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Protostar's journey to amazing grades! (GCSE)

17/02/16

With my exams just 3 months away (agh!) I thought it's time to start preparing. I was very pleased with my mock results in January but at the same time I knew I can do better in my real ones.
Mock Results:

Edexcel English Language: B
Edexcel English Literature: A (SO HAPPY WITH THIS)
Edexcel Maths: A*
Edexcel Religious Studies: A
OCR Biology: A*
OCR Physics: A*
OCR Chemistry: A
AQA Geography: A
AQA German: A*
AQA PE: A* (exam) B (overall)
AQA Further Maths: B (however we did a different spec in our mocks for some unknown reason...)

So now I'm aiming for as many A*s as possible (goal is 7) and I'm going to use this to help me get there. Revision was meant to start yesterday but I had a migraine so it begins today instead (Woop Woop 😔) but I'm determined!

*UPDATE*
Full results can be found on page 16. My final grades in each subject were:

Spoiler

(edited 6 years ago)

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Original post by NiamhM1801
17/02/16

With my exams just 3 months away (agh!) I thought it's time to start preparing. I was very pleased with my mock results in January but at the same time I knew I can do better in my real ones.
Mock Results:

Edexcel English Language: B
Edexcel English Literature: A (SO HAPPY WITH THIS)
Edexcel Maths: A*
Edexcel Religious Studies: A
OCR Biology: A*
OCR Physics: A*
OCR Chemistry: A
AQA Geography: A
AQA German: A*
AQA PE: A* (exam) B (overall)
AQA Further Maths: B (however we did a different spec in our mocks for some unknown reason...)

So now I'm aiming for as many A*s as possible (goal is 7) and I'm going to use this to help me get there. Revision was meant to start yesterday but I had a migraine so it begins today instead (Woop Woop 😔) but I'm determined!

This looks great, what sort of revision techniques are you going to be using? :awesome:
I have a question, how can I get good grades in my gcses. I am good at maths and other subject, but not at history and English language
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Gingerbread101
This looks great, what sort of revision techniques are you going to be using? :awesome:


Something I'm trialling is writing the name of a topic (so if I was revising Chemistry, it could be salts, alkanes etc.) then underneath that writing everything that I remember about that topic. Then once that's done, using the revision guide to find out what I had forgotten or didn't even know to begin with. This has helped quite a lot actually as it really makes you think and therefore it will help you to do the same thing in an exam (I'm hoping)
For English lit I'm going to make cards with characters and themes on from animal farm and omam and then just some facts about them to learn for the exam, for Lang I have no idea what to do
For maths I'll just do plenty of past papers and then revisit the topics of whichever questions I get wrong
Science will be primarily mind maps
Geography will be mainly flash cards for any basic info like definitions and such, but more in depth sort of fact files for all the case studies (melodramatic sigh)
German = no revision lol
PE will just be reading and making notes from the revision guide, although the exams are easy so no real issues there
So yeah, a few different techniques, some new ones to see if they work, there's no harm in trying I guess :tongue:
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by washand250
I have a question, how can I get good grades in my gcses. I am good at maths and other subject, but not at history and English language


English language is a tough one...maybe try reading things such as letters, newspaper articles etc. and try to get a feel for them so that you know how to structure yours in an exam?
Original post by NiamhM1801
Something I'm trailing is writing the name of a topic (so if I was revising Chemistry, it could be salts, akanes etc.) then underneath that writing everything that I remember about that topic. Then once that's done, using the revision guide to find out what I had forgotten or didn't even know to begin with. This has helped quite a lot actually as it really makes you think and therefore it will help you to do the same thing in an exam (I'm hoping)
For English lit I'm going to make cards with characters and themes on from animal farm and omam and then just some facts about them to learn for the exam, for Lang I have no idea what to do
For maths I'll just do plenty of past papers and then revisit the topics of whichever questions I get wrong
Science will be primarily mind maps
Geography will be mainly flash cards for any basic info like definitions and such, but more in depth sort of fact files for all the case studies (melodramatic sigh)
German = no revision lol
PE will just be reading and making notes from the revision guide, although the exams are easy so no real issues there
So yeah, a few different techniques, some new ones to see if they work, there's no harm in trying I guess :tongue:

They all sound really good :awesome: I love using flashcards and find them really useful for using on the move too, so add them in wherever you can :tongue:
Hey, Amazing grades!
I'm also doing OCR in Science but are you doing OCR 21st Century or Gateway? (I'm doing 21st century)
I just wanted to ask how I could achieve an A in English Language as my english writing skills are poor even though I've been living here all my life lol. but anyways how could I achieve that A with GSCE exams being so close. (I'm predicted a C)
Original post by pinkrox22310
Hey, Amazing grades!
I'm also doing OCR in Science but are you doing OCR 21st Century or Gateway? (I'm doing 21st century)
I just wanted to ask how I could achieve an A in English Language as my english writing skills are poor even though I've been living here all my life lol. but anyways how could I achieve that A with GSCE exams being so close. (I'm predicted a C)


I'm doing 21st Century as well, horrible aren't they? :tongue:
Language for me used to always be the easier of the two, simply because I used to get Ds in Literature oops.
But since I've sorted that out, I'm still stuck on a B for language and have been for over a year.
Are you doing Edexcel? Because if so for the writing part Id recommend getting a feel for how different texts (letters, websites, articles etc.) are written so it's easier for you to apply it to your own work. Also look at various different language features to use (I'm sure your teachers bang on about that all the time, mine do) to make your writing look better and stand out from the others. Remember, the exam board are going to be marking hundreds and thousands of these, so to get the top grade you need to make sure yours grabs their attention instead of sending them to sleep. If you're doing a book too (we're doing of mice and men for ours) make sure you know it inside and out! Also, do A LOT of practise exam questions, as they'll help you get your timings right (it's not a long exam) and how to squeeze all you want to say into your response. You also need to focus on including plenty of points to secure the most amount of marks. Hopefully this helps you out (sorry it's so long :colondollar:)
17/02/16 - Evening update

Haven't done as much as I wanted to today :frown:
I did get a bit of Chemistry done though, made some notes on alkanes, alcohols, carboxylic acids and esters (I HATE C7) so now I understand them a bit better. Should really do more though...I might do some Geography or something, cause you've never revised Geography enough (sigh) off I go...
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by NiamhM1801
I'm doing 21st Century as well, horrible aren't they? :tongue:
Language for me used to always be the easier of the two, simply because I used to get Ds in Literature oops.
But since I've sorted that out, I'm still stuck on a B for language and have been for over a year.
Are you doing Edexcel? Because if so for the writing part Id recommend getting a feel for how different texts (letters, websites, articles etc.) are written so it's easier for you to apply it to your own work. Also look at various different language features to use (I'm sure your teachers bang on about that all the time, mine do) to make your writing look better and stand out from the others. Remember, the exam board are going to be marking hundreds and thousands of these, so to get the top grade you need to make sure yours grabs their attention instead of sending them to sleep. If you're doing a book too (we're doing of mice and men for ours) make sure you know it inside and out! Also, do A LOT of practise exam questions, as they'll help you get your timings right (it's not a long exam) and how to squeeze all you want to say into your response. You also need to focus on including plenty of points to secure the most amount of marks. Hopefully this helps you out (sorry it's so long :colondollar:)


Yeah OCR is such an annoying exam board!! But anyways, Are you doing core science, additional and further additional? (Since you said C7 I guess you are?)
I'm retaking my core science since i completely failed. I was doing foundation but this year I proved myself and I'm now doing higher, But I feel as if Additional Science is way easier than Core Science how do you advise me to revise core science? :frown:

And Thankyou so much for the English advice!
Original post by pinkrox22310
Yeah OCR is such an annoying exam board!! But anyways, Are you doing core science, additional and further additional? (Since you said C7 I guess you are?)
I'm retaking my core science since i completely failed. I was doing foundation but this year I proved myself and I'm now doing higher, But I feel as if Additional Science is way easier than Core Science how do you advise me to revise core science? :frown:

And Thankyou so much for the English advice!


Sorry I'm so late, I have strange sleeping patterns :s-smilie:
Have you got revision guides? The cgp ones are what are getting me through science honestly, they're really helpful. Basically what I do is for each unit (so like c1 etc) to make a mind map of each little subtopic within that unit. But if you're not really that creative then what I also do is tackle it one page at a time. So I read a page, close the book, write down everything I remembered and then look back at what I'd forgotten. I find with OCR the questions are so random and unpredictable that revision never pays off anyway, but hey ho. Hope i helped :s-smilie:
Hey there!

Really well done on your grades and you appear very committed to achieving very highly. I take German, Geography and the 3 sciences like yourself.

If you ever want to brainstorm ideas feel free to get tin touch http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3897511

Good luck with your exams and I hope you get the grades you aspire to :smile:
18/02/16 - Morning update

I'm about to get out of bed and start my revision for the day, after lounging around for 2 hours (why am I like this?!)

