Former GCSE student achieved all grades 7-9s. Ask me anything.

How feasible is it to retake 7 old GCSEs and simultaneously take a new A-Level in one year?

Reply 121

Qpd

5

How’d you do so well in English lit gcse??? I’m currently on a grade 7 in Lang and 5 in lit :frown:

Reply 122

Smddkc

8

Original post by kitty15

Hi everyone,
I did my GCSEs last year, and got all 7-9s in them. Before I wasn’t that perfect, so i totally get it if you are panicking about your GCSEs after receiving mocks results! Don’t worry, I’m here to help. Ask me anything about any of the subjects below, or just general study advice.
I’m currently doing A Levels in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths, with plans to do biomedicine/med/biochem.
. Subjects studied at GCSE and grades:
. Edexcel Higher Maths (8)
. AQA English Lit and Language (7 in Lang, 8 in Lit)
. AQA Biology (9)
. AQA Chemistry (9)
. AQA Physics (8)
. Edexcel Spanish (9)
. Edexcel Mandarin (9)
. OCR computer science J277 (7)
. Edexcel History (8)

You might not know the answer to this , but since you done so good . Can i enrol at a sixth form on results day if ive been rejected for an offer since there will be people who either dont turn up to the enrolment or dont meet their offer wich leaves spaces for people like me?

Reply 123

OP

Original post by dcb3

How feasible is it to retake 7 old GCSEs and simultaneously take a new A-Level in one year?

why do you want to retake the GCSEs?

Reply 124

OP

Original post by Qpd

How’d you do so well in English lit gcse??? I’m currently on a grade 7 in Lang and 5 in lit :frown:

Hi, don’t worry too much about the 5 in lit! I was working at that grade at the start of year 11. If your exams are coming up very soon, here are my tips for you:

. Use the YouTuber Mr Salles. One of the reasons why you may be stuck at a grade 5 is due to limited/too obvious interpretations of the text. Mr Salles videos are geared exactly at helping you get from a grade 5 to grade 7-9 style interpretations of text. You can also try Stacey Reay YouTube, but I would try Mr Salles first, until you feel more comfortable that you can understand and utilise Grade 7-9 interpretations.

. I would also check out the app Knowunity, as it has notes uploaded by past students. My profile on there is ‘@studywithkitty’ and I have uploaded example essays designed for AQA English lit power and conflict anthology, the inspector calls and Shakespeare plays. These essays have been all marked by teachers and are up to a grade 8/9 standard.
.definitely practice writing model essays. DM me on here if you need any practice questions.
. Don’t try to remember only a few quotes. Many YouTube videos claim you only need 5 quotes to be able to answer any question (mr salles has some videos on these, they are very good, but be a little cautious and take it with a pinch of salt). The reason I’m saying this is because the quotes you remember may come up in the text, in which case you can no longer use them when writing about the play, and if everyone memorized the same quotes, no one would stand out to the examiners anymore. What I recommend is finding some quotes from each theme, character, setting. Find quotes you can remember and interpret well, linking to the theme and the rest of the text. Put these on flashcards and test daily.

Hope this helps, good luck with your exams!

Reply 125

OP

Original post by Smddkc

You might not know the answer to this , but since you done so good . Can i enrol at a sixth form on results day if ive been rejected for an offer since there will be people who either dont turn up to the enrolment or dont meet their offer wich leaves spaces for people like me?

If you have the grades, and there are spaces still available, then yes, maybe. It’s easier in sixth form colleges than in sixth form schools, I would contact the sixth form to see.

Reply 126

Original post by kitty15

why do you want to retake the GCSEs?

Got rejected this year citing GCSEs being poor, so want to improve them ideally.

Reply 127

OP

Original post by dcb3

Got rejected this year citing GCSEs being poor, so want to improve them ideally.

I think this would be quite difficult to do in one year, alongside a levels. Will you be self studying the GCSEs or have lessons?

Reply 128

Original post by kitty15

I think this would be quite difficult to do in one year, alongside a levels. Will you be self studying the GCSEs or have lessons?

I imagine self-studying with the relevant textbooks. I went over Physics (found it relatively easy i.e. rearranging/applying formulae), and Biology (alot more specific and haven't touched in a while but wouldn't be immensely difficult to relearn). I did find that the 2 past papers I went through (AQA) held a lot of marks on just changing given info (i.e. millimetres to nanometres) or rearranging and applying given formulae (like rearranging s = d/t to get t as the subject, and then using the given info). I'm pretty fine with this. I imagine it is just flashcards I'd need to do to get the key elements like diagrams of animal cells, dominant/recessive alleles etc... Would love to hear how you revised though?

