Going into year 10 wanting to be a doctor in the future

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You know you want to be a doctor. Use this vision when you feel like not revising. Say "If I'm going to be a doctor, I need to work for the results I need." It's better than going on your phone.

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Don't guilt yourself if you don't revise as much as you should. It won't help you at all! It won't get back the time you missed, and it won't keep you enthusiastic to work more. Just start on it.

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Figure out when the best time to revise for you is. Late at night is tempting but often not great, and right after school is normally exhausting.

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Look at a list of topics, and figure out which ones you are the worst at. Work at it! You don't necessarily need a revision timetable, but you need some way to be organised -- timetable, checklist, planner, something else you find. Don't spend more time planning than revising, but know that without planning it's too easy to just do unchallenging or unimportant topics.

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Revision probably won't feel fun -- it's meant to be really challenging and that feels frustrating and bad sometimes! That means you're working and making real change, so keep at it and take breaks regularly.

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Take breaks (not optional). If you don't take regular breaks, you'll revise less effectively and you'll also get more burnt out over time.

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If you start to have more bad days than good days consistently, your mental health is going down. Talk to someone in school or contact your GP. (Don't worry -- it's unlikely you'll ever run into problems, but if you do it's equally not your fault.)

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Keep some hobbies! A great one is volunteering -- it's so so rewarding if you find a place you like, and gives you the earliest form of work experience as a free bonus.

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Use the specification. Find the spec for your course and use it to figure out exactly what you need from your notes.

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Use active recall. Do not read over notes. Do not highlight notes. Honestly, question if you even need to make notes. Instead, try making a summary mindmap of a whole topic, use flashcards (I would count making flashcards as revision but not active revision), and do exam questions.

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Do exam questions. Yes I just said this. They are SO IMPORTANT -- easily the best way to revise. Avoid whole papers, but get topic specific questions off Physics and Maths Tutor (more on that later.)

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Use the pomodoro method. (pomofocus.io/app 💕 i love that site so much). Revise for 20 mins, take a 5 min break. Every four cycles of this, take a longer 20 min break. Don't revise for more than four hours without an even longer break, info just won't go in.

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Don't wait for it to be exactly 01:00 to revise etc, just start at 01:02 if you're late. My worst habit was waiting for the time to be 01:05 then 01:15 then 01:30 -- just start!

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Keep your phone in a different room. Fully power it off.

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Don't aim to work 8 hours a day. If you know you're effective because you're getting better results, you're doing enough.

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Don't compare yourself to other people at all. Don't revise with other people (it has NEVER worked). Don't compare hours worked. Everyone starts at different times, has different levels of knowledge, learns in different ways.

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Resource Sites:

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Physics and Maths Tutor (Notes and exam questions by topic)

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Quizlet (Flashcards)

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YouTube: [Science: Cognito; FreeScienceLessons] [English: Stacey Reay; Mr Bruff(?)] [Maths: GCSE Maths Tutor]

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MathsGenie: Free maths list of topics, videos and questions (Much much better than sparx/hegarty)