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CPS23's GCSE Journey

After @umar23 recently giving me the idea of making a GCSE Journey, I thought that I would make one.

So, I'm 14, 15 next week! And I'm going into Year 11, I go to a grammar school, meaning more of the expectation to great grades as well as to stay on for the IB. I actually want to get great grades but then, I would say I'm smart but I don't apply myself, but next year I want to turn that all around.

My target grades are:

English Literature and Language (AQA): 9
Maths (Edexcel): 6
History (AQA): B
Philosophy (AQA): B
French (AQA) : C - I know it's terrible, I regret taking it and I really don't like my teacher :|
Spanish (AQA) : B - I take the subject privately with a tutor
Additional Science (AQA) : B
Drama (WJEC) : B

My Year 11 PPEs are in November, so I'm determined to start revising in late August onwards, so my new target grades are a lot higher and that teachers expect a lot more from me. In November, it's the annual tutor - parent meeting, where my parents and I meet with my form tutor about progress and things. Also, in January next year, it's the first parents evening of two, so I want good, positive comments.

My goals are:

Spoiler


I really really want to have my teachers think highly of me, and know that I can work hard and get really good grades in my half termly grade sheets. I want to improve, in Science, especially Physics and Chemistry as my teachers always moans that my learning is poor. I want to improve in Maths, as I really struggle with the subject as a whole. French is where I need my grades to jump too, as I don't have any confidence in the subject at all.

I want to help motivate others as well as gain motivation too. On my previous post, called "GCSE grade and revision help", I got some tips but I would love loads more. Also, I would love to know more about Russell Group Universities in London's GCSE requirements as I would love love love to go to King's/UCL/LSE/Queens Mary for Uni to study Law.

I think I've spoken for ages, well written for ages, so tips, motivation and advice in general, as I really want to do well this year, as GCSEs are really first step to academic success. And I want to be screaming and crying at school on Results Day next year:h:

THANK YOU!!!!!!! :smile: :smile: :smile:
(edited 7 years ago)
I want to improve in Maths, as I really struggle with the subject as a whole.


I would definitely be willing to help in that regard. Maths, is different to most other subjects in the regard that it can't be aced by memorising the textbook word for word. You will not only need to know the methods behind answering the questions, you'll also need to be able to correctly apply it with little margin for error, if you want to be hitting an 8/9.

I really really want to have my teachers think highly of me


I would say, you don't need to. The teacher thinking highly of you will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling, but it won't give you much else, not worth the effort, and in the end it matters very little.

instead of the lazy student I am now.


Although that's not really a good thing, it is good that you've recognised that you are not putting 100% effort in. But, you know what? You still have absolutely tons of time to make a change. And, in reality, Bs and a 9 in English is brilliant for no effort, and shows a clear potential for A*s. You can easily retake your coursework for science, ask your teacher if you can do another CA at lunchtimes, or something similar. Start going over Core topics, especially those that you are uncomfortable with. Luckily, you'll find that Additional may be easier than Core, especially in Chemistry and Physics. Prepare some notes on Core, and start revising them at your own pace. There is no rush, atm, but don't leave it until there is.

Overall, good grades so far, and I am in full confidence that you can hit those A*s in Year 11, if you work at it :wink:
Original post by _gcx
I would definitely be willing to help in that regard. Maths, is different to most other subjects in the regard that it can't be aced by memorising the textbook word for word. You will not only need to know the methods behind answering the questions, you'll also need to be able to correctly apply it with little margin for error, if you want to be hitting an 8/9.



I would say, you don't need to. The teacher thinking highly of you will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling, but it won't give you much else, not worth the effort, and in the end it matters very little.



Although that's not really a good thing, it is good that you've recognised that you are not putting 100% effort in. But, you know what? You still have absolutely tons of time to make a change. And, in reality, Bs and a 9 in English is brilliant for no effort, and shows a clear potential for A*s. You can easily retake your coursework for science, ask your teacher if you can do another CA at lunchtimes, or something similar. Start going over Core topics, especially those that you are uncomfortable with. Luckily, you'll find that Additional may be easier than Core, especially in Chemistry and Physics. Prepare some notes on Core, and start revising them at your own pace. There is no rush, atm, but don't leave it until there is.

Overall, good grades so far, and I am in full confidence that you can hit those A*s in Year 11, if you work at it :wink:


Thank you!!! This has really helped! Yeah, I'll come back for help with Maths. And with my Science, I think I'll take that idea on board! Thank you so so much X
Reply 3
Original post by CPS23
After @umar23 recently giving me the idea of making a GCSE Journey, I thought that I would make one.