Reply 129

OP

Original post by dcb3

I imagine self-studying with the relevant textbooks. I went over Physics (found it relatively easy i.e. rearranging/applying formulae), and Biology (alot more specific and haven't touched in a while but wouldn't be immensely difficult to relearn). I did find that the 2 past papers I went through (AQA) held a lot of marks on just changing given info (i.e. millimetres to nanometres) or rearranging and applying given formulae (like rearranging s = d/t to get t as the subject, and then using the given info). I'm pretty fine with this. I imagine it is just flashcards I'd need to do to get the key elements like diagrams of animal cells, dominant/recessive alleles etc... Would love to hear how you revised though?

Self studying the sciences is harder than just easy reading the textbooks unfortunately. While you could get marks from just recalling the formulae and rearranging, if you have not learnt the content all, you would find the 5 or 6 markers very difficult as they require recall of topics or required practicals.

I would definitely familiarise yourself with all required practicals by reading the required practical booklet and list for AQA. Also look on physics maths tutor gcse under practicals for a list of steps and equipment needed.

The reason why I’m cautious of the textbooks is the information there is condensed, and it’s hard to tell what is important to remember and what is just side knowledge. Even at A Level, I don’t find the textbooks explain things well and always go to YouTube or websites to learn. I would recommend you teach yourself on YouTube using the YouTuber Cognito. And practice a lot of past paper topic questions on physics maths tutor.

Reply 130

Original post by kitty15

Self studying the sciences is harder than just easy reading the textbooks unfortunately. While you could get marks from just recalling the formulae and rearranging, if you have not learnt the content all, you would find the 5 or 6 markers very difficult as they require recall of topics or required practicals.
I would definitely familiarise yourself with all required practicals by reading the required practical booklet and list for AQA. Also look on physics maths tutor gcse under practicals for a list of steps and equipment needed.
The reason why I’m cautious of the textbooks is the information there is condensed, and it’s hard to tell what is important to remember and what is just side knowledge. Even at A Level, I don’t find the textbooks explain things well and always go to YouTube or websites to learn. I would recommend you teach yourself on YouTube using the YouTuber Cognito. And practice a lot of past paper topic questions on physics maths tutor.

Got you. Thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated! Any other Youtubers/resources you particularly suggest for GCSE AQA Maths? Aware of PMT for past papers, just maybe walkthroughs of topics/ sites which explain them could be helpful.

As for English Literature specifically, do you have any tips for approaching this? Worried it may be largely time consuming if I've got to pick up a book and memorise random quotes. Not sure how best to structure revision for this apart from knowing the book very well, which naturally takes up a lot of time.

Reply 131

OP

Original post by dcb3

Got you. Thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated! Any other Youtubers/resources you particularly suggest for GCSE AQA Maths? Aware of PMT for past papers, just maybe walkthroughs of topics/ sites which explain them could be helpful.
As for English Literature specifically, do you have any tips for approaching this? Worried it may be largely time consuming if I've got to pick up a book and memorise random quotes. Not sure how best to structure revision for this apart from knowing the book very well, which naturally takes up a lot of time.

YouTubers for maths:
. The GCSE Maths Tutor
. Mitchell dye (also offers walkthroughs of papers)

Reply 132

OP

Original post by dcb3

Got you. Thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated! Any other Youtubers/resources you particularly suggest for GCSE AQA Maths? Aware of PMT for past papers, just maybe walkthroughs of topics/ sites which explain them could be helpful.
As for English Literature specifically, do you have any tips for approaching this? Worried it may be largely time consuming if I've got to pick up a book and memorise random quotes. Not sure how best to structure revision for this apart from knowing the book very well, which naturally takes up a lot of time.

English Lit:
. I would recommend checking out the YouTuber Mr Salles! He has very good videos designed to help students get into grade 7-9 brackets.
. Instead of reading the whole book, which you probably don’t have time for, I would recommend going through organized revision guides e.g CGP or York notes, and looking for quotes by theme or character. I would also recommend using Mr Bruff videos, especially in regards to the poetry anthology, as he goes over poems in a summary to save you time from reading them.
. I also recommend the app Knowunity, as it has model notes, mind maps and essays posted on there by past students! My account on there is @‘studywithkitty.‘

Hope this helps!

Reply 133

battle_machine07

10

does gravity exist, or is it just the earth's magnetic field keeping us on the ground and not flying away into oblivion?
as you are a grades 7-9 student, im sure u can help answer this query...

Reply 134

OP

Original post by battle_machine07

does gravity exist, or is it just the earth's magnetic field keeping us on the ground and not flying away into oblivion?
as you are a grades 7-9 student, im sure u can help answer this query...

Gravity does exist, but as more of a concept of space-time that we have not been able to fully justify the existence of. Let me recommend you a video that could help answer this for you.

https://youtu.be/lY3XV_GGV0M?si=CW9LZXOWB9oDk17J

Reply 135

toothless-luxury

6

Original post by kitty15

Hi everyone,
I did my GCSEs last year, and got all 7-9s in them. Before I wasn’t that perfect, so i totally get it if you are panicking about your GCSEs after receiving mocks results! Don’t worry, I’m here to help. Ask me anything about any of the subjects below, or just general study advice.
I’m currently doing A Levels in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths, with plans to do biomedicine/med/biochem.
. Subjects studied at GCSE and grades:
. Edexcel Higher Maths (8)
. AQA English Lit and Language (7 in Lang, 8 in Lit)
. AQA Biology (9)
. AQA Chemistry (9)
. AQA Physics (8)
. Edexcel Spanish (9)
. Edexcel Mandarin (9)
. OCR computer science J277 (7)
. Edexcel History (8)

I really dont know how to revise the langauges!! I take Spanish and German GCSE and I've got my speaking exams this month!! Help I'm at a Grade 6 in Spanish and a 7/8 in German but I really need to push Spanish up to at least a 7/8 and German a 9.

Reply 136

toothless-luxury

6

Original post by kitty15

Hi,
I went from foundation to higher maths. I used to not be a perfect maths student, I used to only get grade 4 in maths. So yes of course it is possible to go up a few grades, even if you are in Year 12!
First of all, here are some online resources I would recommend:
. The GCSE maths tutor (YouTube channel). Especially try his ‘crossover’ playlist designed for students changing from foundation to higher maths.
. MathsGenie (for past papers, questions by topic)
. Mitchell Dye YouTuber (livestreams and help for students crossing over from foundation to higher). He has a Discord channel where you can ask your maths questions there and find resources.
. MyMathsCloud (for papers and questions filtered by grade difficulty)
For maths, it’s all about practice. So try as many questions as you can find that are out there. There are loads of free ones, so don’t need to spend too much money on textbooks.
Hope this helps, good luck with your resit!

I am currently at a 6/7 in maths and I really want at least a 7 maybe an 8. Should I go through each topic on maths genie and then answer past papers? I feel like I'm running out of time!!!

Reply 137

OP

Original post by toothless-luxury

I am currently at a 6/7 in maths and I really want at least a 7 maybe an 8. Should I go through each topic on maths genie and then answer past papers? I feel like I'm running out of time!!!

I would definitely first recommend doing past papers, so you can get a feel of which topics you need the most help on. You can look on MyMathsCloud for more past papers such as shadow papers! There are many ‘predicted papers’ out there such as on maths genie, Corbett maths, 1st class maths, that will probably start coming out near the end of this month. Please take ‘predicted’ with a pinch of salt, just use these as extra practice.

Once you have done a past paper, I would go through and identify each topic a question covers and write it next to the question. Make a tally of the number of marks you lost per topic or make a spreadsheet in red yellow green. Corbettmaths and The GCSE Maths tutor YouTube (highly recommend him) have some revision checklists. Even if you lost some marks due to stupid mistakes, you should still practice the topic!

Then, to revise each topic, of course, do utilize YouTube (The GCSE Maths Tutor) to go over the topic. Then you can try some maths genie questions.

Since your grade is stationary at 6/7, I would recommend filtering papers by harder questions. If you go on MyMathsCloud you can search papers by grade 7 style or grade 9 style. Mitchell Dye YouTube offers walkthroughs of these as well as a platform to ask maths questions.

Hope this helps, good luck with your exams!

Reply 138

OP

Original post by toothless-luxury

I really dont know how to revise the langauges!! I take Spanish and German GCSE and I've got my speaking exams this month!! Help I'm at a Grade 6 in Spanish and a 7/8 in German but I really need to push Spanish up to at least a 7/8 and German a 9.

Hi, since you’re asking how to improve your grade on two different languages, I’m going to put general tips for studying languages here.

Speaking:
. Practice photo card as much as possible. Remember to utilize the mnemonic PALMS (Persons Action Location Mood Setting)
. When practicing roleplay, get someone to practice with you! Go to speaking clinics offered by your school.

Writing:
. Look up any idioms you can use! You don’t need to use too many, just get really comfortable with using one or two. This will really help push you into the grade 8/9 bracket.
. Familiarise yourself with the special tenses e.g conditional and superlative in Spanish. Utilize these instead of the simple past present future tenses.
. When analysing your writing practice, go through with a highlighter and highlight where you have used:
. Connectives
. Special tenses
. Another persons opinion of yourself I.e ‘I keep my room tidy, but my mum doesn’t think so.’
. idioms
. Fancy vocabulary

If you haven’t used enough of one colour, familiarize yourself with its concepts, and then try to use it more in your next writing!

Reading:
. Practice! There’s no trick to the reading honestly. Do as many past papers as possible.

Listening:
. Again, there’s no real trick for this. You will become faster with practice. Try past papers and textbooks that come with online listening resources (e.g CGP)

Reply 139

OP