[Tammie2010]

I would love to get A*'s for my GCSES (currently in year 10) and I was wondering is how I am revising a good way?
I use pukka project book's to organise my subjects and I try to condence the notes from revision book and then highlught the key points. i don't use much colour and I was wondering are mindmaps very effective?

[blueflower114]

(Original post by Tammie2010)
I would love to get A*'s for my GCSES (currently in year 10) and I was wondering is how I am revising a good way?
I use pukka project book's to organise my subjects and I try to condence the notes from revision book and then highlught the key points. i don't use much colour and I was wondering are mindmaps very effective?

Mind maps do work in certain subjects, also make flash cards with a short summary of all important information you have learned so far- that helped me a lot when I was doing my GCSEs!

[dean01234]

For maths: PAST PAPERS!!!

[RSP18]

at gcse level, if u just learn ur revision guide literally word for word u r gonna get A*

[InkyOne]

(Original post by Tammie2010)
I would love to get A*'s for my GCSES (currently in year 10) and I was wondering is how I am revising a good way?
I use pukka project book's to organise my subjects and I try to condence the notes from revision book and then highlught the key points. i don't use much colour and I was wondering are mindmaps very effective?

That's exactly what I did at A-level and GCSE, although I used the text book not the revision guide, and I also write out the hilighted bits again just before the exam so I'm sure to remember that stuff, and I got A*s, so it worked well for me! my tip would also be to do lots of practice papers if you can

[Frankster]

Basically, after every day come back home revise whatever you have done in school - that helps to stick in your memory. While you are revising all the day's work, you would like to write down key points in to use later.

In half terms or end of terms you should make elaborated notes of the topics you have covered so far in the subjects' courses. Then nearer to the exams you should go through these notes each weekend.

During study leave go through as many notes as possible and at the same time do as many papers as possible. You won't believe how many questions can crop up in your real GCSE just by taking out from the past papers - whether you are doing old spec or the new one.

Then a couple of days or the night before the exam go through the key points notes that you made after every lesson (see first para.) and these should prepare you well for the exam!

Good luck!

[Roshniroxy]

(Original post by Tammie2010)
I would love to get A*'s for my GCSES (currently in year 10) and I was wondering is how I am revising a good way?
I use pukka project book's to organise my subjects and I try to condence the notes from revision book and then highlught the key points. i don't use much colour and I was wondering are mindmaps very effective?

Exactly what I do and I'm in year 12. Pukka pads are my best friends when it comes to making notes; what I tend to do is condense information from my class notes and revision textbooks and then use lots of colours.

Past papers are the most effective method revising for the sciences and maths; they not only reinforce the knowledge but improve your exam technique. Remember questions are repetitive: you get similar questions after each year but they're just worded differently with different given scenarios.

Essays are key for the humanities subjects- do as many essays as possible and get your teachers to mark them.

Good luck !!

[BatteryHuman]

I personally find flash cards the most useful, particularly good for last minute revision on the bus!


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[Chiseph]

(Original post by RSP18)
at gcse level, if u just learn ur revision guide literally word for word u r gonna get A*

True dat.

But, seriously, GCSE is straightforward in the sense that it's all more of a memory test than skill - for most subjects, at least.

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[According to Pete]

(Original post by Tammie2010)
I would love to get A*'s for my GCSES (currently in year 10) and I was wondering is how I am revising a good way?
I use pukka project book's to organise my subjects and I try to condence the notes from revision book and then highlught the key points. i don't use much colour and I was wondering are mindmaps very effective?

I believe that everyone as to find their own way of learning and revision. For some people writing long revision notes then condensing down to revision cards and eventually flash cards works really well.

For others building a mind map to visualise the subject matter and how it all fits together is more effective. Perhaps also using colours to connect various key sections.

There are also people I know who like to record their notes onto their IPod and listen back to the content while out walking or late at night.

Others like to test themselves with quizzes or other testing tools to ensure they are absorbing what they've learnt.

The important thing is trying the various options and picking a combination of these that works best for you.