So, I'm 14, 15 next week! And I'm going into Year 11, I go to a grammar school, meaning more of the expectation to great grades as well as to stay on for the IB. I actually want to get great grades but then, I would say I'm smart but I don't apply myself, but next year I want to turn that all around.

My target grades are:

English Literature and Language (AQA): 9
Maths (Edexcel): 6
History (AQA): B
Philosophy (AQA): B
French (AQA) : C - I know it's terrible, I regret taking it and I really don't like my teacher :|
Spanish (AQA) : B - I take the subject privately with a tutor
Additional Science (AQA) : B
Drama (WJEC) : B

My Year 11 PPEs are in November, so I'm determined to start revising in late August onwards, so my new target grades are a lot higher and that teachers expect a lot more from me. In November, it's the annual tutor - parent meeting, where my parents and I meet with my form tutor about progress and things. Also, in January next year, it's the first parents evening of two, so I want good, positive comments.

My goals are:

Spoiler

I really really want to have my teachers think highly of me, and know that I can work hard and get really good grades in my half termly grade sheets. I want to improve, in Science, especially Physics and Chemistry as my teachers always moans that my learning is poor. I want to improve in Maths, as I really struggle with the subject as a whole. French is where I need my grades to jump too, as I don't have any confidence in the subject at all.

I want to help motivate others as well as gain motivation too. On my previous post, called "GCSE grade and revision help", I got some tips but I would love loads more. Also, I would love to know more about Russell Group Universities in London's GCSE requirements as I would love love love to go to King's/UCL/LSE/Queens Mary for Uni to study Law.

I think I've spoken for ages, well written for ages, so tips, motivation and advice in general, as I really want to do well this year, as GCSEs are really first step to academic success. And I want to be screaming and crying at school on Results Day next year:h:

THANK YOU!!!!!!! :smile: :smile: :smile:


Hi CPS23! :wavey:
Cngrats on making your GCSE thread!
It's great to see that you are preparing for your mocks so early!:woo:
You will certainly perform well with hard work and dedication.
I'm also very interested in attending a Russell Group, particualrly Imperial! I know this is a big ask but I know that with hard work I can achieve this!

I agree with @_gcx! It's not important what the teachers think of you, they won't be marking your GCSE papers. It's more important to impress the examiner with your intellect. Working on exam technique by completing past papers will surely improve your exam technique (although I would advice this a few weeks before your GCSE's!)

I wish you all the best with your GCSE's! The sense of satisfaction from achieving Great GCSE Grades will put you in good stead for achieving at A-Level and further! :smile:

Umar39
Original post by umar39
Hi CPS23! :wavey:
Cngrats on making your GCSE thread!
It's great to see that you are preparing for your mocks so early!:woo:
You will certainly perform well with hard work and dedication.
I'm also very interested in attending a Russell Group, particualrly Imperial! I know this is a big ask but I know that with hard work I can achieve this!

I agree with @_gcx! It's not important what the teachers think of you, they won't be marking your GCSE papers. It's more important to impress the examiner with your intellect. Working on exam technique by completing past papers will surely improve your exam technique (although I would advice this a few weeks before your GCSE's!)

I wish you all the best with your GCSE's! The sense of satisfaction from achieving Great GCSE Grades will put you in good stead for achieving at A-Level and further! :smile:

Umar39


Hey Umar39,

I thought if I treat mocks like the real thing, and revise early, it could put me in a good road to A*s and As! Yeah, I'll have to get past papers. Yeah, King's College or UCL is like my dream uni, as like Imperial is yours, so hard work, and dedication is needed.

I wish you well with your GCSEs too.

CPS23
Original post by CPS23
Hey Umar39,

I thought if I treat mocks like the real thing, and revise early, it could put me in a good road to A*s and As! Yeah, I'll have to get past papers. Yeah, King's College or UCL is like my dream uni, as like Imperial is yours, so hard work, and dedication is needed.

I wish you well with your GCSEs too.

CPS23



Hi CPS23!! I'm like a really high strung student and I'm about to go into year 9!! So I'm about to start choosing my subjects so I already have a really good idea of the subjects i'm gonna choose:

English language
English Literature
Maths (higher)
Chemistry
Biology
Physics
History
Geography
French
Business Studies (I think?)

