Advice from old year 11s to new year 11s?

So I'm currently on my summer holidays from having just finished year 10, so I'll be going in to year 11 on September 3rd. At the moment I'm pretty nervous/excited for year 11, but I'm not really sure what to expect, so I was wondering if any past year 11s have advice for upcoming year 11s about GCSE's, revision, mocks, homework etc. or have any general words of wisdom to impart.

If you could leave any advice etc that would be great!

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Reply 1

JustGeorgeJ

Original post by kate37

I'm now going onto my second year at university but things in the education sector mainly stay the same - the levels just get harder etc.

What I'd say to you is...
Make sure you are always prepared in plenty of time, revise as soon as you start getting material you need to remember, but never over do it, if you've hit the metaphorical wall then give yourself a break and return to it another day - start this method early on and you won't have to push yourself come exams etc.
Mocks, always treat them as the real thing. They aren't but they are an accurate representation of how you'll do, therefore, give it all you've got and hope for the best, that way you can see the areas you need to improve on.
Homework, again, no one likes homework but it can give you accurate representation of the areas you need to improve so try to do it on time!

Other than that, enjoy year 11!

Reply 2

username1292215

Original post by kate37

for me revision,mocks,homeworks were all good and managable nothing to be stressed or worried about.

Just make sure you understand everything in class, revise for mocks, and do homework and you will be fine.

Start revising in October for your december mocks. Then when to start revision is up to you depends on your ability. I started during easter but better to start earlier so you have better quality revision

What subjects you doing?

Reply 3

eve.kathleen

Heyaaa I've just finished year 11 and 19 exams later waiting for results day on the 20th August!
First up, this is your last year of compulsory education before you get to influence your education/career which can be very daunting! You also have the 'main event' of GCSEs which you have spent 2 years preparing for!
I found that Sep-Dec is a similar pace to year 10 - covering and finishing the course material. APPRECIATE THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS BECAUSE THESE WILL BE THE MOST RELAXING FOR A WHILE :P. You may also have mock exams either before or after Xmas (we had them before). My honest advice is to treat them like the real thing as it will give you (aswell as your teachers/parents a good idea on your strengths/weaknesses. It is also an oppurtunity for you to try out different revision styles and get into the habit of revising.
After Xmas the pace of lessons increases - you are expected to consolidate your knowledge and few lessons will be spent re going over content in a huge amount of detail, also (TOP TIP) ask for advice if you are unsure-It is better to ask straight away rather than forget it or come back to it nearer to exams as this will make you more stressed!
From around April lessons were purely revision based- summarising the course content by doing e.g. Revision workshops and past papers. I would suggest you begin revision in the Easter holidays as you will have a good 2 weeks to really get stuck into revising. I started in the Easter break and I felt it was just the right time as I wasn't going to forget the info but wasn't 'cramming' either.
From April untill study leave really will FLY by and I suggest you make the most of the time you have left. A great motivator I found for revision was focussing on the rewards( such as prom and opening my results and feeling proud) to keep me motivated. I would also suggest spending an hour or so each night making summary notes on the exam content that you can read over if you have a spare 5 mins. Before each exam I would spend 10-15 looking at the notes I have made and reading revision guides and that seemed to work well for me.
You could also try past papers by searching for them online but honestly I didn't do that many as we did loads in class (but everyone has a different learning style and it might be right for you :smile:

)

PHEWWWWW! I think I covered most things, sorry for the rambling but I hope you do well in your GCSEs and love or loathe school (it sounds cliche) but make it count it will pass very quickly. It's not even the end of summer and I am missing 'year 11 banter/experiences' and it makes me sad that I am now an 'old year 11' :wink:

Anyways.....Goodluck, any questions feel free to ask :smile:

Reply 4

kate37

Original post by SuperHuman98

Thanks! I'm taking Maths, Triple Science, English, History, Spanish, PE and Drama.

Revise.

Original post by kate37

Thanks! I'm taking Maths, Triple Science, English, History, Spanish, PE and Drama.

for spanish make sure you dont leave learning coursework till the last min

Reply 7

KingAuthor

Honestly, when I did my GCSEs I started to get pretty bored fast. In the first part of the year (before Easter) it's boring but then you will approach rapidly to the final exams. I suggests after Easter you start revising. At my school, after school revision classes weren't great at all. It was full of the rowdy kids in class that were told they have to stay there for detention. I did go to revision a few times but overall it wasn't great.

I only really discovered what GCSEs were a week before my exams started. I mean, I knew the importance of them were, but not how to DO them.

