lilacpotato's GCSE Revision

Hi everyone!
I know it's kinda late to be making one of these threads considering exams are 3 weeks away but I've seen how motivational they can be so I thought I'd give it a go :smile:

I started my revision in February but I really want to make the most out of these remaining weeks and put an end to my procrastinating nature! :biggrin:

I guess I should let you guys know what I'm hoping for when I open the dreaded envelope on August 25th!

Maths - A*
English Language - A*
Chemistry - A*
Physics - A*
Geography - A*
French - A*
German - A*
R.E - A*
Astronomy - B/A (I'm doing this as an extra GCSE after school and it's super hard so I don't want to set my expectations too high!)

I did two exams last year: Biology and English Literature. I managed to get an A* in both - yay!
I'm very good at procrastinating during the week so I will be posting most days to motivate myself to get something done!
I would be happy to help anyone else with their studies and I would be equally happy to get advice from all you smart people! :smile:

We can do this! :biggrin:

Naomi (lilacpotato) x

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Reply 1

lilacpotato

Update 24/04/16

R.E - Did June 2015 Unit 8 past paper (took ages :frown:

) - will get teacher to mark
Physics - Did June 2013 P1 paper, marked - got an A*! :biggrin:

Physics - Completed P2 questions
Eng Lang - Looked at past papers and examiner reports
Geography - Reviewed spec for skills paper, made notes of weaknesses
Astronomy - Got my parents to test me on my flashcards

Overall, not a bad day's work! Would have liked to have done a P2 paper but I couldn't handle anymore physics lol :tongue:

Reply 2

lilacpotato

Update 25/04/16

3 weeks until my first exam! :redface:

Actually got some stuff done after school today - yay! :biggrin:

And it was Physics! (which takes a lot of motivation for me lol)

Made notes on P2 Radioactivity - hadn't gone over it in a while
Did P2 June 2012 paper - it was really hard! Luckily A* was only 41, so I scraped it with 43! :smile:

If anyone can offer any advice/tips/sites for physics revision, please let me know - it is my weakest science!

Reply 3

romansholiday

Original post by lilacpotato

Update 25/04/16

3 weeks until my first exam! :redface:

Actually got some stuff done after school today - yay! :biggrin:

If anyone can offer any advice/tips/sites for physics revision, please let me know - it is my weakest science!

Hi! I love this thread! How much have you memorised currently? I feel like I'm really behind - I've made flashcards for everything but haven't memorised much stuff at all.

Reply 4

lilacpotato

Original post by romansholiday

Hi! I love this thread! How much have you memorised currently? I feel like I'm really behind - I've made flashcards for everything but haven't memorised much stuff at all.

Haha thank you! :colondollar:

I feel the same way sometimes - nothing seems to be going in! I think past papers are a good way of testing whether your revision is working i.e whether you can remember stuff! :smile:

Don't feel disheartened if you forget things, maybe try a different technique? I know it's a bit late to do it for everything, but I've been finding it helpful just to scribble out a really scruffy mind map on a topic, just to go over it in my head.

Good luck x

Reply 5

romansholiday

Original post by lilacpotato

Haha thank you! :colondollar:

I feel the same way sometimes - nothing seems to be going in! I think past papers are a good way of testing whether your revision is working i.e whether you can remember stuff! :smile:

Thanks for the tips! I wish you the very best of luck on your exams! I'm aiming for 8 As/A*s :s-smilie:

Reply 6

lilacpotato

Original post by romansholiday

Thanks for the tips! I wish you the very best of luck on your exams! I'm aiming for 8 As/A*s :s-smilie:

No problem and thank you!
I'm sure you'll get the grades you want in the end! :smile:

Reply 7

lilacpotato

Update 26/04/16
Hola amigos! :tongue:

How's revision going?

I got my teacher to mark the R.E paper I did over the weekend and I managed to get an A*! I know people say R.E is really is easy but I think the grade boundaries are pretty high so I'm really pleased with this result :smile:

After school:
Chemistry - Completed C1 past paper that we started in class
Maths - Completed past paper
R.E - Made poster on Believing in God topic and tested myself on the keywords

Hopefully my productivity willl continue! :biggrin:

Reply 8

lilacpotato

Update for 27/04/16 (yesterday)

At school, we're doing a lot more in class revision now which is good. :smile:

My English teacher has told us that we need to do another speaking and listening assessment and I find this really annoying because we're so close to exams that I really want to get down to exam technique etc. Oh well...let's see how it goes... :tongue:

Chemistry - Went over my weaknesses from C2
Geography - My sister tested me on my Deserts flashcards
Astronomy - Made my very last revision poster! :banana:

Finally! Now I can get on to testing myself on all the topics...

I would have liked to have done a bit more but the Astronomy poster took forever! :frown:

I'm sure I'll do some more today!

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 9

lilacpotato

Update 28/04/16

Had a bit of a manic day but I still managed to get a few things done! :smile:

Chemistry - Made notes on the Salts & Electrolysis section of C2 as it's still a weak area for me - I have a C2 mock on Tuesday :s-smilie:

Astronomy - Reviewed flashcards - I'm trying to do this most days as I think this is the only way I'm going to remember all the information! :tongue:

German - Learnt and tested myself on new vocab

Can't believe exams are so close now!!