As I really wanna get top grades so I can apply to UCL for uni to stud medicine. But i have to get top notch grades.... Any Advice?????
Original post by AGradeGirl
Hi CPS23!! I'm like a really high strung student and I'm about to go into year 9!! So I'm about to start choosing my subjects so I already have a really good idea of the subjects i'm gonna choose:

English language
English Literature
Maths (higher)
Chemistry
Biology
Physics
History
Geography
French
Business Studies (I think?)

As I really wanna get top grades so I can apply to UCL for uni to stud medicine. But i have to get top notch grades.... Any Advice?????


Pay attention in class. So many of us didn't do that, and are now playing catch-up, including myself, but not to a great extent. Make notes of a topic soon after you do it, and don't delay too much otherwise you'll forget it. Plus, unless you're good at a language, don't do one. I chose it half-heartedly, and now I'm paying the price with it being one of the only subjects that I'm not comfortable with getting an A[*] in (sitting on a C atm lol). If you're doing it because you were pressurised by your school or family, don't do it. I wish somebody had told me that when I was picking my options :frown: I say that because learning a language is hard, and it doesn't come easily to many people, and if you're not fully interested you will struggle.

If you're doing triple science, you'll start B1, C1 and P1 (unless you're on OCR, I believe they do it differently with more modules), in Year 9. Pay attention during these modules and you'll be fine, and don't slack like me :wink:
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 7
Original post by AGradeGirl
Hi CPS23!! I'm like a really high strung student and I'm about to go into year 9!! So I'm about to start choosing my subjects so I already have a really good idea of the subjects i'm gonna choose:

English language
English Literature
Maths (higher)
Chemistry
Biology
Physics
History
Geography
French
Business Studies (I think?)

As I really wanna get top grades so I can apply to UCL for uni to stud medicine. But i have to get top notch grades.... Any Advice?????


Make sure you pick options that you will enjoy! I picked Business Studies and honestly, I am not enjoying the course. The reasons are pretty length (and probably petty) but I now regret not taking History.
You are still very young to preparing solely for medicine there are thousands of careers to choose from so don't restrict yourself unless, of course, you certainly would like to study medicine, in which case good luck.
To achieve the best grades you possibly can be enthusiastic. An enthusiastic approach to your studies will reflect with good grades. Also, a strong determination and desire to succeed will also help. Most of all, be prepared for exams and don't slack. Many capable students underestimate the importance of GCSEs as they really do matter.

Apart from that I wish you all the best with Year 9, it is a year where you will prepare yourself for your GCSEs so work hard! :smile:
Original post by AGradeGirl
Hi CPS23!! I'm like a really high strung student and I'm about to go into year 9!! So I'm about to start choosing my subjects so I already have a really good idea of the subjects i'm gonna choose:

English language
English Literature
Maths (higher)
Chemistry
Biology
Physics
History
Geography
French
Business Studies (I think?)

As I really wanna get top grades so I can apply to UCL for uni to stud medicine. But i have to get top notch grades.... Any Advice?????


Work hard all the time, that is something I wish I did in Year 9. Especially in your sciences, as you want to study medicine, work really hard in your mock controlled assessment, as it will help your overall grade (I don't know if your school do mock CAUs, but my school did in Year 9). Make sure you have good, concise notes, also revise your notes at home after the lesson just so you can really understand what you've learnt. Take your homework seriously, as it will help you when revising. PAST PAPERS, use them when you have tests and mocks, because it is likely your school will frame questions around them. For your languages, I would make sure to know your tenses, verbs etc, very well. Work hard learning your writing and speaking as they make up a big part of your grade. I don't take Business Studies but I suggest you take it as seriously as the other subjects. For Maths, do active learning, by constantly doing sums and equations, as it will help you in tests and just overall understanding what you've learnt. Take the chosen subjects seriously, as that always helps especially for sets and things. Ask your teachers for a syllabus for the year, so that you can look at topics in advance.

If you keep motivated and positive, then you'll get top top grades,

If you need any advice, I'm here!

Good luck for Year 9, you'll smash it!!!
Hi guys, thank you all who responded to me!!! I really appreciate all your advice but I have another question to ask... I have loads of friends who all slack and don't really care what GCSE results they get. And I feel like they wanna take me down with them. My school has advised that we review our notes over Summer and make sure we have a vague idea of what subjects we wanna choose. (I already know - see posts above). But all my other friends are intent on staying out late, not doing anything the school asks of them and taking me with them. I sort of feel like ditching them because they're annoying and keep telling me I'm a dork for wanting to study medicine. So should I ditch them? It's kind of the right time to, as I don't want to go through anything particularly emotional during GCSE years so...