When I do my A-levels I definitely will be having a different attitude towards learning!

Reply 8

LydiaFirefly<3

Original post by kate37

Hi, I'm going into year 13 in September :smile:

In terms of advice I'd definitely suggest that you buy all the necessary revision books for the subjects that you are doing (particularly science, the CGP revision books saved my life!). I'd suggest buying them on Amazon as that's probably the place you'll get them cheapest. Make revision cards as early as possible. I started making mine in September and made them as we learnt new topics, they were really useful when exams were near as I had all my revision material ready. Start revising as early as possible and plan your revision in a table (i.e. do an hour of history, have a break, then do an hour of chemistry etc) as that will help you stick to the plan. But overall I'd say enjoy year 11 as much as you can. Some of the people in your year group you'll never see again after this year so make the most of the time you have with them and make loads of memories :tongue:

I actually really liked year 11, despite the exam pressure it was probably my best school year :smile:

Good luck!

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Reply 9

TheYearNiner

do i need to get a tutor because my school is

Spoiler

Reply 10

Imperion

Don't know if this is good so I'm gonna put in spoilers, click if you want to. It's basically what I did. Cliche but whatevs :u:

Spoiler

Reply 11

Gilo98

Original post by TheYearNiner

do i need to get a tutor because my school is

Spoiler

For GCSE, unless you severely struggle I wouldn't. Tutoring can be very benificial for some, but working hard both inside and outside of school can be just as good for GCSE - at the end of the day, I would say about 80% of GCSE is a case of remembering things, and ££££ for a tutor to help you do this seems a bit futile. Some swear by CGP and flashcards.

Reply 12

Rhia_x

I would say to make sure you thoroughly revise things that you don't feel comfortable with, seems pretty obvious, right? But a lot of people, including myself, found it easier to revise the things we already know so we can do extra good on those questions. This backfired on me in Chemistry as the stuff I thoroughly revised and knew well didn't come up. Make sure all of your coursework is complete by about February at the latest so you are ready to knuckle down and revise. Do as many past papers as possible! Learn how to answer different questions appropriately and learn the key words for common 6-15 mark questions. Make sure you take plenty of breaks and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Don't be one of those who are awake all night revising and living off energy drinks! When it comes to exams, get a good nights sleep the night before and always arrive an hour or two before so you can revise those last minute things with friends. Most of all, try your hardest!

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Reply 13

TheYearNiner

its not about money, my parents can afford a tutor and I am getting a tutor to help boost me to A' and A* because I am quite smart but i need to become A Child Genius

Reply 14

Retired_Messiah

GCSEs felt over-hyped to me, the pressure seemed quite unnecessary. So my words of wisdom are: Just chill fam.

Original post by TheYearNiner

do i need to get a tutor because my school is

Spoiler

I managed to just about teach myself the entire science syllabus with a few CGP books, tutors certainly aren't a necessity for most subjects if you're reasonably smart.

alright

Original post by TheYearNiner

its not about money, my parents can afford a tutor and I am getting a tutor to help boost me to A' and A* because I am quite smart but i need to become A Child Genius

Getting A*s doesn't make you a genius haha

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Reply 17

Dhanihk

Treat the mocks like the real thing - they're a great opportunity to get feedback on your progress, and you'll have plenty of time to improve on results if they don't turn out so well. If you revise well for them, you'll find out what revision method helps you most and you'll be given a fairly good indicator as to how well you're doing. Getting good mock grades is really rewarding when it comes to revising for real, plus you'll probably find that you remember some material from your mock revision.

Pester your teachers for information. GCSEs aren't actually that much about understanding something (they're pretty much a memory test), but understanding something really helps you remember it, over trying to recall sentences of blab that means nothing to you.

Also, enjoy yourself. As much as your teachers want you to believe, GCSEs aren't really that important, they're just a stepping-stone to higher education. Having said this, it's definitely nice to have some good grades under your belt. Just don't put tons of pressure on yourself to get 12 A*s if it's not necessary to.

:smile:

Reply 18

DaringDaniel

Original post by TheYearNiner

its not about money, my parents can afford a tutor and I am getting a tutor to help boost me to A' and A* because I am quite smart but i need to become A Child Genius

Those 'Child Genius's' are naturally bright without any intervention IMHO.

Reply 19

Loyale

Do your work properly, dont think "oh this subject is easy or i know everything" because in all honesty,you dont.
Read the spec+ make sure you learn every little detail and memorise the mark schemes