GCSE Admissions Policy

[Name Removed] made this Freedom of Information request to London School of Economics This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

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Dear London School of Economics,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I kindly request you to release your policy for the use of GCSE qualifications in the admissions process.

More specifically, I was wondering whether you will consider a GCSE grade 8 as equivalent to a 9 (in the sense that they are both A*, with no higher weighting given to a 9 over 8) in the upcoming admissions cycle, as I have received conflicting information from your representatives on the phone. For example, would you consider an applicant with 10 8s as equivalent to an applicant with 10 9s (as Oxford would), or would you consider the one with 10 9s as superior (like St Andrews does), assuming the other parts of their application were the same?

In addition, if the policy varies by course, could you give the information relevant to BSc Economics and BSc PPE. Furthermore, please could you ensure the information is undoubtedly correct, as many students may use this as a guideline for whether to apply or not (and on that note, I believe you should state it on your website).

Yours faithfully,
[Name Removed] [Name Removed]

GLPD.Info.Rights, London School of Economics

Dear [Name Removed]

 

With reference to your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act, please find below the School’s response.

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I kindly request you to release
your policy for the use of GCSE qualifications in the admissions process.

 

Please find the details of how we use GCSEs on our website:

 

[1]http://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Underg...

 

If you have taken GCSEs or equivalent qualifications, these will be taken
into account when we assess your application. All applicants are expected
to have at least grade B/grade 6 in GCSE English Language and Mathematics
or the equivalent, although exceptions are made for applicants with
extenuating circumstances. As competition for places at LSE is intense, we
look for applicants who have achieved highly at GCSE (multiple A or A*
grades), particularly within the context of their school. Some programmes
require grades higher than grade B/grade 6 in GCSE Mathematics and these
are outlined in the individual programme pages.

 

GCSE reform

 

A new grading scale of 1 to 9 will be used, with 9 being the top grade and
assessment will be mainly by exam. The reformed GCSEs will be linear
qualifications; they will be designed for two years of study and will no
longer be divided into different modules. Students will take all their
exams in one period at the end of their course. We appreciate that
implementing curriculum and qualification reform may pose a challenge to
schools and that there will be some volatility as a result of the
introduction of new specifications and examinations. For applicants
offering new GCSEs we expect a minimum grade 6 in English and Maths. We
will continue to review this requirement as the qualifications become more
established.

 

 

More specifically, I was wondering whether you will consider a GCSE grade
8 as equivalent to a 9 (in the sense that they are both A*, with no higher
weighting given to a 9 over 8) in the upcoming admissions cycle, as I have
received conflicting information from your representatives on the phone.
For example, would you consider an applicant with 10 8s as equivalent to
an applicant with 10 9s (as Oxford would), or would you consider the one
with 10 9s as superior (like St Andrews does), assuming the other parts of
their application were the same?

 

We use the following equivalencies when assessing undergraduate
applications:

 

GCSE Grade B = Grade 6

GCSE Grade A = Grade 7

GCSE Grade A* = Grade 8/9

 

In addition, if the policy varies by course, could you give the
information relevant to BSc Economics and BSc PPE. Furthermore, please
could you ensure the information is undoubtedly correct, as many students
may use this as a guideline for whether to apply or not (and on that note,
I believe you should state it on your website).

 

As competition for places at LSE is intense, we look for applicants who
have achieved highly at GCSE (multiple A or A* grades), particularly
within the context of their school. This is true for all undergraduate
programmes at LSE.

 

Each applicant to LSE is considered on his/her merit and in competition
with the rest of the applicant cohort in a given admissions cycle. Each
application is viewed holistically; assessing the merit, potential,
motivation, skills and qualities of applicants by considering all the
information presented on the application form. This includes, but is not
limited to, academic achievements and qualifications. The personal
statement, academic reference and additional social and educational
contextual data also form an important part of the selection process. This
process of holistic review (including assessment of contextual
information) is also used when making confirmation decisions.

 

For more information on exactly what contextual information is used in the
admissions decision making process please refer to the [2]Undergraduate
Admissions Policy.

 

 

If you think that the information provided does not meet your request,
contact me on 020 7955 7554 or write to Louise Nadal, School Secretary,
London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London,
WC2A 2AE. We will then review the response to your request and get back to
you within 20 working days. You can also contact the Information
Commissioner's Office [3]http://www.ico.gov.uk, though they expect the
internal review to be carried out before receiving a complaint directly.

 

The provision of information by the LSE under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 does not imply a right to copy, reproduce publish or otherwise
use such information.

 

Copying or reproducing such information in any way either in whole or in
part without prior written consent may be an infringement of copyright or
other intellectual property right belonging to the LSE or a third party.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Danny Hassell

Executive Assistant to the School Secretary

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Houghton Street | London | WC2A 2AE

 

 

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Dear GLPD.Info.Rights,

Please could you clarify your position on equivalencies for the A* grade? Would you convert all numerical grades you receive into their corresponding letter grades and then evaluate those, or would you evaluate the number grades? Would you also consider a grade 9 as superior to a grade 8 or treat them the same?

For example, if one person applied with 10 9s at GCSE, and another with 10 8s, would they both be the exact same in your eyes in terms of GCSEs (i.e. 10 A*s), or would the one with the 9s be superior?

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed] [Name Removed]

GLPD.Info.Rights, London School of Economics

Dear [Name Removed]

 

Please see the below information from the admissions team.

 

Please could you clarify your position on equivalencies for the A* grade?
Would you convert all numerical grades you receive into their
corresponding letter grades and then evaluate those, or would you evaluate
the number grades? Would you also consider a grade 9 as superior to a
grade 8 or treat them the same?

 

LSE does not convert numerical grades into the corresponding letter grades
(or vice versa). For the purposes of admissions selection both grade 8 and
grade 9 are perceived to be directly equivalent to a grade A*.

 

For example, if one person applied with 10 9s at GCSE, and another with 10
8s, would they both be the exact same in your eyes in terms of GCSEs (i.e.
10 A*s), or would the one with the 9s be superior?

 

Both applicants in this example would be considered as having 10 A* grades
at GCSE.

 

Kind regards

 

Danny

 

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