How do I get the higher grades?

I got all A*s and As- which I did through creating revision cards and doing past papers repeatedly. Use GetRevising and create a revision timetable and you can also get other peoples/create your own revision stuff on that. Use the specifications for science subjects so you know exactly what you are required to know. For Spanish I read an Alevel textbook just to get that extra bit of knowledge

Hope that helps

I was in the same predicament as you as all my GCSE's I've received B's as I wasn't really too focused on my education. Wish I could rewind time . However in A-level's I started taking it a bit seriously considering my future where I've managed to achieve AAB at AS. It's through understanding you get high marks, contextualizing what you've been taught and not just regurgitating information.

I studied through learning the same thing but from different sources such as books, internet, classmates. It's situational as to what you're studying, but understanding concepts are vital to achieving them higher grades. Also creating a time-table with revision where you re-cap what you learn and attempt to answer some examination style questions to boost your confidence for the actual exam. It's great to see fellow students taking initiative in their studies and wanting to over-achieve. Best of luck.

Thank you for the reply, it just seems that I try my hardest with my education, and never can beat that B!


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You can do it if I can I was ill and missed half a year just before GCSEs so they thought I wouldnt do that well. Read textbooks which are a higher level to get more information than you need. The biggest thing is reading specifications so you learn what you need and don't waste time with learning other stuff.

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What book do you recommend I buy if I'm doing OCR Spanish?


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I'm predicted really high grades (A*s+A's); can someone tell me a way to help me revise?
I don't do languages. Except English.

well it depends if u want high grades or you need high grades...

There actually is a pretty big difference....

Well, you need to do two things.

1 - Always do your best (cheese galore sorry) and work your best BUT do not get stressed/overwork. As someone who has always been a G&T and high achiever I've never had to stress as much which in one way is great but in another makes me feel bad; so I always make a point to help my friends. So basically ask your smarter peers to help you.
Don't feel stupid, you aren't 'dumb' or less intelligent, C/B grades are the national average and Bs are actually above the average.
Maybe make a timetable for revision (and non-revision time) and as you get closer to exams revise a bit more.

2- Ask yourself what you want to do in the future and if you can actually achieve the grades needed. If helps if you know what grades you need.
Oh, and if you don't know what you want to do in the future, be prepared to face that you might not be able to do it.

My tip for revision is practice papers; it's what got me my A*s. Once you get used to the style of questions you're going to be asked, you will improve.

Also find out HOW you learn; I'm a linguitive learner meaning I learn better by taking notes.
Some of my friends are do-ers; they learn via doing an activity etc.
Some are listeners who learn by hearing someone talk about the subject.
Some are independent learners and others work better in a group.
It may seem a bit late at Year 11 but EXPERIMENT and see what works best.

Good luck, I admire those who actually WANT to get better and improve; imo they should be more valued than those who get the good grades just by being lazy, but unfortunately it's a cruel world.

I got 10A*s at GCSE, and my strategy was basically to work hard throughout the year - I made revision cards at the end of each topic, so that by the time I got to serious revision I'd done the bulk of the work already. Make an exam timetable - I used the one on getrevising, but it can be as simple as post-its and a calender - but don't panic if you need to miss a revision session now and again! Just reschedule it, and make sure you don't skip it.
As for actual methods, I find it easiest to remember things when I've seen them in colour, or when it has a rhythm in my head - so, for example, for the stages of the lifecycle of a star I made the key points into flashcards, and I also made a little song in my head which told me the stages in order. Just find methods which work for you! Oh, and never underestimate past papers - they're a great way to revise, plus exam boards reuse questions A LOT, and having an idea of the phrasing on the mark scheme is absolutely invaluable.
As I said, I revised to some extent all year, but it was initially maybe 30 minutes a day - nothing too draining. From March I increased that to around 2 hours a day when I wasn't on study leave, and 4-6 hours when I was. Around exam time, I don't recommend doing less than 2 hours or more than 8 hours a day. Less than 2 means you're probably not working hard enough, more than 8 will just exhaust you, so that by the time you get to the exam you can barely remember your first name let alone how to manipulate surds.
Take breaks every half hour or so when you study, because you'll probably find your mind starts to wander after about 20 minutes (or at least mine does, but I have a notoriously short attention span), and spend your breaks doing something mindless - watch clips of cats on youtube, listen to music, or something else requiring little to no focus.
Don't beat yourself up if you get Bs though - as long as you try your hardest, there's nothing more you can do. Best of luck, and feel free message me if you need help with any of your subjects - my division is more the science-y side of things (bio, chem, maths, geog) but I'll help as much as I can with anything really!

Thank you for the detailed response, I really hope I can put some of your ideas into action. This may be a stupid question but what is get-revising I heard you have to pay for it?


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Not a stupid question at all! It's a sister site of TSR (this site). You pay for premium membership, but you can make a free account which lets you do most things you can do with premium membership, including making revision timetables! Though I'll warn you now, the software can be a teeny bit buggy at times, which led to me losing my entire revision timetable when I'd almost finished making it But it's worth it the risk, in my opinion.

Hello, recently I've really been wanting to get the higher grades. I'm in year 11 and ever so slowly creeping up into A-Levels and starting to think, I won't be able to handle the work? I want to know how to get A/A* in my GCSEs. I am currently a C/B student and target grades are all Bs. I'm starting to improve in subjects like Maths and History and really craving them A/A* marks. Do you have any revision techniques, good revision guides, or tricks to get the higher grades. And this is in any subject, current really want to know about science, spanish and english. Thanks!

For science, CGP revision guides! Usually ~£5 on Amazon, get the ones specific to your exam board too. However, don't fall into the trap of just reading the guide over and over and thinking this will be enough, it works for a few people, but not most. Do something proactive, mind maps, making notes, etc.
Also, another useful tip is to go onto the website for the exam board you're doing them on, and print off the specification. There may be hidden things at the side of the specification that you might not have covered directly in class (e.g. in Physics, you might need to know about a certain thing you learnt being applied in a particular situation), so it's a good idea to have a model answer ready for these examples.
Finally, when you've covered most of the knowledge, do every past paper you can find! Look carefully at the mark scheme, and if need be, formulate and learn a model answer for a particular question. Take note of any 'key words' - sometimes in GCSE science it isn't enough to just have the gist of a principle, you may need to use specific vocabulary, so don't lose pointless marks because of this.
Good luck.