Plan of action for the day:
Finish German controlled assessment
Revise physics P7 for the test on Monday
Make notes on The Restless Earth for geog
Do a lil chem revision (c7 again)
Make an RS revision resource for environmental and medical issues

I'm actually quite motivated today for a change, woo!
Original post by NiamhM1801
Sorry I'm so late, I have strange sleeping patterns :s-smilie:
Have you got revision guides? The cgp ones are what are getting me through science honestly, they're really helpful. Basically what I do is for each unit (so like c1 etc) to make a mind map of each little subtopic within that unit. But if you're not really that creative then what I also do is tackle it one page at a time. So I read a page, close the book, write down everything I remembered and then look back at what I'd forgotten. I find with OCR the questions are so random and unpredictable that revision never pays off anyway, but hey ho. Hope i helped :s-smilie:


Thankyou so much. This honestly helped a lot.
Do you have any tips on how to answer 6 Mark questions for OCR since I lose most of the marks there!
Original post by pinkrox22310
Thankyou so much. This honestly helped a lot.
Do you have any tips on how to answer 6 Mark questions for OCR since I lose most of the marks there!


Ugh, six mark questions will forever be my enemy :s-smilie:
What I tend to do is leave them until the very end. You'll get I think it's 3 per paper (one for each unit) which is 18 marks so you don't want to drop them! However, leaving them until the end leaves you time to answer the easier questions. I'd much rather answer 3 2 mark tick box questions than a 6 marker!
But anyway, what my chem teacher recommends is bullet points, if you can make 6 points, bullet point them individually. That way when the examiner marks it they know you've made 6 points so (provided they're all valid) you should get 6 marks. Also if the question asks you to compare, be sure to comment on both methods/arguments or whatever the questions about. Remember in an exam it's roughly a mark a minute so don't spend too long glaring at a 6 market if you don't feel you can answer it, just move on and pick up marks elsewhere. Don't forget though, 4-5 marks on a 6 mark question is still pretty good, so don't be bummed if you never quite hit the 6 marks (I think I've done it 3 times in 2 years :colondollar:) and you'll do fine
Original post by NiamhM1801
Ugh, six mark questions will forever be my enemy :s-smilie:
What I tend to do is leave them until the very end. You'll get I think it's 3 per paper (one for each unit) which is 18 marks so you don't want to drop them! However, leaving them until the end leaves you time to answer the easier questions. I'd much rather answer 3 2 mark tick box questions than a 6 marker!
But anyway, what my chem teacher recommends is bullet points, if you can make 6 points, bullet point them individually. That way when the examiner marks it they know you've made 6 points so (provided they're all valid) you should get 6 marks. Also if the question asks you to compare, be sure to comment on both methods/arguments or whatever the questions about. Remember in an exam it's roughly a mark a minute so don't spend too long glaring at a 6 market if you don't feel you can answer it, just move on and pick up marks elsewhere. Don't forget though, 4-5 marks on a 6 mark question is still pretty good, so don't be bummed if you never quite hit the 6 marks (I think I've done it 3 times in 2 years :colondollar:) and you'll do fine


Thankyou for the great advice. i appreciate it!
Deffo more confident after talking to you :smile:
18/02/16 - Evening update (kind of :s-smilie:)

Well it's technically neither the 18th or the evening anymore but who cares? :tongue: Got a fair bit done today, only got 1 more paragraph of German to write (yay!!), got my chem notes finished, and i started my physics ones too. I'm tired now though, bed it is! Night everyone!
20/02/2016 - Afternoon update

Sorry I didn't update yesterday, had no motivation and just spent the day eating and watching films :s-smilie:
But today I've finished my further maths homework (2 past papers :angry:) and my German assessment, woohoo! So I'm on a bit of an achievement high right now :biggrin:
However, my German assessment is 703 words long and somethings telling me I'm not going to be able to fit it all into 6 minutes, with my teacher asking questions AND the unprepared q at the end :s-smilie:
21/02/2016 - Evening update

Had a very productive day today :biggrin:. I met up with a friend and we did some physics revision together for our test (except nobody knows whether it's tomorrow or on Wednesday :tongue:) but I got 4 pages of in depth notes written in about an hour which was good! Back at school tomorrow which means slightly less time to revise, especially since I practically live at school to do controlled assessments (sigh)
22/02/2016 - Afternoon update

Well I've just got home from school so about to start cracking on with learning my German, oh the joys. After that I'll revise my chemistry notes and make some more in preparation for the test tomorrow. Really short update as I haven't actually done anything yet but I'll be back later!

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