Best of luck with whatever you choose


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[Tomcrease]

Past papers for maths and science is the only real way to almost guarantee A*s at GCSE and A level

[Alkain1607]

(Original post by According to Pete)
I believe that everyone as to find their own way of learning and revision. For some people writing long revision notes then condensing down to revision cards and eventually flash cards works really well.

For others building a mind map to visualise the subject matter and how it all fits together is more effective. Perhaps also using colours to connect various key sections.

There are also people I know who like to record their notes onto their IPod and listen back to the content while out walking or late at night.

Others like to test themselves with quizzes or other testing tools to ensure they are absorbing what they've learnt.

The important thing is trying the various options and picking a combination of these that works best for you.

Best of luck with whatever you choose

What he said. Revision isn't a universal thing, what may work for somebody else might not work for you. The best thing you can do is find the method that works well for you, put in the time, work hard and you'll be just fine. There isn't an easier way than that I'm afraid....I wish there was.

[Whostolemycookie]

If all else fails PAST PAPERS!!


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[justanotherindigo]

(Original post by Tammie2010)
I would love to get A*'s for my GCSES (currently in year 10) and I was wondering is how I am revising a good way?
I use pukka project book's to organise my subjects and I try to condence the notes from revision book and then highlught the key points. i don't use much colour and I was wondering are mindmaps very effective?

I used a range of revision techniques for different subjects like:

For English I would practise writing essays under controlled conditions and when it came to revising for poems and novels/plays, I made mindmaps. Like poems for example, for one poem I would make one mindmap and I would include: thoughts/feelings, context etc... It really helps!

For humanities like history, I made both mindmaps and a timeline. I also added pictures to the timeline to help me visualise. Again, I practised writing responses under controlled conditions so that you don't run out of time in the exam! Another technique that I also adopted was highlighting key events and using post-it notes. Again these help to absorb key information into your head Also, for both english and history and any other written subject..always revise from MARK SCHEMES. These will help you out A LOT

For maths do as much past papers as you could find because these will immensely help! Also, do a lot of practise questions from your textbook and try to tackle A/A* questions. These are the questions that are worth most marks I did the exact same for science. Do a lot of past papers to hone your skills.

Using pukka pads with dividers is a good idea because all your work is organised, so that you don't have to go hunting when it comes to last minute revision! Personally I used folders with dividers for each subject to keep lose sheets in

Good luck in year 11 and if you have any more queries regarding GCSE's and revision..then feel free to PM me!

[Hello53]

I'd say you're well ahead already anyway, I know a lot of people can get As at GCSE with little to no revision.

My school gave us like a multiple choice quiz to see if we learnt and remembered better using visual, kinaesthetic or auditory techniques. Maybe you can find one on the Internet or something and see which learning style suits you best?

I found that I'm a visual learner, so I highlight my notes a lot, and copy them out into a blank exercise book, writing in different shapes, drawing funny cartoons of things I associate with that topic, dividing my page into different sections, even writing different characters/dates/techniques/key words and concepts/events/names/case studies, etc. at different angles to help me visualise them better in the exam. Then I'd condense these into spider diagrams, or even do this first, depending on the subject and how much you need to learn for it.

Timelines are really useful for history. I'd write a basic one, then go back later and highlight the important points, then go back later in the week or whatever and add more detail, and so on, until you think you've learnt everything you need to know. I'd imagine you could use this technique for learning processes or something in the sciences as well?

Sometimes, I'll use flash cards for remembering definitions and names/case studies, but I'd rather mind map them instead because I nearly always lose flash cards!

I like to keep revision notes separate from class notes, and on blank paper instead of lined, so I can add pictures or diagrams easily :-)

But honestly, I wouldn't worry about it, I know at my school, the out of hours revision classes the teachers provided were more than enough anyway, so I'm sure you'll be fine with text books!

Just so you know, I've just done my AS year and I'm waiting for the results, so I won't be sure if any of this is good advice until I get my results!

Good luck :-)




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