GCSEs Advice for Year 11 students:

I received all 9s. I started revising in the Easter holidays and aimed for five hours a day, a target which I met (give or take) almost every day. Five hours a day may not sound like a lot, but so long as it's good, focussed revision, then it should do the trick. That means no music, no TV on in the background, etc. I also cannot overstate how important it is to revise for end-of-topic tests throughout the year. If you do a good enough job of revising for those tests, then you'll find it a damn sight easier to revise for your GCSEs, because you're simply re-learning all the things you already knew rather than learning things for the first time. Past papers are important, and can be especially helpful in the more Maths-y subjects, but you should always prioritise learning the syllabus over doing a past paper. Only when you're 100% sure on the content should you transition to past papers. It's also crucial to make a timetable with which to organise your five hours. I prefer to spend a whole day on just one or two subjects, as it helps me focus, but if you prefer to do five per day, or even more than that, then that's fine. Just do what works for you. Above all, make sure to stick to your timetable; discipline is key. Don't do too much work at once - go for a maximum of one hour without break. During breaks, which should be no longer than half an hour, do something relaxing like read a book. Don't run upstairs and play Fortnite; do something which keeps you calm and collected, so that you can easily re-focus when you go back to study. And if you're ever feeling like you should call it quits after four hours, remember the long game. You might hear lots of lovey-dovey refrains on this website and others like it about how GCSE results don't matter. But they do. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there and you've got to come out swinging, because if you don't, you'll be left by the wayside and forgotten forever. If you want to make a difference, then go for whatever you're going for 100%; don't cut yourself any slack. Good luck.

dont stress,try to take regular breaks, use the specs, do practice papers, start early and watch the 9s roll in

i got 5 9s and 5 8s if it makes any difference

100% - mocks are an opportunity to do exam papers in real test conditions. I made quite a few mistakes in my Geography mock and was very close to make them again in the real thing but remember not to so they're a good learning opportunity.

Well done for your results!! What is "early" to you? :O

Congratulations on your result!!! Also, Thank you for the advice! I'm definitely going to utilise it X

Wow! Your results are great !!!! Well done! I'm interested in choosing Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths for a levels, seeing on how well you did in them, could you tell me how you revised for science please?

Thank you and congratulations on your results!!! They're great ! How did you revise quotes and themes for English literature? xx Writing subjects (e.g Geography & English) are definitely not my strong point (YET) XD.

id say January in yr11 but it wouldnt hurt starting properly earlier

7s:
Maths
English Lit
Science
History
Geography
6s:
French
Science
5:
English Lang
4:
Art

I didn't have that much of a revision routine, but I started revising during the Easter holidays. I had already made revision material throughout year 10 and year 11, such as posters and revision cards. I also had some revision cards for history and science which were made by edexcel which were useful.
My advice would be to make sure you have revision materials definitely before Easter, so that during the Easter holidays, you can work on nailing exam technique and ironing out any areas that you're a bit patchy on. I used a lot of youtube (PrimroseKitten, freesciencelessons) for science, as well as seneca which really helped me for both history, geography and science. My school provided everyone with revision guides as well as exam practice books for each subject. I was extremely lucky to go to a school where i was provided with a targeted book for both maths and history, which were both targeted at grade 9 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edexcel-Mathematics-Algebra-Workbook-Intervention/dp/0435183370). The history ones are available at grade 5 and 9, and maths is available at grade 3,5,7 and 9. They are also available for other subjects i think. Mine were edexcel. Geography, i made sure i knew all the case studies, and maths, i had an amazing teacher who provided us with loads of past papers and exam style questions. I'm not sure about English lit, because i have no idea how i got that 7, i only wrote a page for Jekyll and Hyde, I was just lucky with the questions. French, i made sure i knew all my prepared speaking answers, as well as a few impressive pieces of vocab for the writing exam. I also tried out listening to french radio and youtubers as well as reading things in french to practice.

Not sure if this is much help, but good luck.
I'm really happy with my results, and will be studying Maths, French and History at A level

Thank you very much for your congratulations and I'm sure you'll absolutely demolish your GCSEs next summer!

Thanks so much! I'm planning on taking Biology, Chemistry, Maths for A level so if I messed them up I'd be in a pickle. For all the sciences, although extremely tedious, I really enjoyed reading the textbook.Pretty much all my Science revision time was spent reading the textbook with a notepad beside me, jotting down all the things I didn't know. This may seem as boring as watching paint dry to some, however if you try to have an genuine interest in what you're reading it makes it much easier to come to terms with it. Then it's just a process of learning all those things you've wrote down which I did by testing myself on them. I didn't actually do that many past papers for science, I mainly just focused on memorising the content, however if you don't know how to approach exam questions I advise you do past papers for practise. For Maths I cannot recommend getting a tutor enough! It had a monumental impact on my grade. It gave me the chance to ask questions 1 on 1 with my tutor which you can't always do in class, as well as helping me identify topics I struggled with which I can then go to my tutor and ask her to go through them with me. However, not everyone has the privilege of being able to have a tutor, so I'd definitely ask your teacher to put on support sessions after school which you can attend if you are unable to get a tutor. Maths is very mechanical, in the sense that you can almost guarantee what topics are going to show up every year, so if you learn how to do the concept it's just a case of learning how to apply it to exam questions. The best way to get better at this is just to do a countless amount of exam questions and past papers, that's literally all there is to it. Hope this helped!

What did you get in your GCSEs, how long did you revise for and how many hours did revise per day? Please.