Are these GCSE grades good enough for Uni

[TheGreekTaverna]

So, dear child got there GCSE results last week and unsurprisingly, given lack of revision until day before each exam, ended up with 2x8, 4x7, 3x6, 1x5.

They were predicted at least 7s but basically, said that teachers had told them that University doesn't actually look at GCSEs for entry. Dear child is very lazy so will try and get away with doing absolute minimum.

I went to Uni in the 1980s so know that things are different now.

Given dear child's total lack of work ethic, not sure Uni is right place for them. Very bright but doesn't want to work. When I suggest doing any they got very defensive.

Dear child has also chosen notoriously difficult A Levels. Maths, Physics and Computer Science.

So, really looking for Mumsnetters input. Do you think that they still have a chance to turn things around and secure a place at a good Uni???

Thank you.

Thanks for all the responses. He got a 6 in English language and a 7 (3 marks off an 8) in Maths.

Sounds like he should be ok if he decides to start working. This is a relief! 😊

If he hasn't got a 9 in maths or physics- he will struggle as you said he can be prone to being lazy.
And even getting a 9 doesn't mean he'll get through without putting effort in it. They are notoriously difficult.
But you can't force him and the year 12 mocks will (are always) a wake up call.

I got a couple of D's at GCSE, and nothing higher than a C at A-level. Still got a 2:1 and distinctions in my MA at uni though (Reading). The stuff you do after school is just much more interesting IMO.
His results are very good anyway. Did he get 7's and 8's in the things he wants to do at A-level? If so I really can't see what your issue is at all. Unless he got the 5 in maths, which probably would be an issue.

Sounds like he should be ok if he decides to start working.

With maths, he needs to realise that he needs to start working now. A 7 in maths means that he won't be fully fluent in the GCSE techniques needed to succeed at A-level. I really hope he completed any bridging work that the school set over the summer.

It is really common for pupils like your DS to not realise how much independent work they need to be putting into their A-levels, outside of lessons and on top of homework. When the school say he should be doing an hour of work outside of lessons for each hour he is in a lesson, they mean it.

He thing is his grades are what they are unless he's going to resit.

Does he understand that doing no revision meant he didn't achieve what he could have done and may struggle with 'A' level?

There is a huge difference between gcse and 'A' level, if he doesn't change his attitude he will struggle. Would a more vocational qualification be better?

Listen to what @noblegiraffe says, she always gives really good advice esp around maths.

My experience is that the academic kids who are good at maths take maths. It's harder therefore for a child who isn't a natural to get a high grade ie A star or an A.

Yes for sure !

Why on earth do you think those are terrible grades? No wonder kids are feeling the pressure if they’re expected to only gets 8s and 9s

Yes of course they’re good enough for uni. However, getting a 6 in the subject they want to do at degree level is more of an issue. If it wasn’t just a bad day Either they’ll have to put some more work in or re-think the choice of degree.

There is hope OP, my DS was very lazy at GCSEs and though he passed them all, got worse grades than yours. I still feel frustrated at this, though I also adore him, it’s just the wasted potential that gets to me. He’s at uni now and doing absolutely fine. He worked much better for his A levels and seems even more committed to his degree, he was probably just immature at 16. He knows I wasn’t delighted with his GCSEs, they were a solid set of results but really, he could have achieved more. I can’t be really proud of my DS for not doing his best, so I fully sympathise.

My younger DC got GCSE results last week and although they are not as good as your DC’s, I am proud and delighted as this DC has more than achieved their potential and has got great results and is going on to do A levels too.

Of course I know the difference 🙄

So you use them wrongly intentionally?!

Your child may well be fine, but they will need to put in a lot of work to begin with-especially with the maths. My DS got a 9 in maths and further maths at GCSE and still found the workload overwhelming at A level. The kids continuing with further maths at A level seemed to find it much easier. He said he had to do twice as much work for maths at lower sixth than any other subject (computer science, physics and business).

If your child is as 'lazy' as you say and still managed to get those marks for GCSE then seems perfectly capable of getting good A levels for uni. People get in to uni with Cs and Ds, but it's likely your child will do better.

Are you taking the mick? Your poor child.

@noblegiraffe is a Maths legend round these parts. even marked a MNer’s Child’s paper as far as I remember on year? He thought he could do pretty well without a lot of study?

I’d forgotten about that!

He actually turned out to be really, really good at maths.

(Which is not something the OP’s DS should rely on, it was an extreme outlier).

What does he want to study at uni? It is helpful if you actually name the subject as you have only said they got a grade 6 in it. As noble (well respected maths teacher) has said getting a 7 in maths at GCSE means he will have a bit of a slog now for the jump to A level. He needs to start putting in effort. Ask his sixth form what grades students coming in on a 7 usually get. A while ago noble posted a table of actual students from GCSE to A level progression grades for maths which was eye opening in terms of a 7 most likely to come out with a D or C grade.

GCSE grades can determine A level grades. If your son wants to study computer science at uni then he would be better also taking further maths but his laziness may make this impossible. In terms of GCSE grades they form part of a picture for uni applications, from A level predicted grades, teacher references and personal statement.

Maybe to bring this home to him look at the best universities for his chosen subject, look at their entry grades. Using my DC's sixth form method of predicting A levels grades from the start of year 12 (mean of GCSE grades) your son would come out with A/B. Which uni accepts those grades? Bare in mind entry grades are the lowest level they accept so a lot of successful applicants will have higher grades.

Also the attitude that his chosen A level subjects are difficult is not great. It would help to excuse any lack of effort on his behalf, ie he doesn't get good grades because these are hard. But if he actually worked at them he could get high grades. Lots of students do.

Agree with pp that a 7 in maths will necessitate some hard work to achieve a good a level grade. Assume the physics grade is an 8? Otherwise that will be very tough too.

