The Student Room Group

GCSE advice - from a level student

Hi guys, I am making this because I think it would be helpful if you had advice from someone in their first yr of sixth form who did their gcses last year. I wish I had a forum like this where I could ask just a normal student for advice so I have made one for you guys. Whether its GCSE questions/advice or a-level I am happy to answer. I am currently taking Maths, Physics and Economics at a-level.
My results last year were fairly average ; six C's/5's (geography, French, computing and two 5's in eng lan + lit), four B's (Science core, science additional, RE and drama), and then a 7 in maths.

Fire away and ask any advice - I AM COMPLETELY HONEST
How did you revise for English????
Original post by Fazzy_77
How did you revise for English????


English was the hardest one for me, in my 1st and 2nd set of mocks I got 0's. However personally I think mocks are overrated. For English lit I got 3 quotes for all main characters in the books I studied and wrote explanations for the quotes. Each character was on a piece of a4 and I stuck them around my room, as even though you think by them being on your wall you won't remember any of them somehow they stick in your mind. For poetry I paired up the poems and found quotes again. If you use genius.com they will give you explanations for all quotes in a book/poem. For eng lit, as bad as this sounds, you just have to wing. However if you go on youtube look for someone called Mr Bruff - he does talks on the English lit and lang papers and they are sooooo helpful. It's the only reason I passed English.
Also with English if you haven't already then start revision now because there is a hell of a lot to do!
Hope this helps, any others questions ask!
Original post by Anonymous030701
English was the hardest one for me, in my 1st and 2nd set of mocks I got 0's. However personally I think mocks are overrated. For English lit I got 3 quotes for all main characters in the books I studied and wrote explanations for the quotes. Each character was on a piece of a4 and I stuck them around my room, as even though you think by them being on your wall you won't remember any of them somehow they stick in your mind. For poetry I paired up the poems and found quotes again. If you use genius.com they will give you explanations for all quotes in a book/poem. For eng lit, as bad as this sounds, you just have to wing. However if you go on youtube look for someone called Mr Bruff - he does talks on the English lit and lang papers and they are sooooo helpful. It's the only reason I passed English.
Also with English if you haven't already then start revision now because there is a hell of a lot to do!
Hope this helps, any others questions ask!


I got a 6 for my mock and I barely revised. Do you think I could get an 8 if I revised harder. Also, is language easier than literature because I hardly revise for it?
Original post by Fazzy_77
I got a 6 for my mock and I barely revised. Do you think I could get an 8 if I revised harder. Also, is language easier than literature because I hardly revise for it?


yes, its 100% achievable my friend got two 6's in her mock then 2 9's at gcse. Personally I found lit easier because you can revise for it, however everyone else finds lang easier because you don't really need to revise. It will depend what the paper is like on the day, but you should be fine with lang as long as you are comfortable with just going in and banging out the paper.
Original post by Anonymous030701
yes, its 100% achievable my friend got two 6's in her mock then 2 9's at gcse. Personally I found lit easier because you can revise for it, however everyone else finds lang easier because you don't really need to revise. It will depend what the paper is like on the day, but you should be fine with lang as long as you are comfortable with just going in and banging out the paper.


Thank you so much. Your advice is much appreciated :smile:
No problem, anything else just ask :smile:
How did you revise for science and maths?
Original post by reachforthestar
How did you revise for science and maths?


Science I broke down into topics are made posters with bullet points are keywords, and for things I was really stuck on I just put into youtube as there are loads of science youtube pages. Maths is all about past papers and exam questions, the questions tend to repeat themselves but just with different figures, honestly I can't stress enough PAST PAPERS AND EXAM QUESTIONS!!
Original post by Anonymous030701
Science I broke down into topics are made posters with bullet points are keywords, and for things I was really stuck on I just put into youtube as there are loads of science youtube pages. Maths is all about past papers and exam questions, the questions tend to repeat themselves but just with different figures, honestly I can't stress enough PAST PAPERS AND EXAM QUESTIONS!!


Thank you for the advice, it means a lot
Original post by reachforthestar
Thank you for the advice, it means a lot


It's okay :smile:

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