2020 GCSE discussion

Let me just jump on this anxiety-filled bandwagon.
Hi, Year 11 now. Soon at least. I'm doing my GCSE's in 2020.
My subjects are:
Maths
Triple Science
English Language and Literature
History
Geography
Art (Definitely going to fail that one but I gave up with it a long time ago)
Music
I am getting 7's in my triple science (Chemistry and Biology), Physics is a 5 and I have 7/6's in English. In my opinion, one of the best ways to revise is active recall. You make flashcards (I have a flashcard pack for every topic in a CGP book e.g. Biology Topic 1: Cell Biology) and you test yourself on them before you go to bed. Then the next morning, you take a piece of paper and write out everything you remember from the pack. This is useful as it strengthens the connections to that memory in your brain and increases the likelihood of you remembering those facts. I have a sort of system where if I get the whole pack right, you then move onto testing it every two days, then five, then in a week, then 2 weeks. Soon enough you are testing yourself on the material every couple of weeks and you're acing it every time. All you have to do is carry on up until your exams and then boom, your grades will significantly increase. Also, stick some sticky notes around your bedroom of the facts you don't get right and make a point to look over them every day, and remember (especially when you get to test yourself via active recall every few weeks) to also test yourself using the original question and answer flashcards. They are like practise papers leading up to the big exam which is the active recall day.
Good luck, guys!

Hey so it’s almost September 2019 and I’m going into yr 11, the same as you! I’m so scared ngl. Is the passing grade for us a 4 or a 5?

This really helped thankyou Also how much content do you like to include on each flashcard. At the moment I am doing one sided flashcards for example a heading 'Plant cells' but I'm not sure if they are worthwhile and if I should put a question on the other side? I don't know. It might sound like a stupid question but I am finding it hard to recall the information and don't know whether to write them out again.

I'm glad it helped! I do believe that using one-sided flashcards when you are putting 4-5 points onto one flashcard can help for some, but likely it won't help you remember it long term. In my opinion, the method is much similar to cramming, even if you plan to read over them more than once it still isn't the most effective way to revise. One of the most helpful ways is likely to use the revision guides you have been given (hopefully, but if not, Bitesize is a good resource) to help make the flashcards. You're looking for KEY information which the guide is there to point out for you, and from then you can make question and answer flashcards by reworking the information into a question (e.g. 'The halogens are in period 7 of the periodic table' to QUESTION: 'Period 7 of the periodic table contains?' ANSWER: 'The Halogens') It is also important to note that if you make question and answer flashcards, one of the worst mistakes (as I have purposely done in the example above) is not using full sentences in your answer. You must make as much reference back to the question as you can. The answers are what we are trying to remember, so we often forget what the question was, therefore we lose that connection between them.
If you have a phone or computer which I am guessing you have, try using Quizlet, an app/website designed specifically for making flashcards. This helps as it reduces the time making handheld flashcards, you can access them almost wherever you have wifi and there is no limit to how many flashcards you can make in one set. This allows for a collection of in-depth QUESTION AND ANSWER flashcards. Like I have said in my before post, having to actively search through all the information stored in your brain to find that one bit of information to help answer the question, it will allow you to easily remember it with practice.
Whilst revising your question and answer flashcards, it is also important that you understand the topic you are revising. For some, it is quite easy to visually remember the answer to a question but not understand what the question is even talking about (this is definitely me sometimes) This is why if you feel unsure about a part of a topic, you NEED to actively search it up on google, youtube or ask your teachers, as relying on the flashcards giving you the information is not going to be enough to solidly understand what this topic is about.
Furthermore, I cannot stress this one enough. DO PRACTICE PAPERS. It's all well and good getting all 40 questions right during your active recall, but once you actually try a paper, you will really see where your mistakes are stemming from - be it, you don't understand a section, or you haven't revised it enough.
Hope this helps answer the questions you had! If you have any more, feel free to ask, I'm more than happy to help.
Also, are you doing AQA Sciences, if so, I can direct you to my Quizlet account which has almost all the sections done for Biology and Physics paper 1. I am almost finished completing Chemistry Paper 1, and then will be moving on to Paper 2. If not, then I'm sure there are other accounts ready with flashcards from your spec.
Have a nice day!

Thankyou so much for all of your advice and I will definitely start making some Q&A flashcards like you have suggested. I do AQA science so directing me to your Quizlet account would be extremely helpful (if you don't mind). My mocks are in November so will make sure to use your advice. THANKS again!