CGP books....are they any good?

I use CGP books quite often and find them quite useful because of their compact size and easy revision notes.

Some people (e.g - my parents) say that CGP books don't always have the whole syllabus in it, is too plain and only gives you facts.

What do you think? If you've used them, please say if they've helped or not.

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Reply 1

Plato123

Is this for GCSE/AS/A2? In my opinion, they are all rubbish.

Reply 2

olliecapehorn

For last minute summary - yes, they're good. Good, but not great!

Reply 3

n_251

CGP is only good for revision NOT learning things new!!!

having said that, they seem to be easy to read and understand so aren't too bad! :smile:

Reply 4

westlake

Personally, I love them :smile:

I use them after I've done my own revision, to recap the major points etc.

Reply 5

nnnnl

They're not rubbish at all for gcses. For gcses I used nothing but these books, and for the subjects that I read it properly I got easy A*s. You still need to apply yourself, do all the practice questions and some real life past papers, but in terms of content you can learn from scratch from CGP, at least for GCSEs.

Used them for my AS' too, but only for a bit of extra guidance and to recap stuff, deifintely not to learn from scratch.

Reply 6

Betty P

Depends if you're using them for GCSE or A Level

I used them for my GCSE's and found them helpful as i think they have a good way of presenting the facts clearly; however, i have heard some other comments on TSR on how they are unsuitable for A Level as they are not indepth enough.

Im starting my AS levels next year and have bought them for Chemisty and Physics as a general revision tool, but i'm not going to rely on them too much :p:

'spose its whatever floats ya boat! :biggrin:

Reply 7

Liam92

As people have said, they are good for summaries but not for learning new material. IMO, the usefulness also varies dramatically between different subject areas. I mean, the langauge ones are just plain rubbish - and I can't see how they would be of use for anyone - far too simplistic. But, i felt they worked well for me when I was cramming for GCSE Science lol.

Reply 8

Asheeers

this thread's not showing up on the forum... wonder why???

Reply 9

Asheeers

Plato123

Is this for GCSE/AS/A2? In my opinion, they are all rubbish.

KS3/GCSE and so which book series is good for starting from scratch/exam technique/practical tests.

Reply 10

Annaconda

The ones specifically tailored to different syllabusses are probably better than the general ones - less sifting through useless stuff
... if they make them for your specification that is

Reply 11

mateyface

i had a few at gcse level and earlier but i really couldn't stand the attempts at humour (a lot of them seemed patronising) or the way they put every other word in bold

Reply 12

Quistis

I liked the maths and science ones when I was revising for GCSEs - the attempts at humour added a certain charm, and I didn't mind the lack of detail as I really only wanted something basic to test myself with! Off the top of my head - and this was a long time ago - I found them much more readable than the Letts guides, but less detailed and thus less useful for learning anything from scratch.

Reply 13

rapha

Some of them are quite decent for GCSEs. My friend had the English one and it looked quite good. The only thing I find a bit irritating are the not-funny jokes they use everywhere.

Reply 14

skiguru

CGP books are the dogs *******s!

They are compact, deatiled, easy to understand and funny!

They have helped my get high grades for many years now and there are many mildly humorous jokes worth reading!

Reply 15

XAlonso

atrocious!
barely go into any detail (even the big ones)
will certainly not give you enough good material to get a grade a or even a grade b.
i had one for a level physics, but i still found my a levels textbook more detailed.

Reply 16

dave_bob

for the highest marks no way.
for acheiving passes useful i guess....
helpful if the textbooks dont agree with you
not a necessity

Reply 17

IanDangerously

They got me through quite a few GCSE courses with grades A*-B with no other revision at all, so yes, they do work. :smile:

In fact, they were much more fun to read than normal textbooks and stuff, maybe thats why people pick up the stuff quicker? Its good enough for GCSE, not sure about A-level though because I didn't use them.

Reply 18

RightSaidJames

At A Level, they're excellent for getting the basic facts in, but pretty much useless for anything analytical (such as in Psychology) - you'll have to learn that stuff yourself. However, if you know the clear basic facts well, then learning the analysis and extensions for those facts comes easier, and in this way the books are worth having.