GCSE Help/Tips to Y10s/11s (8A*s, 4As)

OP

Original post by mc_miah

How did you do well in English Literature and Biology. I'm simply naturally **** at biology but excel at the other two sciences. Furthermore, Eng Lit is always my worst out of the Englishes, I can provide deep connotations etc. But can never write it in a way that is convincing.

How did your deal with the two? How did you revise for the two especially English Lit. Im doing Lord of the Flies and Macbeth for it.

I got an A* in biology, and I think that was simply because in the old spec it was way more content-applied ratio than in the other sciences, so most of the GCSE exam was just recalling what you know.

Trust me, there's a reason why I didn't do this for A Level, in Y10/11, I SUCKED at Biology, i.e, I was the most inconsistent little **** ever when it came to the mock tests, I'd go from A* to C real quick, mostly the latter. How I managed to turn around was just, extremely dumbing down my notes, i.e I'd take notes from my textbook/exercise notes, then find ways to make that even dumber, and even dumber, to the point where it's just a couple of words on a flashcard, the result of this is that by recalling just words, words that crop up in exam questions, you'll come to remember the more complex stuff that it represents.

English Literature, that's a whole different ballgame, I did An Inspector Calls, Macbeth, Jekyll and Hyde, and the Poetry Anthology on AQA. For Macbeth, the one thing I made sure to revise were the key themes (at least for me), ambition ambition ambition, supernatural supernatural supernatural, good and evil, kingship, religion/divine right, etc. The CGP textbooks I used for Macbeth were great, because they picked apart every bit of the text, and managed to connect it to each theme. Because I'm a bit of a history nerd, I excelled at the context side of things, I.e religion, kingship/divine right, witchcraft relating to evil, gender roles (lady macbeth/macbeth exerting dominance on macbeth, which was probably a weird concept back then), etc, also I spammed 'A Jacobean audience would....', for extra marks.

As opposed to structure? I'd simply recommend MrBruff, he is amazing for both Lit and Lang as he picks apart each question and gives tailored strategies for how you should present each answer to attain maximum marks, he was the difference for me that caused me to get a 9, that, and a natural ability to waffle in the exam. You clearly have the ability to analyse, so if it's just how you present the answer that worries you, he's your guy,

Anything else? :h:

Reply 4

username3025040

how do i do a levels

Spoiler

(edited 6 years ago)

how do I learn esperanto

Reply 6

OP

Original post by A.N123

Hey!
Hope A-levels are going good!
I've got a few questions:

1) What was your favourite subject at Gcse and why

2) Whats your favourite A-Level subject currently and why

3) What do you aspire to do in the future: course, uni etc

4) What did you do in yr 10?

5) and finally: how did you find free time and what did you do in that free time?

Ik, ik quite alot of questions. You don't have to answer them all dont worry!!!!! Sorry for the amount of questions i asked kinda got carried away Xxx
From a fellow yr 10 Xxx :biggrin:

1) My favourite subject at GCSE? Oooh tough question, honestly I'd say either Physics or Chemistry, mostly because of my teacher than for the GCSE curriculum itself, as well as having a passion for it, probably Computing as well because I just enjoy programming.

2) Favourite A Level? Well it's too early to make a definitive decision, but I'd definitely say Chemistry, don't get me wrong, the step up from GCSE to A Level, is HUGE, because they're essentially corrected all the lies they taught at GCSE, but it's very very interesting, I'm glad I took it. :smile:

3) Aspirations, honestly, I have no clue: Ideally Chemical Engineering, or some form of Engineering, or maybe straight Chemistry/Computer Science, at a top uni like Cambridge or RG like Bristol.

4) Y10? Honestly, I'm not gonna high road this one, I did s***. I got a 9 in Maths, A* in Computing, Geography, Chem and Physics but besides that, I got 6 in both Englishs, a C in RE, a C in Biology, and a low C in French, I only really decided to tryhard in Y11

5) If we're talking free time in A Levels? Virtually 0. Free time in GCSES? If I wasn't gaming, or programming, I would be playing Table Tennis, I was, (and still am) captain of the school team of Table Tennis, and was frequently at competitions and tournaments, especially during the later half of Y10 and beginning of Y11, so basically I missed a lot of the first month of Y11 :rofl:

Reply 7

OP

Original post by orderofthelotus

how do i do a levels

and also parsnips

u don't do a levels, a levels do u

Spoiler

Reply 8

OP

Original post by _gcx

how do I learn esperanto

>implying not already fluent
>absolutely barbaric

Reply 9

qasim-96

How can my friend Zainab do as well as you in her GCSEs?

Reply 10

username3025040

Original post by AryanGh

u don't do a levels, a levels do u

Spoiler

I do not consent

Spoiler

Reply 11

OP

Original post by Kevin Hodge

How can my friend Zainab do as well as you in her GCSEs?

tell her to come to me for some 1 to 1's uno :^)

Reply 12

Moppet

13

Original post by AryanGh

Hi,
I'm an A Level student
I did new spec GCSEs in Maths and English, getting (9, 8, 8) in Literature, Maths and Language respectively.
And I'm procrastinating so I thought I'd try and be useful.

So I got 8A*s and 4As at GCSE, at this point you'd think I'd be asking 'is that good enough for Oxford', no. I want to extend a hand or support to any Y10 or 11 pupils who are currently doing the GCSEs, because I know, especially during my Y11, I was lost af. Perhaps you're a very keen pupil, and you're interested to know about the initial start to 6th Form/selecting A Levels, I can assist with that too. (I do Further Maths, Maths, Physics, Chem).

My subjects were Maths, Triple Science, English Lit/Lang, RS, Geography, French, Computing.

Honestly any GCSE/AS Level related question, fire it at me, and I'll endeavour to try and help out!

Hello. I'm a Year 12 student too but I wanted to say congratulations for your results. You did really good! :smile:

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 13

clarevictoriaa

10

How do you revise for combined science? Cuz Ive started small bits of revision and science is my worst subject and I struggle with it so much. I'm in year 10

Reply 14

OP

Original post by Moppet

Hello. I'm a Year 12 student too but I wanted to say congratulations for your results.

Thank you, how very kind of you :h:

What A Levels are you doing? How are you finding it.

Reply 15

qasim-96

Original post by AryanGh

tell her to come to me for some 1 to 1's uno :^)

I'll send her over :u:

Reply 16

OP

Original post by orderofthelotus

I do not consent

Spoiler

go pet ur loti

Spoiler

Reply 17

OP