How I got 10A*s, 2As and a B at GCSE

My results & exam boards were:
AQA English Language - 9
AQA English Lit - 8
Edexcel Maths - 8
OCR Biology - A*
OCR Chemistry - A*
OCR Physics - A*
AQA History - A*
AQA Business - A*
Edexcel Art - A*
AQA French - A*
WJEC ICT - A
Edexcel RE - A
AQA Further Maths - B

I'm now studying A level Biology, Chemistry and History and would like to do something like medicine or dentistry in the future.

I want to start by saying that I am naturally quite clever, but I also worked extremely hard (English or ICT did not come naturally at all)! Had I not worked hard and revised effectively, these grades would not have been achievable. I don't go to a private school or grammar school, just a normal secondary school in North East England.

My general tips are:
1. Don't spend all your time making your revision notes pretty
I made mindmaps (mainly for science), but I made them quickly and didn't spend ages. I used a couple of colours and highlighters, but didn't add loads of detail. However, I made flash cards for history and spent way too long on them for my first exam that I only had 5 days to cover all the content for my second (although I did manage - just). It's more about making sure you make notes that cover the content well, as this is what you're going to need in the exam. Do try and make your notes neat and readable though, as if they're too scruffy you won't want to revise from them.

2. Don't panic that you think you're not doing enough (providing you're actually revising).
I can promise you that there wasn't a single time when I was revising, particularly before I started sitting exams, that I wasn't having a mental meltdown that I wasn't going to cover everything in time. You need to remember that you aren't a superhero, you're not going to be able to learn an entire revision guide immediately, it takes time - and everyone else is in the same boat!.The work that you are putting in will make a difference and will pay off.

3. If you're not writing, you're not revising.
Simply reading a revision guide isn't going to make you remember it, you have to engage with the information. Writing and summarising sentences or paragraphs, even if it's you're messiest handwriting on a scrap piece of paper is 100% going to help you remember more, as your brain is taking it in and doing something with it.

4. Practice, practice practice.
I know that with the new specifications there aren't any past papers out there. However, you can try and find predicted papers nearer to the exams (but don't think that they're certain to be the questions/topics you'll see in the real thing), particularly with maths. You could attempt the specimen papers given by exam boards, but wait until nearer the exams to do this, when you've fully revised everything.

5. Find patterns or come up with ways to remember things
It's been proven that your brain is more likely to remember things if you attach something to it to help you remember. For example, in Biology I came up with LORD to remember that the Left side of the heart carries Oxygenated blood and the Right side Deoxygenated. For English, I watched Mr Bruff's quotation songs for my texts and learnt quotes this way, the poetry rap was particularly useful and for An Inspector Calls 2/3 of the quotes I used in the exam were from the AIC song.

Any questions that are about revision, subject specific or just general y10/11 advice then please ask, I'll be happy to help. I'm not posting this to brag or boast, I learnt a lot from TSR when revising for my exams and really want to give something back.

Any tips for english literature poetry comparisons? pls reply and thanks x

I want to study the same subjects as you for A levels. What are your opinions on them.

when did you start revising mate

Seeing as you got a B in further maths I assume you found it to be the hardest GCSE, so I just wanted to know what you think you could've done to get an A*. I am doing further maths too and I'm not very confident in it .

Congrats on your amazing results, i am currently in year 11 so how should i start to watch mr bruffs videos. A starting point and which videos helped you.

To be honest I actually found it OK, it was just the way my school organised it. We only had a lesson once a week and had to stay after school for it starting from y11 and to be honest I didn't go sometimes and it was sometimes cancelled for parents evenings and stuff. I kind of regret not doing more as I only revised for a few days before the exams, so to do more I would revise more and make sure you attempt past papers properly once you've covered everything.

Thank you very much I will keep that in mind going forward , I forgot to congratulate you so congrats and good luck in your a levels

what revision stuff did your purchase
did you purchase my gcse science
did you go tuition