Hi All,
Can you help please? How many gcse results do universities look at ? I'm sure a figure of 8 was once though to be the number, but is this gospel? Has it changed? Do different universities such as RG, Oxbridbe, top third, etc, have different requirements?

It's usually the top 8 but you have to list all your results including any you did early and ALL grades if retaken.

With the end of AS levels, universities may look at more - but in general fewer GCSEs with good grades is better than many lower grades.

A friend of ours did not do well at GCSE. It was the wakeup call they needed. They turned it ir around for AS, got five offers through UCAS and is now at Oxford reading PPE.

GCSE results is one piece of data that is considered. But others things such as school reference and personal statement are also important. As already posted by G55 higher grades are moire important than quantity. DG

EDIT... I'm not asking if more is better, just looking into how universities use them.. mostly asking for DS who has 8 A/A* two B's but only a 6/5 in English Lang/lit and a D in short course RS.

He's aiming high, and is predicted 4* (sciences & maths) for A-level.
Just wondered how the lower grades might affect his chances.

AS are gone now - all A levels are linear so GCSEs are more important.

He must list all the grades and check whether there are specific grades asked for English [a 6 should be fine for STEM courses].

Where is he thinking of applying and what do school say?

As yet not fully decided, but it's biology/biological sciences he wants to do. Yes none that he's looked at have asked for higher than a 6 but my concern is if they chose 8, to include eng Lang then that knocks out his A for a 6..

Some look for the proportion of top grades - he shouldn't worry with those predictions if they are realistic. [obviously I don't know how reliably his school predicts but universities will - do not interpret this comment negatively please ]

I will PM you.

They don't usually specify - usually it is English/Maths (ie they don't specify Literature or Language). We are currently doing the rounds of Unis and they are ALL saying that they are basing their offers on GCSE results - most are a bit ambivalent towards predicted grades due to the, shall we say, wayward predictions made by some schools (where paretns put pressure on teh teachers to give the predicted grades that the child needs, rather than what they are likely to achieve!!). More and more are paying scant attention to personal statements too, due to the volume involved and, dare I say it, that they are not always written by the child! References are important too!!

UCAS will have access to all grades whether or not he lists them I believe. Maybe via candidate numbers or something.

There are threads on TSR about Oxbridge and grades. I had heard you needed an A* to A ratio of 70:30 for Oxford and that Cambridge didn’t care as long as you got top AS grades. With AS gone I don’t know what they look at.