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Exam Revision Guides? Is CGP good for all subjects?

Hi,
Currently in Y10, looking to buy some revision guides for my GCSEs next year.
I've heard that CGP are very good for sciences but not sure about other subjects...

What revision guides would you recommend for my subjects?
I'm aiming for grade 8 and above.

My subjects are separate sciences, maths, eng lit and lang, geography, Spanish and Product Design.
* On AQA for all subjects except maths and Spanish which are Edexcel.

THANK YOU
Personally I find CGP for sciences doesn’t have much detail and so I’m not a fan however they have saved me for English literature - novels and poems and would defo recommend there. Otherwise it’s about how u learn coz for science I prefer the detail to understand it rather than bare facts but if that helps u then yes CGP is real good. And obvs u don’t need a revision guide for every subjects eg maths or Eng lang - also past papers r the key towards the end so don’t exhaust them as a source before like Easter y11 I’d say xx
Reply 2
I do think my cgp science revision guides are really useful and contain key information, cgp also great for maths, not so good for English language but there some good cgp literature guides
Reply 3
Original post by zasbalroop
Personally I find CGP for sciences doesn’t have much detail and so I’m not a fan however they have saved me for English literature - novels and poems and would defo recommend there. Otherwise it’s about how u learn coz for science I prefer the detail to understand it rather than bare facts but if that helps u then yes CGP is real good. And obvs u don’t need a revision guide for every subjects eg maths or Eng lang - also past papers r the key towards the end so don’t exhaust them as a source before like Easter y11 I’d say xx


Oh okay, thanks again. If you don't mind me asking, how did you revise and were your results good?
Reply 4
Original post by peeked
I do think my cgp science revision guides are really useful and contain key information, cgp also great for maths, not so good for English language but there some good cgp literature guides


Thanks. I've heard that York Notes are good for English but I've never really considered them before. Have you tried them out?
Reply 5
Original post by Ariana17
Thanks. I've heard that York Notes are good for English but I've never really considered them before. Have you tried them out?


Yeah I have the all York notes guides for my texts, they’re pretty decent
Original post by peeked
Yeah I have the all York notes guides for my texts, they’re pretty decent


Same I have them for a few and I love them. they’re great I find
Original post by Ariana17
Oh okay, thanks again. If you don't mind me asking, how did you revise and were your results good?


I revise by making notes on themes mostly, a few characters too depending on the book and identifying key quotes and contextual points. I got a 9 in my mock, doing my GCSEs atm
I'd say for Eng Lit - you should buy your text guides from York Notes (they have a lot of detail and pick out the smallest of details that you would probs get a high grade for in the exams).

For Maths, I used CGP - i guess it's all right because it tells you all the formulas and gets straight to the point.

For Science, I didn't find the CGP guide useful at all - i wouldn't recommend it, I used Collins and they tend to take the information right off the specification which is good and the practicals include all the variables and considerations you should make.

I did Edexcel Spanish and I used the Pearson revision guides which are pretty decent - they contain all the vocab and the guide is split into 6 sections - five topics and a grammar section.

As for Geography, I wouldn't know because I didn't study it.

Hope this helps tho :smile:
Reply 9
CGP are mostly great for sciences, as long as you revise with each individual specification at hand (print it out!!!). I've seen them leave out things, add in unnecessary things, and even make horrible mistakes for key things like say, electrolysis for chemistry? So using the specification and online resources like freesciencelessons is super important. But other than that, they're great. Buying textbooks for the sciences is way too extra - just use CGP and your specification. You're aiming for an 8, so I assume you don't need that much help anyway.
I wouldn't recommend buying a revision guide for a subject like maths. Unless you genuinely believe that revising for maths like you would an essay subject (i.e making notes) would help you, then you shouldn't buy revision guides, only workbooks. Maths is all about practice, and really you can find thousands of past papers, specimens, and there are resources online like MathsWatch, and other sites. Buying things for maths sounds like a waste of money, unless you reaaally think you need workbooks, or you went through every resource online.
CGP is generally good for humanities like english and geography, but like any other subject, you need to practice too.
I'd especially recommend CGP for Spanish - I used CGP for my french exams, which i just took last week. They were a great help with grammar, topic vocab and general vocab, along with a handy glossary of words your exam board expects you to know at the back. I took AQA though, for French, but i doubt it'll be very different.
Reply 10
Original post by zainabmajid29
I'd say for Eng Lit - you should buy your text guides from York Notes (they have a lot of detail and pick out the smallest of details that you would probs get a high grade for in the exams).

For Maths, I used CGP - i guess it's all right because it tells you all the formulas and gets straight to the point.

For Science, I didn't find the CGP guide useful at all - i wouldn't recommend it, I used Collins and they tend to take the information right off the specification which is good and the practicals include all the variables and considerations you should make.

I did Edexcel Spanish and I used the Pearson revision guides which are pretty decent - they contain all the vocab and the guide is split into 6 sections - five topics and a grammar section.

As for Geography, I wouldn't know because I didn't study it.

Hope this helps tho :smile:


Yes, this was very helpful. Thank you so much!!
Reply 11
Original post by sisigab
CGP are mostly great for sciences, as long as you revise with each individual specification at hand (print it out!!!). I've seen them leave out things, add in unnecessary things, and even make horrible mistakes for key things like say, electrolysis for chemistry? So using the specification and online resources like freesciencelessons is super important. But other than that, they're great. Buying textbooks for the sciences is way too extra - just use CGP and your specification. You're aiming for an 8, so I assume you don't need that much help anyway.
I wouldn't recommend buying a revision guide for a subject like maths. Unless you genuinely believe that revising for maths like you would an essay subject (i.e making notes) would help you, then you shouldn't buy revision guides, only workbooks. Maths is all about practice, and really you can find thousands of past papers, specimens, and there are resources online like MathsWatch, and other sites. Buying things for maths sounds like a waste of money, unless you reaaally think you need workbooks, or you went through every resource online.
CGP is generally good for humanities like english and geography, but like any other subject, you need to practice too.
I'd especially recommend CGP for Spanish - I used CGP for my french exams, which i just took last week. They were a great help with grammar, topic vocab and general vocab, along with a handy glossary of words your exam board expects you to know at the back. I took AQA though, for French, but i doubt it'll be very different.


Thank you very much! This was quite useful :smile:

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