[DazedDreamer]

Hey everyone!
In September I am going into year ten, which means I'll be starting my gcses! So I was wondering if anyone who has done or is doing them has any advice on how to survive?!
I am doing Maths (which my maths set is likely to take a year early, doing mocks this November. Then in year 11 we'll do additional maths), English, RS, Triple Science, Spanish, Short Course Latin, Geography and Art. I will also be doing my Bronze D of E, and am going to take up a few sports, such as gymnastics, badminton, and rowing. I would really appreciate some advice on coping with everything and not falling behind! Thank you

[techno836]

(Original post by DazedDreamer)
Hey everyone!
In September I am going into year ten, which means I'll be starting my gcses! So I was wondering if anyone who has done or is doing them has any advice on how to survive?!
I am doing Maths (which my maths set is likely to take a year early, doing mocks this November. Then in year 11 we'll do additional maths), English, RS, Triple Science, Spanish, Short Course Latin, Geography and Art. I will also be doing my Bronze D of E, and am going to take up a few sports, such as gymnastics, badminton, and rowing. I would really appreciate some advice on coping with everything and not falling behind! Thank you

dont worry about it ... that is the most important thing ... triple science you need to keep on top of really and your art (if it is BTEC it will have deadlines i presume) .. but you just have to put the extra work in out of school aswell if you that worried ..l

it would help to do the spanish in DofE's skill section to help you even further

[isp-]

Enjoy it while you can.

On a real note: just review your work each day after school and that should be enough. You should have the content finished around a month and a half maybe two months before your exam in which you should indulge in past-papers.

[Aurorae]

(Original post by DazedDreamer)
Hey everyone!
In September I am going into year ten, which means I'll be starting my gcses! So I was wondering if anyone who has done or is doing them has any advice on how to survive?!
I am doing Maths (which my maths set is likely to take a year early, doing mocks this November. Then in year 11 we'll do additional maths), English, RS, Triple Science, Spanish, Short Course Latin, Geography and Art. I will also be doing my Bronze D of E, and am going to take up a few sports, such as gymnastics, badminton, and rowing. I would really appreciate some advice on coping with everything and not falling behind! Thank you

Life for GCSE students is generally pretty easy going (but it's worth bearing in mind it's importance for your future so it isn't a worthless stage in your life), so you're not expected to sit down and study six hours of revision after school every day. That doesn't mean no revision is good (I spend about an hour every weekend just going over and brushing up on what I learnt/will learn), but you don't need to destroy your social life for it.

You might also want to fill up your after-school stuff with sports and other extracurricular activities (as you are clearly already doing). I'm very keen on Badminton myself, so doing a sport that you enjoy certainly helps you forget any worries about the amount of homework waiting at home, and therefore you're in a better state of mind by the time you do start doing homework.

Overall, the message is never to sacrifice your social life for your GCSEs, but get into a disciplined routine of integrating small schedules of revision in your current lifestyle.

[kaboon-supreme]

your gcse aare very important and always try to do your best. finish as manny subjects as you can and avoid retakes. also you have to start thinking abut what univesity and degree you wanna do now so you work towards it.. good luck

[DazedDreamer]

Okay everyone, thanks for all your help! Also, have any of you done art, and do you have any tips on not falling behind in that especially? And any tips on how to study a subject you hate (biology for me) but still had to do? x

[mynameisntbobk]

(Original post by DazedDreamer)
Okay everyone, thanks for all your help! Also, have any of you done art, and do you have any tips on not falling behind in that especially? And any tips on how to study a subject you hate (biology for me) but still had to do? x

I didn't do art, but I know people who've failed it because they never did any of the work on time, so I'd say make sure you spend time out of school actually doing what you need to, can't go into specifics because I never did art, but in answer to your second question, what I did was just got on with it and made sure I understood. As I hate biology as well, I understand where your coming from, but at GCSE level, there are a few interesting topics which'll push you along for sure. I guess because I hated English language, I had a bad attitude towards it in year 10, but you realise that it really won't help you. From the start of year 11, I buckled down, despite hating it and ended up getting A's & A*'s in every controlled assessment, so what I'm saying is, even if you don't like a subject, just give it your all, and don't stop working because of any bad thoughts towards it.

Spoiler:

Show

sorry for the essay

[Dinnes]

(Original post by DazedDreamer)
Hey everyone!
In September I am going into year ten, which means I'll be starting my gcses! So I was wondering if anyone who has done or is doing them has any advice on how to survive?!
I am doing Maths (which my maths set is likely to take a year early, doing mocks this November. Then in year 11 we'll do additional maths), English, RS, Triple Science, Spanish, Short Course Latin, Geography and Art. I will also be doing my Bronze D of E, and am going to take up a few sports, such as gymnastics, badminton, and rowing. I would really appreciate some advice on coping with everything and not falling behind! Thank you

I was in exactly the same situation as you! Hallelujah, someone like me!

At the GCSE stage I didn't find it a major problem, but the more stuff you do the more you will have to organise your time. It's also important to prioritise: put your academic work first, even to an extent above your social life (having said that do make sure that you get exercise fairly regularly).

I've just finished my GCSEs, having done DofE Bronze/Silver, Badminton, School Rugby, Rugby Club, 2 Instrument lessons + various exams (3lessons/week), Big Band, Sax Quartet, Piano group, County wind group, EPQ (extra independent project), Chinese GCSE extracurricular, Volunteering in addition to dofe, and other things like that. It sounds stupid, and what you are going to do is fine if you are happy with it, but actually a lot of these things aren't major time issues - e.g. only once-a-week things which just make life interesting.

