more GCSEs in one sitting in 2024 (cannot see the point of looking at years 2020-2023 tbh bc Covid), about 1,200 gained all grade 9s. So I am not kidding about that. And they won’t all go to Oxford. A student I know who got all 9s in 2023 is at Bath; another went to music college in London.

Obviously more students will get all grade 8 and 9 than will get all 9s. But I genuinely cannot imagine that the figure is in the multiples of thousands it would need to be for Oxford and Cambs to fill all their first-year places from this group. Between them they take about 8,000 students each year. Do 8,000 YP gain all 9s or all 8s and 9s each year? I genuinely doubt it (tho as I say, I don't think there are figures). And in any case as I say, they won’t all want to go to Oxford or Cambs, for lots of reasons. If you have stats for “all 8s and 9s at GCSE” I would be interested.

As you can see from these responses, all of the successful applicants meet the criteria of having a majority of grades 7 and above.

I think there probably are a lot of successful applicants who all get 8s and 9s. But the point (from the OP's kid's perspective) is that you don't have to.

If a straight run of 8s and 9s was that important to them, they'd make it an explicit condition. I'm going to assume that there are some fairly smart people in admissions at Oxbridge, so I think we can conclude that they have thought about this, and have decided that they want people with less-than-perfect grades to consider applying.

Oxford/Cambridge aren't going to knock back your application in horror if they see anything other than 8s and 9s. Every year they turn down candidates with perfect grades, and every year they let in other people with less than perfect grades.

Yes absolutely. Which is what the OP’s DC has so happy days.

I agree also with @PacificState – if all 8s and 9s was essential it would be listed as such. These unis are interested in what a student can offer and how well they can do. Yes of course they look at grades at A level and at GCSE but it’s a real shame if someone who perhaps would be a strong candidate thinks they had better not apply because they didn't get all 9s or even all 8s and 9s.

OP’s DC got 7s, 8s and 9s. Best 8 grades includes 9s, 8s and one 7. And yet they think their Oxford hopes are dashed. But they are not. All the best to your DC @MockBatter

Two of my immediate family went (not my kids tho)
each had 10 x 9's and 1 x 8 and both 8's were in French.

A selective state grammar with c.200 in the year group has stated that 10 of their students got all ten subjects at grade 9, and 29 students got all grade 9s and 8s this summer.

Wondering how many pupils at an average non-selective comp got all 9s and 8s. I'm guessing can count on both hands.

10 out of 200 is still only 5%

Which is exactly why Oxford, Cambridge and other top universities don't put up grade barriers around GCSEs preferring to look at applications holistically & the applicant's potential.

DD lives in an area where only around 30% achieve 5 GCSEs including maths and English. Her results were exceptional for her cohort, but I remember posters telling me at the time that she didn't have a hope of even getting an interview. She's currently completing her post grad, so thank goodness she had the confidence to ignore them.

There is so much inaccurate info shared on every MN Oxbridge thread. If in doubt, check what the university says. They bend over backwards to share useful info.

DD got 4 x 9, 3 x 8, 3 x 7, including a 9 in the MFL she applied for. Leafy suburb state comp. Subsequently, in an independent school, A, A A, the A in the MFL.

Your child should not be discouraged! What they should do instead is start reading around the subject(s) they are thinking of applying for and taking copious notes, and finding other ways to show how keen they are on it/them - volunteering, attending talks/lectures etc. Oxbridge looks for evidence of enthusiasm alongside GCSE grades, predicted A level grades, and their own aptitude test results (if any).

OP, I defo think you should encourage your kid to apply if that's what they want to do.

I've been following Cambridge's social media for the last couple of years and they definitely accepts kids who have a mix of 9s, 8s and 7s.

There's a Tik Tok account called 'Caius Schools' which is outreach for Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and they have a few posts about GCSE results, what they're looking for in applicants etc etc. It may be useful to have a look through?

A starred x 2, A x1 at A level. My asterisks have caused confusion.

DC1 went to a very ordinary state comp

5 x A*
3 x A
1 x B

Graduated 3 years ago (Humanities degree)

As others have said, potential counts as well

That's a useful SM resource @Itsforthebest, thanks

How do I find out the school's average GCSE scores for contextual consideration? I can't see that specific figure on their website.

And is it just Cambridge who look at how the rest of the cohort performed or other unis too?

DS got 12x A stars at GCSE and DD got 7x9 and 2x8. Both 4 x A star at A Level (STEM subjects).

However, their friends were not the same. All did very well, obviously, but not all 9s or A*

OP, there's some info from Oxford here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/decisions/contextual-data

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm guessing they look at a school's attainment 8 score which will give the average score for GCSE results.

Have twins - both achieved straight 9s and 4A stars but only one received an offer. Both achieved the same admissions test score overall. These grades are a factor but are not the whole story. Regarding the one at Oxbridge, pretty much all their friends on the same course were given a 3 A star offer.

I think you should apply if you have a genuine interest in the subject and not get too hung up on grades, just go for it - you never know!

This is simply not true for Oxford offers. The standard Oxford offer for arts and humanities subjects (and some social sciences) is AAA and it is identical for all candidates at all colleges. You can easily look up the standard Oxford offer for a specific course on their webpage.

It's not regarded as in any way equivalent to an A level for the purpose of Oxbridge admissions.

If you say so, I'll let my colleagues know 👍🏼
I might not bother telling the sixth formers I know who didn't make their offers

The most outstanding student at DSs sixth form, both on paper and in person (though he never got the chance to show it) didn't get an Oxford interview. One quite under performing person from same class did. So it can be really random and a lottery.

We know twins who were in this situation. The one that didn't get in is just as happy where he is. It's a good example of how it's a lottery, plus that offers involve A stars