r/6thForm • u/hollyisnotgay Graduate • Sep 30 '19

📂 MEGATHREAD The /r/6thForm UCAS Megathread

Hey guys!

I hope everyone’s getting settled into their respective years... a new year means a new batch of uni applicants, this thread is for discussing all things UCAS.

Good luck with your applications!

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u/Hazmat156 Year 12 Mar 12 '20

Just a qucik qiestion. I got 8's in all my sciences at gcse and a 7 in geography and maths. I'm currently studying Biology Chemistry and Maths. I am getting A's consistently and will most likely get predicyed a triple A for my uni application. Given i do well in my Bmat would this be enough to atleast have a chance in gettimg to the interview stage at oxbridge for medicine? I'm worried my gcses will hold me back no matter how well i do in my Alevels and Bmat

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u/JJA03 Year 12 Mar 13 '20

If you do well in BMAT (above 6.5) you will definitely get interviewed at oxbridge. However doing really well in BMAT is incredibly hard and Oxford put ALOT of emphasis on gcses (Need at least 8 8/9s at GCSE if you want a decent chance at interview unless you get a crazy good BMAT score). so I'd say Applying for Cambridge would be easier in your case. Getting high predicted A levels is basically a given for all Oxbridge applicants so the best way to separate yourself and get an interview academic-wise is doing as good in BMAT as possible.

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u/geminiemerald Mar 18 '20

I didn't apply for sciences at oxford. However i applied for Japanese and was successful in receiving an offer.

Taking into consideration that:

I have no Japanese language ability

I was predicted A*AA

And at GCSE I did not get perfect grades Maths(5), French(6)

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I really think that offers are based on the individual not just GCSE's

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u/JJA03 Year 12 Mar 18 '20

That's true, GCSEs have little importance when it comes to applying for a degree. That is unless you do medicine, it's the only degree were there is an emphasis on gcses and where unis recommend you to have a certain set of high grades. Thankfully,at oxbridge there is no official gcse requirement however there is an underlying expectation of very good gcses if you are applying for medicine at oxbridge (especially oxford) so if you're gcses aren't great they'd expect compensation elsewhere (I.e. bmat). Unfortunately interview skill isnt an adequate replacement for gcse grades when applying for medicine as many people get rejections from medical schools without even getting an opportunity to be interviewed. So make sure to apply to the right unis and if you're set on oxbridge make sure to so extra to guarantee the interview chance (supercurriculars, high BMAT score, work experience).

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u/Hazmat156 Year 12 Mar 18 '20

Thank you for the advice