ChemistryNerd13| My GCSE Journey

I am, because the state of the 9-1 system leaves me uncertain what the grade boundaries are going to be. I keep on going into a cold sweat because I think: what if I **** up completely and end up with all Ds and Es, when I'm aiming for A*s. I should stop thinking that way, because I know I'll do well, doubt is just plaguing my mind.



Notes and past papers. I've tried flash cards, they don't work for me at all.



Good, but I'm getting obsessive. I've already started some AS Maths stuff o.o Games are keeping me sane, at least

Yeah I keep on thinking of getting C's and D's but I'm going to keep aiming for 7 A*s and 2 As until my very last exam. If I get a B or C then I'll know that I had worked really hard. Don't let negative thoughts occupy your mind.. You will do well!!☺️☺️I hate the way grades are now numbers😡😡. It annoys me that England has to have a different grading system to my home Northern Ireland. For revision, I make notes in a folder. Then I make flashcards out of the notes and then do past papers before making my own questions up😂😂I'm getting obsessive as well... Feeling paranoid that I'm forgetting things😬 I think it's so good that your starting to learn AS maths. I've been doing the exact Same for AS Chemistry lol... Even on this holiday😂😂


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That must be hard having such a condition. I had read about that in your blog☺️. That's great that your school allows you to use a laptop. So would the question paper appear on the computer screen or do you just type answers in Microsoft word?(if that makes any sense!)


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It is I wasn't even told it when I was younger, I was told I just think differentlly to others, and the implications of my condition weren't explained until I looked them up a few years ago. As a result, I am absolutely **** at sport, and just do pretty much nothing in PE. My friends poke fun at me a bit, but I know it's just banter, and they don't know I have the condition, and I don't want to potentially upset them by explaining it.

No, although on-screen test is an option for some exam boards, I believe AQA and OCR, I just sit in the back of the hall with a laptop, with exclusively Microsoft Word. I type it, and then hand it to the invigilator on a memory stick. I do that with all subjects except from Maths, and that's because using a laptop in that circumstance is cumbersome and would disrupt my flow of thought. Once my flow of thought has been disrupted, I struggle to get back on track, often.

It's so hard to not think those thoughts though I am counting down the days until my exam, it's 291 days until my OCR RS exams, and the tension is just building. I honestly might take a few days off to regather my psyche. The main reason I'm learning AS Maths is because many people say the gap is large, and that AS Maths is hard. I am lucky to be very mathematically minded, and I think some concepts in AS are easier than in GCSE, as insane as that might sound. The subjects I'm terrified about are English and French, because the exams are so unpredictable. French has no central bank of topics, and AQA can just throw out whatever the hell they want, which last year included vaping. That's pretty stupid, and makes reading and listening terribly difficult. English is also extremely unpredictable. You can be predicted A*s, have a bad day and end up with a B or a C, if the exam board decides to be nice with the marking or not. The markschemes are so ambigous, it is sometimes hard to discern what the examiners actually want of you. So, I'll be happy with an A in Lang (7 or 8), but I would like an A* in Lit. French I would be fine with a B, although I'd like an A. A nightmare, that could happen, is that I could get a D/U (AQA skips E), then I end up with like a C or a D overall. That would like absolute crap to unis. It feels nice just to put all that out there, sometimes you just have to release a bit

I've been reading your blog and am actually surprised at how much I can relate to you with your subjects. Even the exam hall bit.. I am claustrophobic and have to sit near a door at the back of our hall. Otherwise I would faint😓. On my English exam that I sat in June, the personal writing was

'Write a speech for your classmates about a place that is significant to you'

And then section B: the analysis of a multimodal text was two book covers and you had to analyse how each engages the reader.

Would you find that for revision and past papers, you use other exam boards websites? If so can I PLEASE PLEASE recommend the CCEA website because I promise to you that the papers are really good as a revision source and give an idea of how questions can be asked in different ways. I use edexcel and AQA for revision as well and find it good to see how questions could potentially be asked.

Oh tell me about it... My first 2 exams
Are on the same day: R.E and ICT. Dreading them both. I think my first exams are on the same day as yours. I love maths and am Glad I took further maths GCSE. French sounds terrible and I feel super sorry for you😰.Hope things get better with regards the exams but my sister got an A* and 38/40 in her reading paper. She said to do papers from every exam board and then for speaking assessments, ask the teacher if you could do the assessment with them as practise before the actual test!

Day 16

So today, I wasn't very productive😂I was out for 6 hours with family there and only got a quick MindMap finished for rate of reaction. Although this is pretty good considering it is all work completed voluntarily☺️. So far, I'm pleased with how everything is going. I'm going to post my results this August to see where I need to resit, work harder or maintain a level at a subject. I'm pretty nervous when I think about it but I'm hoping that next year will be good for getting great grades☺️☺️ I'll call today a rest day👍🏻👍🏻.

If other people are getting their results, why not post them here?!!!☺️☺️☺️


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What GCSEs did you do this year? Is it because NI is still modular, and you do Year 10 (first year) exams for subjects, and then Year 11 (second year), exams? What are you hoping to get this year?

It's so hard to not think those thoughts though I am counting down the days until my exam, it's 291 days until my OCR RS exams, and the tension is just building. I honestly might take a few days off to regather my psyche. The main reason I'm learning AS Maths is because many people say the gap is large, and that AS Maths is hard. I am lucky to be very mathematically minded, and I think some concepts in AS are easier than in GCSE, as insane as that might sound. The subjects I'm terrified about are English and French, because the exams are so unpredictable. French has no central bank of topics, and AQA can just throw out whatever the hell they want, which last year included vaping. That's pretty stupid, and makes reading and listening terribly difficult. English is also extremely unpredictable. You can be predicted A*s, have a bad day and end up with a B or a C, if the exam board decides to be nice with the marking or not. The markschemes are so ambigous, it is sometimes hard to discern what the examiners actually want of you. So, I'll be happy with an A in Lang (7 or 8), but I would like an A* in Lit. French I would be fine with a B, although I'd like an A. A nightmare, that could happen, is that I could get a D/U (AQA skips E), then I end up with like a C or a D overall. That would like absolute crap to unis. It feels nice just to put all that out there, sometimes you just have to release a bit

mate you need to calm down
gcse are easy and there be over and done with before you know about it

I know I do. The thing is French is my only subject that isn't relatively straightforward, and can't really be learnt from a textbook like the others can (maybe English and Maths are exceptions), and that is why I'm panicking, because I'm uncomfortable with how random English and French can be. The rest can be learnt relatively easily, with no real need to understand the concepts. The reason that I'm starting AS Maths, is that my set is going through Maths at a snail's pace, and that's kinda boring me. GCSE Maths is dull overall, with no really intriguing topics. I know, after GCSEs, I'll be saying it's easy, but while I'm taking them they feel so damn draining, and I'm sure you can sympathise!

you have basically a year to pratice lol

dont worry man

I thought GCSEs were the hardest thing until I saw the work load from older friends doing A levels. They have like 4 files of work.😰I just need to try to get good grades so I can have something to talk about when applying for anything😬


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