This can't be right can it? (Oxbridge related)

[pickledsiblings]

So 7A*s in one sitting needed to apply to Cambridge a friend tells me.

What does that mean for the accelerated maths group that are taking their iGCSE maths in Y10 and additional maths GCSE in Y11?

They can't possibly only get to count the one they take in Y11 along with their other GCSEs can they?

Apparently you can only get an A (no A*) in add maths so even more of a bummer if that's the case.

Does anyone have an answer to this before I start hitting Google? Thanks!

I'm pretty sure Cambridge don't specify number of A*s.

Have a look at this:
www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/entrance-requirements/gcse-and-a-level-requirements-facts

Thanks for that link AChicken. As I thought, there is no 'must have x amount of A*s'.

I wonder if the 7A*s thing is the school's criterion…

Nonsense. There is no minimum number required, and Oxbridge will take into account lots of different factors, including the type of school attended etc. There is a lot of misinformation out there!

Son of a friend just got in to Cambridge maths having had a very mixed set of GCSEs, but was a maths star (Olympiad level). One sitting thing is utter bollocks and I think an invention of schools to avoid a bit of hassle with kids going earlier. It gets repeated a lot on here!! I did music and maths in 4th form, add maths in 5, A level maths in 6-1 and four more in 6-2. Having one A level under my belt was a huge advantage in my uni entrance. I'd simply point out to the head that if they want 7A* they should not disadvantage the accelerated maths group - it might be that this is just some published thing and for that group the timing is treated differently. They probably don't want to count resits, but it would be madness to discriminate against the truly able - I'd check before going on warpath.

The one sitting is it utter bollocks. Universities in general are shifting to looking at best 6-10 GCSEs all done at the same time as this is a better reflection of how students will perform in Uni exams.

Discussed at conference of school heads and uni admission tutors last autumn.

It's probably the case that a substantial proportion of successful applicants have 7 A* at one sitting, but that's not the same thing at all.

its true the first lot cant get A* in 2017 for some reason

I'd also add that in the end I think it is up to the pupil to decide whether to go for Oxbridge - not the school. I know a few people who successfully defied school advice about this, especially in the case of a former partner who sat the then entrance exam outside school as the Head refused to let her take it in school. Result - one Cambridge entrance scholarship! Another practical point is that some schools make a bit of a song and dance about putting kids into the "Oxbridge/Competitive admissions group" and end up wasting their time on a whole pile of trips to unis, extension activities, blah blah, when their time would be better spent actually studying deep and around the subject they want to study and spending their summers doing something related - this is what will actually help at interview. From my days doing admissions I can say I looked forward to interviewing kids who had this kind of spirit, and never paid much attention to a school report anyway, unless there was a mitigation aspect. Such rebelliousness is high risk of course, but you only do this once, so why not?

i miss interviews

NO ONE interviews for normal universities any more it seems