The Student Room Group

Will I pass my GCSEs?

I'm not the most driven of people, to be honest. I realise when it's too late the amount of work I needed to put in and what I should have done. I wouldn't say I'm particularly stupid, what's held me back in school is my attitude and poor organisational skills. On my mocks (from memory) I got:
English Language - A
English Literature - C
Maths (7 marks from a C) - D
Additional Science - D (memory is hazy)
RE short course - C
History - D
Art- E
Computer Science - E
I did that with hardly any revision on the subjects, what do you guys think? Will I pass? I have been revising for the real ones, of course. However I wouldn't say that I've been working my hardest. I would say that my hardest would just be working all the time with breaks but absolutely no free time.
(edited 7 years ago)
I you fix up your attitude now and do a lot work in school, you will eventually pass your GCSE.

You can improve your mocks grades so easily.
Reply 2
it's literally a month and then you have 6 weeks of free time just get your head down and do it otherwise you won't pass them all
Original post by Qu1rky
I'm not the most driven of people, to be honest. I realise when it's too late the amount of work I needed to put in and what I should have done. I wouldn't say I'm particularly stupid, what's held me back in school is my attitude and poor organisational skills. On my mocks (from memory) I got:
English Language - A
English Literature - C
Maths (7 marks from a C) - D
Additional Science - D (memory is hazy)
RE short course - C
History - D
Art- E
Computer Science - E
I did that with hardly any revision on the subjects, what do you guys think? Will I pass? I have been revising for the real ones, of course. However I wouldn't say that I've been working my hardest. I would say that my hardest would just be working all the time with breaks but absolutely no free time.


It depends on what your definition of "pass" is really. Getting a C in everything? Unlikely. Getting enough grades to allow you to get a job/continue studying? Probably.

Your priorities should be getting C+ in Maths and English as these will be the minimum benchmark for a lot of opportunities and not having them will hurt you. I have completed a masters degree in engineering and am a published author, yet I had to have a C+ in English at GCSE to qualify for the teaching course I am now swapping to.

Beyond Maths and English, it really depends what you want to study. As a rule of thumb I'd aim for a B in anything you want to continue studying. If you want to go straight into the workforce, Maths and English are probably what you need most.

Incidentally it's my observation that most people who cite "didn't try hard enough" and "could have put more effort in" as reasons for their results are typically overestimating both their abilities and their nature. But that's a side topic.

Also, I never recommend revising flat out. You'll burn yourself out and do worse as a result. Breaks and relaxation are a part of revision, just make sure they're in proportion (e.g. 15-20 minutes every hour or two hours on, one hour off). I've seen a guy who "revised" 18 hours a day, stopping only to sleep and eat. Guy was a freaking zombie, couldn't absorb any of the information he was looking at and flunked everything.

Best of luck with the exams.
You can't do art at the last minute...
Just saying :redface:
Original post by z33
it's literally a month and then you have 6 weeks of free time just get your head down and do it otherwise you won't pass them all


It's not even a month anymore! A bit less than that. Going by quickly haha :smile: also it's about a 10 week summer holiday so even better!!


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Reply 6
Original post by DamnDaniel2
It's not even a month anymore! A bit less than that. Going by quickly haha :smile: also it's about a 10 week summer holiday so even better!!


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exactly come on give it your all and then sleep for 2 months :lol:
I did a whole art pad in a week....
Original post by Salamandastron
You can't do art at the last minute...
Just saying :redface:


I did a whole art pad in 1 week.
Reply 9
worst case scenario ..... If you don't pass some of them, can you pay to resit them for a whole year. Is it possible to go on to sixth form year after.
Original post by Bulletzone
I did a whole art pad in 1 week.


Yes but if i remember rightly you were re-doing it not doing it from scratch.
Furthermore you probably weren't on an E to start with.
Im just saying ok yeh it might be theoretically possible to do 2 years worth of work in a month (which i personally don't think it is as that is more than one sketchpad as by the end of GCSE I had 3 sketchbooks, 3 final pieces and 5 A2 prep sheets).
Good luck to the OP anyway, you decide your own grade with art so..

EDIT: oh i forgot about development, can't remember what AO thing that is might be AO3 idk but examiners can tell if you did it last minute, they like to see the progression of ideas from start to finish and it looks artificial otherwise.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Salamandastron
Yes but if i remember rightly you were re-doing it not doing it from scratch.
Furthermore you probably weren't on an E to start with.
Im just saying ok yeh it might be theoretically possible to do 2 years worth of work in a month (which i personally don't think it is as that is more than one sketchpad as by the end of GCSE I had 3 sketchbooks, 3 final pieces and 5 A2 prep sheets).
Good luck to the OP anyway, you decide your own grade with art so..

EDIT: oh i forgot about development, can't remember what AO thing that is might be AO3 idk but examiners can tell if you did it last minute, they like to see the progression of ideas from start to finish and it looks artificial otherwise.


Wow, You actually remembered my thread :colondollar:

The thing is, the Art Pad I lost was my first one and I literally did nothing, so I actually did more than Before and the examiner's won't suspect a thing....:wink:
Reply 12
In my maths exam last week, I saw some Sixth Formers doing the same exam, (or so I believe, there was no boards with different exams written on) if I get my other C's, but don't manage to get maths (which is that one I'm worried about), would I be able to resit it in sixth form? By the logic if you don't get maths you can't do anything later on in life, if someone gets A's in everything but an E or something in maths, they'd have to get to college and resit? That just sounds ridiculous to me
Original post by Qu1rky
In my maths exam last week, I saw some Sixth Formers doing the same exam, (or so I believe, there was no boards with different exams written on) if I get my other C's, but don't manage to get maths (which is that one I'm worried about), would I be able to resit it in sixth form? By the logic if you don't get maths you can't do anything later on in life, if someone gets A's in everything but an E or something in maths, they'd have to get to college and resit? That just sounds ridiculous to me


That's about the size of it. You can resit GCSEs in 6th form/college, but whether they allow you to do this while studying further education or make you resit a year would depend on the personal situation.

Realistically if someone has gotten A's in everything, but an E in maths, something has gone very wrong somewhere and they'll probably be given a pass because they were hit by a bus or something.

As for whether it is ridiculous. Maths is an essential skill for an adult, along with English. Science, Art, Business Studies, Modern Languages, these can all be relevant or completely irrelevant depending on what you do in the future, but you will always use English and Maths. I've spoken to people who struggle to work out percentages and do other basic maths - most of these passed their maths GCSE. If that's the people who passed, I'd hate to see the people who failed. I assume they go and thrust vague amounts of money to cashiers, unable to figure out how much their shopping is.
This is the question I have been asking myself all along. You will pass if you have worked hard I guess

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