GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) are the primary form of examination for secondary school students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They cover a wide variety of subjects and are directly considered within most university applications in the UK.
Clearly, these exams are very important, but two universities handle their admissions very differently; the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge (together known as Oxbridge). There are many more things that they consider when it comes to assessing their applicants, so are GCSEs really that important?
The short answer is that, yes, they are still important, but there are various caveats to consider. In this guide, we’ll explore how Oxbridge uses GCSE results and if there are any specific requirements that you need to meet with your grades.
Are GCSEs Important To Oxbridge?
As we stated before, yes, GCSEs are still going to have an impact on your Oxbridge application. However, it’s far from the only thing they consider.
What Does Oxbridge Consider During The Admissions Process?
Within a standard UK university application, the faculty will consider 3 major things:
- Your UCAS Application (including your Personal Statement and reference)
- Your GCSE Grades
- Your Predicted A-Level/Equivalent Grades
These three factors represent both your academic ability and general characteristics, which is enough for most universities in the UK.
However, Oxford and Cambridge are two of the most prestigious – and therefore most competitive – universities in the world. With over 20,000 applicants each annually, they have had to implement additional measures to ensure they can effectively select applicants to send offers to. These additional measures are:
- Admissions Tests
- Interviews
- Additional requirements (Written Work, My Cambridge Application Form)
While Oxford and Cambridge aren’t the only universities to implement these measures (all medicine applicants in the UK are required to sit an admissions test and interview), they are more dependent on these additional steps than any other university in the UK.
Not every course at Oxbridge has an admissions test, but most of the most competitive subjects do. While they don’t implement cut-off scores for these tests, the results are used to more directly assess an applicant’s subject ability and general intelligence.
The interviews are the final stage of the Oxbridge admissions process in most cases. Interviews are run by colleges and act as a way for admissions tutors to meet the most promising applicants and determine if they would be a good fit at Oxford or Cambridge.
The additional requirements are much less important but still considered. Submitting written work is typically used as a replacement for admissions tests, while the My Cambridge Application form is exclusive to Cambridge and is mostly a way to gather additional data and let applicants write a custom (though shorter) Personal Statement.
With all of these additional considerations, are GCSE results really needed by Oxbridge admissions tutors?
Do Oxford And Cambridge Look At GCSE Results?
Yes, they do. Oxford and Cambridge still consider all of the same factors that other universities do within the application process (although UCAS Tariff points are not used). However, of these factors, the admissions test results and interviews are far more important than anything else, as these are factors that have been specifically designed to demonstrate what Oxbridge are looking for.
Let’s look at the importance (weight) of each component in a pie chart:
As you can see, interviews and admissions tests take up 70% of this pie. GCSE results, predicted grades and Personal Statements all occupy the other 30%, with GCSE results taking 15% of that.
In truth, all of these factors are considered, but they are mostly used in the shortlisting process. Not every applicant is invited to interview, so the admissions tutors must shortlist a certain amount of applicants to be interviewed. This decision is made using all of the factors available at the time, including the admissions test results, Personal Statement, predicted grades and GCSE results.
Other than admissions test results, GCSE results are the most important of these factors because they are the most definitive measure of an applicant’s ability. Predicted grades are helpful but not as reliable, and the Personal Statement is not considered very important, with one Oxford tutor previously stating that Personal Statements are written more for the other universities.
After applicants have been shortlisted and interviews have been conducted, GCSE results become much less important as the tutors now have both admissions test results and interview performance to support their decision. Much of the final choice is made based on an applicant’s motivation and willingness to learn, both characteristics that are demonstrated through interviews.
This is because almost all shortlisted applicants will have the necessary academic ability and grades to be admitted. From that point, the decision becomes more about who would thrive the most in the Oxbridge environment, something that GCSE grades cannot illustrate.
Are GCSEs Important For Medical School
As we mentioned earlier, all UK medical schools use a similar admissions process to Oxbridge, implementing an admissions test and interview. This is done for the same reason as Oxbridge does; to help admissions tutors choose between the vast amounts of viable applications.
Are GCSEs considered in this process? It depends on the university you apply for, as some will place great importance on your grades while others will not look at them at all. It’s important that you check the entry requirements for the courses you are applying for and, if you’re unsure, contact the university to confirm if GCSEs will be considered.
So overall, we can see that GCSEs are important; just not as important as your admissions test and interview. However, what are the requirements put in place by Oxford and Cambridge? Let’s find out
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Oxford GCSE Requirements
First, let’s look at what GCSEs you will need to get into Oxford.
Oxford has explained its stance on GCSE results in multiple places. In all instances, the same message is made fairly clear; there are no set GCSE requirements but it is recommended that applicants have a high proportion of 7, 8 and 9 Grades. This isn’t a solid requirement, but Oxford states that most competitive applicants will apply with grades at this level.
One important thing is that grades will be considered contextually. This means that Oxford should be made aware of anything that may have caused a significant decrease in your academic performance. Examples given included major changes within your school’s system, issues with teachers, bereavement and illness.
Within these contexts, less emphasis will be placed on your GCSE grades and more so on other areas, although an improvement in performance will need to be visible in order to remain competitive.
As for subject requirements, Oxford simply states that applicants should “take GCSE subjects that they enjoy the most and are confident in achieving good grades in”. While some subjects will have specific A-level subject requirements, the same isn’t true for GCSEs.
Cambridge GCSE Requirements
Cambridge offers much less information regarding its usage of GCSE results, but it seems that it is fairly similar to how Oxford use them.
Cambridge simply states “We will look at your GCSE results as an indicator of your academic performance”. It is also mentioned that these results will be considered in the context of how well your school performs overall, meaning higher grades in a lower-performing school will likely be more favourable to the admissions tutors and vice versa.
The only other place where GCSE performance is mentioned is in relation to Sutton Trust Summer Schools, which features a few GCSE requirements and recommendations:
- Applicants must have at least five Grades 6 - 9
- Applicants for English must have achieved a Grade 7, 8 or 9 or GCSE English Language and/or Literature
- Most applicants for Architecture have achieved a Grade 7, 8 or 9 in Art
However, these requirements are not relevant to all applicants, so GCSEs are not too important for most Cambridge applications.
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What If My GCSE Grades Are Too Low?
So now we know the kinds of GCSE grades that Oxbridge are expecting, but what happens if you didn’t achieve those recommended grades?
The most important thing is to not be disheartened if your GCSEs didn’t go well. While these grades are considered in your application, Oxford and Cambridge are more interested in your current performance, usually assessed by your admissions test. As long as you’re predicted to achieve the necessary grades at A-levels/equivalent, then your GCSEs will have much less of an impact.
However, your GCSE performance directly impacts your predicted grades, so you need to ensure that the work you’re doing in AS is enough to even things out and get you to where you need to be. Predicted grades are important, but it may be possible to get shortlisted even if you don’t quite hit the mark. If you can demonstrate exceptional academic performance and subject engagement, some admissions tutors may be more forgiving.
The other important thing to consider is the context of these results. As we said before, Oxford looks at your grades contextually, so if there was any major factor that was detrimental to your GCSE performance, you should be sure to state this so that admissions tutors can better understand why you achieved lesser grades.
That covers everything you need to know about Oxford and Cambridge’s usage of GCSEs in the application process. We hope that this guide has put your mind to rest and has helped you to understand what the most important aspects of the application process are.
If you’re still feeling nervous about your grades or feel that your admissions test/interview performance won’t be enough, there are options available to help support you through each step of the application process.
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Either way, we wish you the best of luck with your application and hope that you feel prepared to take on the process.
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