<a https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7467335'> Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

4 weeks before exams start!!!

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Reply 20

TheConfusedMedic

Original post by caitlinford3

what is the exam on the monday? :smile:

my iGCSE orals - french on monday, then spanish is the 2nd one :/ :smile:

Reply 21

champ_mc99

Original post by Abstract_Prism

I rage every time I read something like this.

GCSE's amount for so little it's not even funny. There are substantial numbers of people who get into Cambridge with 0 A*'s! 0!

The only grades that matter at GCSE are C's in Maths and English.

You rage? Lol. You do know that for many unis, GCSE's matter a lot, Oxford included. And I highly doubt they are "substantial numbers" that get in with no A*s.

Reply 22

soIiIoquy

thanks 4 letting us know this..

im sure we all knew lmaoo

Reply 23

glowanti

Original post by surina16

my iGCSE orals - french on monday, then spanish is the 2nd one :/ :smile:

ah my French oral is on the monday too! I'd completely forgotten so thanks for the reminder haha, good luck :smile:

Reply 24

Abstract_Prism

Original post by heatherjs

I don't think that is necessarily true because I went on an Oxford taster day just over a year ago and they were saying to our group that you need 5 A*'s preferably 7 to really be considered so I think that the GCSE's really do matter.

I am also hoping to go to a top university and am really stressed out for English literature- I'm just not sure how to revise or what I need to remember.

Original post by champ_mc99

You rage? Lol. You do know that for many unis, GCSE's matter a lot, Oxford included. And I highly doubt they are "substantial numbers" that get in with no A*s.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showpost.php?p=63005417&postcount=53

^ Statistics from Peterhouse College, Cambridge, for the number of A*'s offer holders for Law got at GCSE. Look at all the people who got in with 0-1 A*'s!

There you go.

A levels > > > GCSE's

Reply 25

champ_mc99

Original post by Abstract_Prism

Look up how much they matter for Oxford.

Reply 26

Banana00

I'm in pretty much EXACTLY the same position!
I'm aiming for Oxbridge as well so I've got to do as well as possible.

Good luck, everyone! :h:

Reply 27

Abstract_Prism

Original post by champ_mc99

Look up how much they matter for Oxford.

GCSE's matter more for Oxford and AS matters more for Cambridge.

I don't know why Oxford chooses to use such a dumb weighting system.

But those statistics show that you have a good chance of getting into a top university without a single A* at GCSE.

Reply 28

username1871893

Original post by susielovesblue

Omg I've got my drama on Thursday! I so get you. Geography is hard but I find flashcards help. For each unit write down the necessary facts for each case study and just keep reading them till you remember :smile:

Do lots and lots of papers that you most probably find on your boards website. Good luck :smile:

Thank you! It's such a pain that I'm having to search out every case study, I wish my teacher would just give me a list!! Good luck with your drama, mines on the 9th or 10th May :frown:

Reply 29

champ_mc99

Original post by Abstract_Prism

Yeah I know that. But you act as if your GCSEs don't contribute at all. Those statistics are also hiding the ums averages these guys got.

Point is, dont know why you get so angry when someone says they want A*s when clearly it will help them get offers whether it be in a big or small way.

Reply 30

champ_mc99

Don't forget it was made cheap on MS Excel. Was expecting a bit more style from Cambridge... :biggrin:

Reply 31

Abstract_Prism

Original post by champ_mc99

Because I only got a single A* when I did GCSE, before I knew I wanted to do anything with my life, and it's frustrating hearing people saying they have no chance when they have like 3 A*'s.

Makes me feel like ****.

Reply 32

champ_mc99

Original post by Abstract_Prism

I understand but you don't want to demotivate people or otherwise they'll end up not even getting As and Bs, let alone A*s, with the ideology that GCSE's don't matter. Don't worry bro, smash your AS and apply to Cambridge. :smile:

Reply 33

lilacpotato

Original post by harrietbh12

For me it's 2 weeks - darn geography and drama!
I'm really stressing about geography,it just can't seem to remember the case studies and in lesson we've done zero work on any other paper except paper 1 (and thats from the start of year10, so i literally mean zero)

What exam board are you doing for geography?

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Reply 34

Dreamsneverend15

Firstly don't listen to anyone saying that GCSE's are not important because more and more unis lay emphasis on them. That being said you definitely have enough time. I did all nighters for all my gcse exams and came out with A*AABBBCCC so you definitely have enough time..I got an A* in German I would recommend you do German past papers..I'm native so it was easier for me..good luck

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Reply 35

irfan_blue

Original post by champ_mc99

Because of the A Levels reform, you can't get into Cambridge with those GCSE grades. You'll need mainly A*-A and the more A* the better, Oxbridge admission tutors have said that GCSE's now are more relevant than ever.

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Reply 36

champ_mc99

Original post by irfan_blue

I see...

