Preparation for Year 10

Hi, I'm a current Year 10 student. It's not necessary that you do any substantial work over the holidays for any of your subjects really, however i would strongly recommend revisiting everything relevant to your GCSE course that you have learned in Year 9. The only reason i say this is because the workload only increases from now on. Don't stress yourself out though, just make sure you understand your science topics, in particular, to a high level to really cement the key processes in your brain. A few maths questions a day to keep your brain working too maybe. You'll only be helping yourself and (believe it or not) reducing the workload for yourself by the time it comes to topic tests/ mocks. And by revision I don't mean past papers specifically, just write comprehensive notes (if you haven't already)/ flashcards (if they help).

Something i wouldn't recommend doing is getting a headstart on your extras. Your school has already started you off on the core subjects, most likely because they are the subjects that requre the most work/ memorising/ learning. That's not to say a little precocious reading will harm you, just make sure you prioritise your core subjects if you intend on doing any revision in the holidays- which i will repeat is not at all necessary!

As far as Year 10 life goes, I'll be honest it's quite fast moving for me personally. The content can be enjoyable, just make sure you listen to your teachers and don't muck about (I'm guilty). Topic tests will come and go, you'll stress about them at first, but will then learn that they're really just consolidation tasks to help you.

You clearly have a good work ethic if you're planning ahead in Year 9, and so my advice would be to maintain that throughout the next two years! Good luck, and enjoy yourself as much as is possible!

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond! You might be right on the fact that core subjects require more work, because our teachers are giving us loads of preparation on that. I have summarised most of the topics I have done in science onto one sheet of notes, and I have explored a bit on different revision methods to find the right one. I hope you have a great week and good luck for Year 11 and your exams too!

You could try doing supercurriculars too, to beef up your academic profile. I've done some substantial supercurriculars during my GCSE years and a bit before.

Examples of good supercurriculars for GCSE students: UKMT and NRICH for maths, Isaac Physics for physics, the game Wired (problem-solving, for physics) for physics and engineering.

Oh yes! I have been doing the UKMT challenge since Year 7, because I enjoy maths

What are your results?

I don't remember them exactly, but in year 7 I got a silver certificate, in year 8 I got a gold and this year in year 9 I got a silver.
In year 8, I think I got a 18/26 though

Don't worry about year 10 - if your GCSEs imply anything it's that you're fairly academic. One side note is that some schools offer a qualification in further maths during year 10, but it was only offered to grade 8 and 9 students, so if you're interested in that it might be worth looking at this link: https://www.mathsociety.org.uk/gcsefurthermaths

i would start by creating folders on your PC/laptop for each subject and downloading the exam specs.

Thanks so much for the reply! Yes, my school offers further maths in year 11, and its highly dependent on maths grades. I am getting by good in maths so I have my hopes up to get further maths. Thanks for the link!

You're in Year 9 so you don't need to worry about GCSEs yet (that's for Year 11), but our school begins prep for further maths in Year 10 with an hourly session every week. On a separate note, DofE might be offered in Year 10 at your school, if you haven't completed it already, so it might be worth thinking about your skill, physical and volunteering if you're going to do it. We also did Bebras in Computing in Year 10.

DofE was something that was offered in Year 8, but there were some issues with applications and forms, so in the end I didn't do it. In my school, a new peer mentoring programme has opened up, and I am applying for that, however.

We can do DofE in Year 10, either in school or outside, so it's definitely still a possibility if you want to do it.

Hello! I am going to be moving into Year 10 this September and I would like to know if there's anything I should be doing over the summer or even right now to prepare for it! I have started gcse in my core subjects, like maths, english lit + lang, science and RS - although it's more of a practice thing rather than the real thing. For september, I have picked geography, italian and computer science. What should I expect for year 10 in terms of workload or in general and how could I prepare myself for it?
Thank you so much!

I don't remember them exactly, but in year 7 I got a silver certificate, in year 8 I got a gold and this year in year 9 I got a silver.
In year 8, I think I got a 18/26 though

Thanks so much for the reply! Yes, my school offers further maths in year 11, and its highly dependent on maths grades. I am getting by good in maths so I have my hopes up to get further maths. Thanks for the link!

Hello, thanks for the reply! I do use the specs sometimes, although mainly for science and a bit for rs, but yes it would be better organised by using folders for them, thank you for the recommendation

Pretty good, although for strong unis in math, SMC gold is pretty good. It shouldn't be too difficult, just need a little practicing and problem solving, I got that SMC gold back in Y11.


In that case, use NRICH to help you, and links like PMT, Exam Solutions to keep things up.


It's a good recommendation, although it's harder than you think to organise things.

Oh ok, I would be moving up to senior soon, so I can practice too.
I do use PMT, although I haven't heard of nrich or exam solutions, will definitely check it out thanks!

Good for you, hopefully in Y10. At least get a gold, hopefully BMO entry, or even IMO...

Other websites: Save My Exams, examgenie, isaac physics, step preparation program in cambridge, mat preparation in Oxford etc.