Do GCSEs play any part in getting in to a good University?

Question

Or just A-levels?

Answer 1

Not really. It's essential that you get at least a C in maths, English and sciences (and maybe even IT nowadays) but it's mostly A levels that affect your university.

Better results always help though. If you're hoping to go to a prestigious university it will help to have good GCSEs as this is suggestive that you'll get good A levels too.

Answer 2

GCSE results matter to the extent that you have to pass the three mains to get into a decent university, and some now ask for at least a GCSE pass in a language, but that is about it.

As long as you have passed say 5 or 6 GCSEs including the main 3, then if you get good A level results they won't really look at GCSEs. But GCSEs can affect your predicted grade, and as that is what Universities will be looking at (as well as your AS-level results) it's best to get the best grade that you can possibly get, in order to get a good conditional offer at a Uni

Answer 3

Unless your thinking of Oxbridge (who want pretty much all A*) then you only need Cs in the 3 main ones. Bear in mind though that you may need certain GCSE results to do certain AS levels which you need for uni.

Answer 4

Yes, they are required most universities require at least C's in Maths, English and Science. If there is a specific subject you wanted to do at university then you should check out the university websites and their prospectus's to see what they want. However some universities such as Manchester University require 5 A's at gcse's including Maths and English, for a particular subject. You can order prospectus's from the universities on their websites and they get sent to your address for free.