It will completely depend on how hard he is willing to work at A level. I've known students get a 9 in Physics GCSE but come in with the wrong attitude and fail the first set of exams we do in January. And I've known students get a 7 at GCSE having done the bare minimum and really thrive when teachers and parents take a bit of a step back at A level.

If I were you I'd stop any / all hassling him about his school work and see how he copes in the first half term. In my experience, those unwilling to work in those subjects at A level really stand out (not in a good way) as the vast majority who pick them are hard workers. We set approx 2-3 hrs of homework per subject per week and students tend to do 1-2 on top of that as independent study.

Op as other have said, those grades, which range from C to A-star in old money, are fine for the majority of unis.

A levels are a challenge tho so consider when applying through UCAS what their likely grade will be. A 7 in maths is the lowest grade generally recommended for A level. Is the 6/degree subject CS? Why did they get a 6? - lack of work, lack of understanding (not great) messed up the paper (less of an issue)?

They may move towards a different degree anyway - those choices lead to lots of great courses.

Just because the DC has gained a solid set of results, which is better than many could achieve, doesn’t mean OP has to be thrilled with them. It also doesn’t mean they are a shoo-in to the next stage or for all Uni courses.

So yes, a 7 at GCSE is a good grade. It’s better than the average by a decent amount. And at the same time, it’s not a strong grade to be starting A Level maths from - statistics show the grades kids get at A Level when they start Maths A Level with a 6 or 7. Outcomes are not impressive.

And yes, those grades will be good enough to do A Levels and to go to Uni. But there are a range of unis and some will be fine with those grades and some courses at some places, quite simply would expect and require more. Understanding what different grades will allow you to access is really important. And understanding that GCSE grades are a strong predictor of A Level success is also important. This child has done well. Their results are good are significantly better than most, but they aren’t stellar results and if they want to do a highly competitive course at a top Uni, they will be competing for places against those who do have those stellar results.

In the end, I guess we all hope our kids will fulfill their potential. It’s different for different kids. For some, the grades the Op’s DC got would never be achievable. For others, they would be a big disappointment. Both are fine and feeling thrilled and feeling disappointed about the same grades is okay.

Op knows her DC and knows he has been lazy. Lucky for him, he’s also bright and has got a decent set of results. She is aware of his laziness and can see how it could impact his A Levels. He needs the maturity to spot that too and to develop the drive to be motivated and work hard. If he is capable of Bs and As at A Level, it would be a shame if OP is here in 2 years saying DS has got 3 Ds and has a very limited range of options in Clearing. Some will say she shouldn’t be disappointed, because going to any Uni is a great achievement, but if he has been capable of more, it’s fine to be disappointed with both results and also the work ethic shown.

These grades open the doors to the next stage for him. It is now up to him whether he will fool around or fulfill his potential, but he hasn’t closed the door at this stage.

@TheGreekTaverna I feel similar to you. My DS went to a very high achieving private school and got 1x9 , 3X8, 2x7 , 3x6. The top universities are now out of bounds, he won't be staying at the school. Many parents that I know have a clean sweep of 9"s or 8/9 from both state and independent schools. DS is lazy and is now full of regret but I imagine he will get over it in no time. .He is going to put 100% in everything from now on ( we've heard that before). At least I won't be paying absorbent school fees.

givinghope I'm sorry to hear of your disappointment. I suspect many independent school parents worry about this. Indeed I wouldn't pay for sixth form and see how they get on.

OP many moons ago I did A level maths and physics. I was a hard worker and quite smart but they weren't easy. my aunt used to teach maths gcse and recommended only doing it for A level if you got an A or A* otherwise she said it was too hard for students. What is your child planning to study at University? I would hesitate to sign up for something that you got a mediocre gcse in.
I know there are horses for courses and not everyone is an A* student but if your child is very bright I would expect them to have a suite of 8s and 9s. A school near us does not let you stay for sixth form if you get more than one 7 or below...

A school near us does not let you stay for sixth form if you get more than one 7 or below...

But a 7 is an A in old money. So you’re saying a school would turn away a student with straight As? Or even 2x A and the rest A*? Blimey, what a time to be alive!

These days, most schools don’t actually turn kids away from their 6th forms altogether and ‘cull’ although often the word on the local street is that this happens.

What does happen, is that as at every other school and sixth form college, individual courses have grade entry requirements. So it could be that to do Maths you need an 8 and to do other subjects a 7. So, someone might need meet the criteria for 3 specific subjects or not for those they want to do. They might then leave…and say they were thrown out. Usually most schools now offer at least one other course that students who don’t meet the requirements can do, although whether they want to is a different matter. Some selective schools offer a BTEC so that they can say there is a place for everyone in their 6th Form. However, many won’t want to do the BTEC and might well get onto A lEvels with lower grades at another institution. So they might leave. But they haven’t been forced to leave the institution.

Most places set a general A Level requirement and also specific A Level subject requirements. It’s just that these vary. Selective schools will usually want a 7/8 to study that subject at A Level. Other places will take someone for that subject with a 5. Selective schools will argue that their capable cohort needs to be able to move at the pace that suits the able students and someone of L5 standard won’t keep up or be able to engage fully to the level they need to make orogress - that the environment won’t be right for students with a L5. It’s all debatable. Perhaps it’s true or perhaps they do t want students with L5 who are likely to get D and below at A Level pulling down their A Level profile in 2 years.

The thing is, that these things are usually made clear in advance. Often students or families seem shocked by grade requirements in August, but actually when they joined The particular school, they knew it was selective and certain grades would be needed for certain A Levels. They will have been told at various stages through the school. But kids and parents often block this out when they are borderline or not likely to meet the criteria.