Give me ALL your advice!!:colondollar:
Original post by AGradeGirl
Hi guys, thank you all who responded to me!!! I really appreciate all your advice but I have another question to ask... I have loads of friends who all slack and don't really care what GCSE results they get. And I feel like they wanna take me down with them. My school has advised that we review our notes over Summer and make sure we have a vague idea of what subjects we wanna choose. (I already know - see posts above). But all my other friends are intent on staying out late, not doing anything the school asks of them and taking me with them. I sort of feel like ditching them because they're annoying and keep telling me I'm a dork for wanting to study medicine. So should I ditch them? It's kind of the right time to, as I don't want to go through anything particularly emotional during GCSE years so...

Give me ALL your advice!!:colondollar:


Well, AGradeGirl..

I want you to focus on you, as at the end of the day, if they're the ones slacking and trying to bring you down with them, then it isn't good for you at all. Don't be a follower as it just makes it harder for you, especially as you want to do really well in school and you want to keep the grades up and consistent. If they keep telling you that you're a dork for studying Medicine, well stuff them, as you have a passion to do something that could lead to you getting a great job, income etc. If you want to ditch them, I would suggest that you think about that carefully, it depends how close you are with them, and also if you have other friends in school who you're close with. Honestly, please don't follow in their steps of slacking and being plain lazy as you don't want to look at your results sheet and be like "Oh crap", knowing that you could have done better. As long as you have other close friends who you enjoy being around, go to them, but I don't want to ditch them and then they're hurt etc.

Focus on YOU,

CPS23
Original post by _gcx


Luckily, you'll find that Additional may be easier than Core, especially in Chemistry and Physics. Prepare some notes on Core, and start revising them at your own pace. There is no rush, atm, but don't leave it until there is.

Overall, good grades so far, and I am in full confidence that you can hit those A*s in Year 11, if you work at it :wink:


This is very true. I did my gcse's this year and found that additional was easier than core, and triple was easier than additional (which is probably a bit weird!.:smile:)
Hope you get those A* grades. You sound like you are capable of these grades. My thread is helping me stay motivated and I hope yours does the same!☺️. If you are interested, I will be posting some of my revision notes on my thread so feel free to have a look. Remember, you still have plenty of time to revise (until next May lol) so it's great now that you can take your time.☺️good luck!
Wow! I have literally haven't done an update yet! Here goes,

I went on holiday last week and didn't do anything but now I'm back home.. so I have mainly written new notes for History and simplified them as there is a lot in Year 10, and I'm guessing even more in Year 11. I've made flashcards as well with acronyms as well. Also, I have made some notes for RS, for the unit about Religious Philosophy and Ultimate Questions. I'm going to start making notes for Science tomorrow and some flashcards too. It has been fun making notes and adding some colour.


I'll do another update in a week, if I remember...
Original post by CPS23
Wow! I have literally haven't done an update yet! Here goes,

I went on holiday last week and didn't do anything but now I'm back home.. so I have mainly written new notes for History and simplified them as there is a lot in Year 10, and I'm guessing even more in Year 11. I've made flashcards as well with acronyms as well. Also, I have made some notes for RS, for the unit about Religious Philosophy and Ultimate Questions. I'm going to start making notes for Science tomorrow and some flashcards too. It has been fun making notes and adding some colour.


I'll do another update in a week, if I remember...


Glad to hear you're making progress! :biggrin:
So, I got my results for Statistics and Core Science today and I got...

a B in Statistics, which is so so surprising as I got Cs and Ds all year in tests and a C in Core Science which I'm pleased about but I'm going to retake it, as I got an A in coursework which I was also surprised about! So really I'm happy and so motivated for Year 11. I'm so ready to retake Core and at least get a B or a stretch to an A.

I hope everyone got the results they wanted!
UPDATE:

So recently I have been revising my Sciences, so I've made notes for mainly Physics and Biology. My dad suggested to me that I should consider becoming a GP, as I'm beginning to enjoy Science now and he says I have good qualities. So I'm actually might go off Law and study Medicine! This means I really need to improve in Science and get top grades as well as Maths too so I do Maths SL in IB.
Been a while since I did an update, and nothing much has happened really. I had a French vocab test today and got 8 out of 10. Found out next I got a C in a French Writing but so much was happening when I did it, so my teacher understood and is letting me retake it. I got a new Maths teacher and he's so so good, so I'm hoping my grades improve now. I have a Biology test on Monday and a Chemistry test in the following Monday, so I'm really prepping for those.

It's almost time in my area to start looking at sixth forms but I know I want to stay at my school to take the IB.

CPS23

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