GCSEs
In my case 9 subjects (I don’t count Further Maths as separate since there’s massive content overlap with gcse, and you can get a C or B at least with just standard gcse knowledge if you’re proficient with it). With maths and physics I was bored and wanted to do more advanced material. French was interesting but very challenging for me. The others just bored me to tears. But I stuck with them because I knew that the grades were important.
Truth be told, I did a lot of last minute revision for my sciences and geography. I got an 8 in geography and A* A* A in my sciences (A in chemistry, bugged up my second exam). The reason I only got an A in chemistry is because I panicked. Do NOT make that mistake. It won’t help you at all. Stay calm, cover the content properly if you realise you don’t know it (I went through it frantically and irrationally). When in the exam control your nerves and if need be write down key facts on the front of your paper so you don’t forget them. I did this for the entirety of ethanol production and the haber and contact processes because I’d only just properly learnt them in the 25 minutes prior to the exam. What I did afterwards was the critical error. I rushed through the exam in a spate of panic and ended up finishing in 35 minutes (my allowance is 75). No amount of error checking could compensate for the number of silly mistakes I made as a result of that pace. Combined with that second paper being an incredibly easy paper, the grade boundary for that paper was extremely high and I paid for my silly mistakes with my grade. Don’t do that.
Rules of GCSE success:
1. Do not panic
2. Clearly plan what revision you need to do when around the time you start to finish the syllabus in your classes.
3. Do plenty of past papers where they are available. If there is a shortage, then use them wisely as diagnostic tools to see your progress.
4. This starts early, but always pay attention in class and make sure you care about your learning. In geography and sciences, I had extremely rowdy classes. I spoke with my teachers about the problems, and checked on the options. Your learning environment must be suitable for you, to the best degree that is achievable. Else you’re wasting potential.
A Levels are conceptually more difficult, but that’s to be expected. They’re the next level of study, and go into significantly greater depth than gcse’s. Because you’re doing 3-5 of them, not 10-13 as most of my friends did. If you have a specific interest in the subjects you take at A level, it’ll feel easier and less tedious. GCSE is a pain for specialised students, but you’ll get through it 🙂
If you’re wondering how I did:
Maths igcse-9 (😅) (screwed up both papers. No idea how this happened!
Further Maths L2- A* 😅 (no idea how this happened at all)
English Language igcse-8 😅
English Literature igcse- B 🙁 (I messed up to an extent I still do not understand, and I don’t intend to touch this subject ever again. As per my calculations I got about 30% in my actual exams. I essentially passed English literature entirely on my coursework)
Geography-8 😑 (rowdy class and all)
French-7 😅 (7 marks off an 8)
Biology igcse- A* 🙂 (still pretty low scoring)
Chemistry igcse- A 😑 (wasn’t expecting this, especially with my misplaced confidence after paper 2)
Physics igcse- A* 😅 (my best result other than maths, got 90% on paper 2)
Business Studies- A 😡 (my teachers marking was way too lenient and I couldn’t have prepared myself for how harsh CIE marking was. Also kinda screwed up Paper 2)