The most important thing I got into doing was that whenever stuff seemed to pile high up on me, I made lists. I would (and still do to this day) write lists of everything that stresses me, and make a chart like this:

______Important_________Not Importatnt____
................................ ....|........................... .........
................................ ....|........................... .........
................................ ....|........................... ......... )- Urgent
................................ ....|........................... .........
................................ ....|........................... .........
________________________________ _______
................................ ....|........................... .........
................................ ....|........................... .........|
................................ ....|........................... ......... |
................................ ....|........................... ......... | )- Not Urgent
................................ ....|........................... ......... |
................................ ....|........................... ......... |
________________________________ __


So it's divided into four squares - Urgent&Important, Urgent&Unimportant, Not Urgent& Important, Not Urgent& Unimportnat. I found this really helpful because it makes it really easy to prioritise things.

It's totally your call how much stuff you want to do to fill your time - there's absolutely no pressure to do a heap of stuff. Unless you are confident that you can get straight A*s then you should focus on work until you are. But filling up your time is something you can do, so long as you prioritise and organise your time, and give yourself enough of a rest! :P

Sorry if that was a bit rambling, but I was in the same situation as you so I know what it feels like. Doing more stuff is generally a good thing but you can risk the things you do at the moment suffering (academics particularly) as well as tiring yourself out. So yes, as long as you're sensible about it then go for it and be aspirational :P It's better to want to do stuff and then have to drop it halfway through the year than waste time doing nothing useful.

Hope this helped,
Dan

[Dinnes]

(Original post by DazedDreamer)
Okay everyone, thanks for all your help! Also, have any of you done art, and do you have any tips on not falling behind in that especially? And any tips on how to study a subject you hate (biology for me) but still had to do? x

I did Art for GCSE. Get work done as soon as you can. If you can, set aside an afterschool slot once a week - this will make things so much easier. Luckily I planned stuff fairly well, but the majority of people in my year really, really, struggled just because they underestimated the amount of time they needed to do it. Art isn't an especially difficult subject but it does take time and effort to do, as well as independence. So I'd recommend you do that and also make sure you don't waste time in lessons - enter the classroom knowing what you want to do and why and things will run much smoother.

Dan

[Caribbeantwist]

Don't leave all your coursework till the end of 5th year before study leave hahaha it's so tempting but get it done early with plenty of time


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Dinnes]

(Original post by DazedDreamer)
Okay everyone, thanks for all your help! Also, have any of you done art, and do you have any tips on not falling behind in that especially? And any tips on how to study a subject you hate (biology for me) but still had to do? x

Work out why you dislike it - I didn't like biology either mostly because my teacher wasn't great. I made it through by focusing lots in the lessons and getting good marks - through that it became a positive experience and I felt better about going. Also, make sure you sit next to/talk about it with a good friend, that can make studying so much better.

Dan

[Caribbeantwist]

(Original post by Dinnes)
I did Art for GCSE. Get work done as soon as you can. If you can, set aside an afterschool slot once a week - this will make things so much easier. Luckily I planned stuff fairly well, but the majority of people in my year really, really, struggled just because they underestimated the amount of time they needed to do it. Art isn't an especially difficult subject but it does take time and effort to do, as well as independence. So I'd recommend you do that and also make sure you don't waste time in lessons - enter the classroom knowing what you want to do and why and things will run much smoother.

Dan

Omg art deffo just do it hahaha! And the lesson thing is a really good idea- the amount of lessons I sat there feeling like I had no idea what to do!
And also don't underestimate yourself in art- be really confident with your work or you will just put off doing it till the last minute


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[GreenLantern1]

(Original post by DazedDreamer)
Hey everyone!
In September I am going into year ten, which means I'll be starting my gcses! So I was wondering if anyone who has done or is doing them has any advice on how to survive?!
I am doing Maths (which my maths set is likely to take a year early, doing mocks this November. Then in year 11 we'll do additional maths), English, RS, Triple Science, Spanish, Short Course Latin, Geography and Art. I will also be doing my Bronze D of E, and am going to take up a few sports, such as gymnastics, badminton, and rowing. I would really appreciate some advice on coping with everything and not falling behind! Thank you

Keep on top of your work and coursework. Simple as =)

[izpenguin]

Don't stress too much- you'll be fine. For me GCSE hasn't been much different to KS3.
Two tips:
-Pay attention in class all year- it will make revision so much easier as you will only have to remind yourself of the material, you won't be learning it for the first time.
-Take all exams & controlled assessments seriously- even if they are only worth a small percentage of your final grade, it all adds up. This is definitely true in English.

[Ellie_May :)]

(Original post by DazedDreamer)
Okay everyone, thanks for all your help! Also, have any of you done art, and do you have any tips on not falling behind in that especially? And any tips on how to study a subject you hate (biology for me) but still had to do? x

I did BTEC Art, and got a distinction* which i am v.proud of
I'd say to make sure you do all the work and homework. Keep up to date and dont fall behind. Where you have time, add extra work on top of what you are given to do. It shows your commitment to the subject, and it's what got me a higher grade, as well as doing extra artist research pages and adding my own opinions to my work. Like people have already said, review your work at the end of each school day, and get everything done as soon as possible.

On a subject you hate - for me this was maths and graphics. I'd say to make sure you actually revise more for your harder subjects than your stronger ones. It's better to pass your harder subject whilst still having a decent grade in your stronger ones, rather than to get a really good grade on your stronger one but to fail and have to retake your weak one.

Good luck!