Reply 37

ItsKiara

Original post by BanterSmith

(Aimed at people who have done their GCSES)
Admittedly, I've left revising fairly late due to coursework deadlines. Consequently, I haven't studied much and its 4 weeks until my exams. All my predicted grades are either A*/A (6A* and 6A), however i'm not sure if i'm able to attain that due to my lack of revision. I want to attain as many A* Grades as possible so I can get into a top university. Do you know any effective methods of time management that could help me cram as much revision in as possible? Do you have a good method that helped you revise for your language exams? ( German/ French/Spanish) And how did you revise for your English Literature Poetry Exams?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any help is greatly appreciated :smile:

Well I got full UMS in IGCSE Spanish, and in year 10 I was working at a high D. (We had a crappy teacher that year, everyone did really bad)
What board are you doing for Spanish? In IGCSE the whole damn paper was written in Spanish so first of all I familiarised myself with the questioning style to make sure I understand what they wanted me to actually answer.
That's really important because I slipped up a little on one of my questions (it said como- I misinterpreted it. I thought it asked How is your grandma, whereas it actually asked 'what does your grandma look like. Whoops! Still got the marks though so yay!)
Also, for the extended writing piece, I think the more you practice the better you get. Make sure you know your tenses, and learn a few phrases. Use like, as many tenses as you can, and as many verbs as you can. Make sure you get the accents in the right places and stuff because that can make a huge impact. If you're putting 'characters' in your writing give them Spanish names lmao, don't call them Tom, Mary etc, give them names like Pablo and Carmen😂😂😂😂
For the listening, I did all the past papers on CIE website, and got my teacher to go through loads with me. Especially section B&C because those were hard. With a bit of practice you can easily get full marks in listening, since the second bits are harder they're very generous with marking. Though be careful with multiple choice as they throw in many red herrings!

For speaking, practice practice and more practice. There's literally no way around it. I got a D in my listening mock for 'winging it'! But in the actual one I got 30/30
For your 5 minute presentation, don't be too ambitious and talk about something complicated. Just don't 😂 Because you need to have a 5 minute conversation about it in Spanish afterwards! And also make sure to use many tenses. Even when responding to questions. Literally, tenses can be the difference between that A and A*. I did my presentation on Viajar and lol I still remember little bits of it even though it was a year ago. Record yourself saying it and keep repeating it to yourself. Pester your teacher to practice with you- I made mine stay with me after school every day until I got to my desired level 😂 She didn't mind though, some other girls also joined us.
For general topics, make sure you learn your vocab, and have a couple of learnt answers and phrases here and there but don't rely on them because the teacher will go off in a tangent (mine started asking me about Global Warming when I said my favourite actor was Leonardo Dicaprio. I kinda wanted to kill her a little ;/ but I pulled through)
When slightly unsure, you can ask her to repeat the question but do this in Spanish, or you may lose marks.
For the role play, you need to remember to greet him/her e.g Hola Señora... (Then the appropriate context)
If you don't greet you will lose marks. It may seem silly but it happens. If you forget to greet and realise you did so at the end of the role play, you can just say 'perdon señora, me gustaría dicer 'Hola' (or something. Pssh I may be wrong/not 100% accurate. I haven't studied Spanish for nearly a year hah)
For comprehension, you can lift off the text but be concise or you won't get the marks because the examiner will think you're trying to be lucky. But obviously change certain words , like if it says 'Yo Dijo que...' (In the text) make sure to change it to 'Ella dice que' or something.
I think I've covered just about everything for Spanish.

For English, are you doing unseen poetry? If so, ask your teacher for an old anthology and practice annotating random poems. Ask for essay questions and get her to mark it/feedback. To be honest, I prefer Poetry at A level because it's not unseen and the poems are really interesting! But you'll be fine. For English language, you just need to practice as much as you can, especially with timing.

Honestly, don't worry too much about your grades. Put most of your effort into whatever you intend to carry on for A levels.

I know you didn't ask about maths but I recommend you invest in an amazing calculator- I have the Casio fx-991ESPLUS it lets you work out quadratics on there! And (I think) simultaneous equations. Honestly, a good calculator can get you that A*. If only I knew when I was doing my GCSES. When you're at A level and you find out all these little tricks it's so annoying lol.

But okay so now my little rant about GCSE grades. You don't need 'X number of A*s and X number of As' UNLESS you're specifically applying to Oxford. There IS a correlation between A*s at GCSE and offer/acceptance into top unis, but you need to remember that this is because most people who get A*s at GCSE get amazing grades at A level too, but with that being said, GCSEs ARE important to an extent so don't just wing it😂 They are your foundation. As long as you get many As/few A*s or really high grades and an odd B/C in irrelevant subjects (by that I mean subjects you won't need for what you want to do in the future- e.g for me The sciences are irrelevant, but I still got As so alls good)
I personally got 2 A*s and 8As. Below the tsr average? Yes. Country average? Noooope. Also universities like an upward profession. I was personally told this when I went to a law masterclass at Cambridge. If you get not so good GCSES and amazing AS/A2s, you are just as likely to get in as someone who got 8 A*s at GCSE. (@Abstract_Prism can you back me up here? 😂)
So it's amazing that you're motivated to do well in GCSEs- good on you! But they aren't the be all and end all.
Good luck!

Reply 38

username1871893

I'm not sure, sorry! My first exam is 3rd May is that helps

Reply 39

romansholiday

Original post by RueXO

I've got my GCSEs in around 3 weeks now too, and this explanation was really useful. Thanks for taking the time! Also, amazing GCSE grades! I want a mixture of As and A*s (really not bothered about getting an amount of A*s).

Do you have any more tips for English? I used to be very good at it (I still have a natural flare for it) but I HATE it now, I don't understand how it is marked, people write the same points as me and get higher grades... Also, I write with flawless spag yet I get 5/7 for it :s-smilie: