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Does anyone feel these GCSEs are really last minute?

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Reply 20
Original post by romansholiday
It feels like I've been working hard for literal years to do well in the exams, had some big build up saying "I'm gonna get all As" etc. and now that they're actually happening, I find myself cramming, trying to memorise stuff the night before. But everyone is like that at my school, it's really caught up with us.

I always thought I would never be that person revising for their GCSEs the night before but I have done that for every single subject this week lmao.


i've been cramming because I started revision really late. But I see what your saying. I revised for my geography mock in easter and now I just feel like I know nothing. Today was a struggle and tommorow i have to cram for english lit and R.S for monday because I know jack ****.
Reply 21
Original post by sunshine774
Same here I want straight A*s- but even if I do get them I will feel guilty and like I do not deserve these grades for doing night before revision! The amount of revision I have done - I deserve to get D's!


exactly. I did more revision for my year 7 mocks. I walk into the exam feeling like its just a casual thing, but considering the career I want to pursue I have no clue why i'm not taking this **** seriously...
This is me all over...I literally come home from an exam and begin revising for the next one completely from scratch as everything I've revised I've already forgotten so I basically teach myself the entire exam contents in an evening - don't recommend as its highly stressful but it seems to have worked so far!

I say that my approach will change next year but I doubt it as old habits die hard! :laugh:
Original post by romansholiday
It feels like I've been working hard for literal years to do well in the exams, had some big build up saying "I'm gonna get all As" etc. and now that they're actually happening, I find myself cramming, trying to memorise stuff the night before. But everyone is like that at my school, it's really caught up with us.

I always thought I would never be that person revising for their GCSEs the night before but I have done that for every single subject this week lmao.


I literally feel the same way as you, when I was doing my mocks I told myself "I'll start revising straight after these mocks are over" and I always pictured myself revising so much in the exam period, but now that it's here I feel as though I'm not doing enough.

I feel as though I have high expectations that I'm not going to be able to meet, because of my bad work ethic and laziness :frown:Everyone seems to agree with me but they're also the ones who say that they've done 6 hours of revision over the weekend and come out of an exam feeling proud whereas I have only done a past paper and maybe even read a few pages in a Physics Revision Booklet, and come out feeling shite.

I keep underestimating the fact that these are my actual GCSEs, and not just mocks, and those 5 years I've spent learning things is for this one exam, which I kind of just fluke a lot of times.

Saying all of this, I think everyone is like this to some extent. This is our first real examination period, to be fair, and we're not supposed to be experts on exams yet :colondollar:
Hey I am doing this specification as well, was wondering if you have a case study on:
1. factors affecting the development of one high-tech industry (topic 4)
2. one named urban area in a HIC to explain why and how changes are taking place (topic 6)
Original post by za07
exactly. I did more revision for my year 7 mocks. I walk into the exam feeling like its just a casual thing, but considering the career I want to pursue I have no clue why i'm not taking this **** seriously...


I feel the same. In seems in yr 7 I would care so much more about exams, and now I just have no motivation to work- but I still want to get good grades!
What career do you want to pursue?
Original post by NiamhM1801
This is me all over...I literally come home from an exam and begin revising for the next one completely from scratch as everything I've revised I've already forgotten so I basically teach myself the entire exam contents in an evening - don't recommend as its highly stressful but it seems to have worked so far!

I say that my approach will change next year but I doubt it as old habits die hard! :laugh:


Yes you are right there! But I think I will be too scared to do last minute revision for AS and A2 as they are much harder than GCSE's!
Reply 27
Original post by sunshine774
I feel the same. In seems in yr 7 I would care so much more about exams, and now I just have no motivation to work- but I still want to get good grades!
What career do you want to pursue?


I really want to be a medic. I cant imagine doing anything else but I'm pretty complacent and lazy which is annoying. hoping I can get those 10 A stars but also feeling like it's going to be a bit too late...
Original post by george_c00per
I literally feel the same way as you, when I was doing my mocks I told myself "I'll start revising straight after these mocks are over" and I always pictured myself revising so much in the exam period, but now that it's here I feel as though I'm not doing enough.

I feel as though I have high expectations that I'm not going to be able to meet, because of my bad work ethic and laziness :frown:Everyone seems to agree with me but they're also the ones who say that they've done 6 hours of revision over the weekend and come out of an exam feeling proud whereas I have only done a past paper and maybe even read a few pages in a Physics Revision Booklet, and come out feeling shite.

I keep underestimating the fact that these are my actual GCSEs, and not just mocks, and those 5 years I've spent learning things is for this one exam, which I kind of just fluke a lot of times.

Saying all of this, I think everyone is like this to some extent. This is our first real examination period, to be fair, and we're not supposed to be experts on exams yet :colondollar:


Remember though- work SMART not HARD! It also depends on if you have a good memory or not- you may be able to get away with night before revision. This has fortunately worked for me because all my exams (RS, Chemistry and Spanish) have gone really really well. RS I revised for in the morning, as well as Chem and I did no revision for Spanish. The only exam that was messed up was that awful Biology paper!

But remember everyone is different and cramming may work for you, it certainly works for me! Best of luck with the rest of your exams!
Also do NOT compare yourself to people who did 6 hours of revision- how much of that time did they spend working efficently? It will only make yourself feel much worse and remember everyone is different!
Once again, best of luck!:biggrin:
Oh my gosh I have literally been feeling like this too. I have English Lit. on Monday and I was counting all of the pages of revision notes that I've written and I honestly feel like none of it has gone into my head. It is pretty frustrating when you consider the two years' worth of hours of writing and lessons and pen ink that have gone into a subject just for it to be over in an hour or so.
Original post by za07
I really want to be a medic. I cant imagine doing anything else but I'm pretty complacent and lazy which is annoying. hoping I can get those 10 A stars but also feeling like it's going to be a bit too late...


Trust me it is never too late. Seriously, for my exams so far I have done little or no revision and they have gone better than I could have ever hoped for. Remember, positivity goes a long way and helps you think clearly in the exam. You have to work smart, not hard. So condense your notes into very specific things you need to know, and do NOT spend ages reading over them- I know so many people who do this. Instead do a past paper because EXAM TECHNIQUE is what will help you do well.

Do not worry I hope you pursue your dream of becoming a medic- you will make a great one!:biggrin:
Original post by sunshine774
Remember though- work SMART not HARD! It also depends on if you have a good memory or not- you may be able to get away with night before revision. This has fortunately worked for me because all my exams (RS, Chemistry and Spanish) have gone really really well. RS I revised for in the morning, as well as Chem and I did no revision for Spanish. The only exam that was messed up was that awful Biology paper!

But remember everyone is different and cramming may work for you, it certainly works for me! Best of luck with the rest of your exams!
Also do NOT compare yourself to people who did 6 hours of revision- how much of that time did they spend working efficently? It will only make yourself feel much worse and remember everyone is different!
Once again, best of luck!:biggrin:


That's true, I have a pretty good memory, have missed no lessons throughout GCSEs and have listened in all subjects, so I do know the content, I just need to be reminded of it. My worst subject was Chemistry, but that's done now, so I can't waste time worrying about that.

Thank you, you've made me feel a lot better about the exams :biggrin: (PS did you do IGCSE AQA Spanish? The listening test was a bitch :colonhash:)
Original post by george_c00per
That's true, I have a pretty good memory, have missed no lessons throughout GCSEs and have listened in all subjects, so I do know the content, I just need to be reminded of it. My worst subject was Chemistry, but that's done now, so I can't waste time worrying about that.

Thank you, you've made me feel a lot better about the exams :biggrin: (PS did you do IGCSE AQA Spanish? The listening test was a bitch :colonhash:)


No I did GCSE Spanish which was really good! How did you find Chemistry?
Reply 33
Same what topics?


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Original post by sunshine774
No I did GCSE Spanish which was really good! How did you find Chemistry?


I found it ok, definitely the best Chemistry paper I've done but that is still only like a C grade for me haha. The questions all seemed to be similar though and didn't really explore many topics - did you do IGCSE Edexcel 1C? (That's the one I'm talking about)

Wow, you're so lucky that you're just doing regular GCSE, for IGCSE you need 33/40 in the listening exam for an A* which I just got for French but missed for Spanish in the mocks. However I found the real ones much harder :frown: For every regular GCSE one we do I get around 31-34 which is a solid A* usually but only just for IGCSE.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by george_c00per
I found it ok, definitely the best Chemistry paper I've done but that is still only like a C grade for me haha. The questions all seemed to be similar though and didn't really explore many topics - did you do IGCSE Edexcel 1B? (That's the one I'm talking about)

Wow, you're so lucky that you're just doing regular GCSE, for IGCSE you need 33/40 in the listening exam for an A* which I just got for French but missed for Spanish in the mocks. However I found the real ones much harder :frown: For every regular GCSE one we do I get around 31-34 which is a solid A* usually but only just for IGCSE.


No I do AQA which was really good! Last year for GCSE Spanish the listening grade for an A* was 27 out of 40!
Reply 36
Same lol just taking it like a normal school test. We literally finished our controlled assessments less than a week before our first exam.
Reply 37
Original post by CaptErin
Yes! I swear I did more revision for my mocks than these GCSEs,

Omg I'm so glad I'm not the only one that feels this way !



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Original post by niv1234
No I do edexcel iGCSE, I found it ok but then I looked at the 'unofficial markscheme' on here and started realising all the stuff I got wrong :frown: . Did you do AQA? How did you find it?


I do edexcel iGCSE too, I screwed up so much! :frown:
Original post by sunshine774
No I do AQA which was really good! Last year for GCSE Spanish the listening grade for an A* was 27 out of 40!


I never really heard as much about AQA Chemistry than I did for AQA Biology :biggrin: ahhh I'm glad I didn't have to answer questions on drunken rats and underage drinkers.

IGCSE last year for Listening was 33! :frown: as long as I do well in Reading and Writing which I usually do I should be ok though.

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