Reply 10

lilacpotato

Update 29/04/2016

Haven't done much today and I don't really have an excuse! :tongue:

Oh well, we have a long weekend and I plan to make the most of it! :biggrin:

Chemistry - Completed post its on all of C2
French - Learnt and tested myself on new vocab

Hope you've all been more productive than me!

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 11

lilacpotato

Update for 30/04/16

I only managed to get three subjects done but I spent a good amount of time on each so it wasn't a wasted day :smile:

Astronomy - Completed past paper (it's a 2 hour paper! :redface:

)
Geography - Made a huge scruffy mind map on the whole of the Deserts topic and tested myself on flashcards
Chemistry - Attempted a C3 past paper to see where my weaknesses were (having not revised it for about a month). I got 45/60 which was just one mark in to the grade boundary for an A*! :tongue:

Usually I would be a bit annoyed but, considering I hadn't revised it recently, I'm happy with that result! I went over my weaknesses afterwards...

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 12

Tiara006

[I did two exams last year: Biology and English Literature. I managed to get an A* in both - yay!
I'm very good at procrastinating during the week so I will be posting most days to motivate myself to get something done!
I would be happy to help anyone else with their studies and I would be equally happy to get advice from all you smart people! :smile:

We can do this! :biggrin:

Naomi (lilacpotato) x

Wow, you are so motivated and I'm sure you'll get those grades? But how did you manage to get an A* in English Literature, do you have an amazing structure that you follow to write essays or is it just a natural thing? And what novels/plays/poems did you study?

Reply 13

lilacpotato

Original post by Tiara006

We can do this! :biggrin:

Naomi (lilacpotato) x

Wow, you are so motivated and I'm sure you'll get those grades? But how did you manage to get an A* in English Literature, do you have an amazing structure that you follow to write essays or is it just a natural thing? And what novels/plays/poems did you study?

Thank you! :biggrin:

I was very surprised to get an A* in English Literature - I was hoping for an A! :tongue:

Reply 14

Tiara006

Original post by lilacpotato

Thank you! :biggrin:

I was very surprised to get an A* in English Literature - I was hoping for an A! :tongue:

I didn't have a certain structure that I used, it was more about understanding the deeper meanings, giving alternative interpretations and showing some knowledge of the context of the novel. I also went through each of the characters and made notes on what I would write about if that character came up.
I did the Edexcel course and I did Animal Farm and Of Mice and Men. What ones are you doing?

I am on the AQA board and doing Of Mice and Men aswell and Kindertransport! I guess I'm finding it hard to make original interpretations for of mice and men, I just make basic statements, such as, 'Curley's wife is Curley's possession'. :smile:

but well done again!

Reply 15

lilacpotato

Original post by Tiara006

Thank you! :biggrin:

I was very surprised to get an A* in English Literature - I was hoping for an A! :tongue:

but well done again!

What's the structure of your exam paper like?

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Reply 16

lilacpotato

Update 01/05/16

Exams are this month!!! :redface:

I'm glad I managed to get a lot done today... :smile:

Chemistry - Revised weaknesses from yesterday's past paper, made scruffy mind map on organic chemistry section
R.E - Made keyword flashcards on first three sections
Maths - Watched youtube videos on transformation of graphs and did practice questions
Physics - Made posters on Lenses section and did quizzes on P1
English - Did practice question on OMAM - will get teacher to mark

Hope you've all had a productive Sunday! :biggrin:

Reply 17

Tiara006

Original post by lilacpotato

What's the structure of your exam paper like?

Posted from TSR Mobile

I just make a point or state a method used (a weak point), find evidence (weak evidence) and try my best to explain why the author used that particular method and what it shows and what effect it has on the reader blahblah.
I feel like this structure doesn't help but it's what I've been taught since year 7 :smile:

Reply 18

lilacpotato

Original post by Tiara006

I think maybe what you are missing is the depth of analysis. I know it's easy for me to say but how do you do it? Well, my teacher has always said that a way to get into the top marks is to suggest alternative interpretations, even if they are fairly simple - just to show that you have really thought about the effect of a quote. You don't need to do it for every quote but I think it would help you to gain some extra marks! Also, context is super important! Mention something like 'This shows the reader how Curley's wife is treated like a possession; this was a common belief at the time - women were simply property of their husbands.' You don't need to mention dates or anything like that but showing that you understand the context shows the examiner you really know the book!
Hope this helps x

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Reply 19

lilacpotato

Update 02/05/16

I didn't really get a lot done today... :redface:

Chemistry - I did a C2 paper and got 47/60, 2 marks off an A*! :frown:

I was a bit annoyed, especially as I made loads of silly mistakes. And I've got the mock tomorrow! :s-smilie:

French - Did a load of French vocab so that's one exam I'm feeling confident about! :biggrin:

Astronomy - Reviewed section 3, didn't know a lot! Really need to start focusing if I want to get that B!

Hopefully I'll be back on track tomorrow... :tongue: