Need help

I’ve been homeschooled since around year 8, I’m going into year 11 turning 16 in November, what is the best way to do an English GCSE?

Hello!
I’m currently a year 11 about to go into sixth form
Which exam board are you planning to take for English? I’ll be talking from my experience with AQA, but some points of learning may differ for other exam boards. If you are not sure of your exam board, I recommend getting in contact with your school via email so you can check if this differs from the board you took whilst homeschooling.
My first point I’d like to point out is poetry has been given the green light by Ofqual to be removed from the GCSE 2021 exams due to the schooling situation in the pandemic (I believe). This is a massive weight off your shoulders!!! Please keep all your revision notes though! If this situation was to change, you would certainly not want to put that hard work down the drain.
I also suggest getting up to date with your texts. You need to once again ask your school which books they study in preparation for year 11. If these books do not line up with the ones you studied yourself (as there is quite a wide range of texts that can be chosen) you will need to make sure that you get a head start by giving these books a read. It is likely the other students already covered a book in the previous year and the only time they will go over it will be revision. See if the school could offer any resources or powerpoints they used from the lessons so you can start to prepare independent study and are caught up on what you missed

In terms of revision, here are my top tips:
1. Past papers. Nothing beats doing the actual papers in terms of revision. It is a wonderful opportunity to really see what went well and which areas you need to go back on. If you can alleviate some of the stress of the exam by trying past ones, you have overcome one of the greatest obstacles.
2. Peer review. Ask others around you to read through your work. Getting a second opinion can really give you an idea of how it looks from an examiner’s perspective. It can be family members, friends or even a friendly face on TSR! This is a great place for help and support and I’m sure you’ll find lots of hints and tips around
I’d also like you to consider watching YouTube revision videos such as MrBruff. They offer a wide range of interesting perspectives on the texts and can vary in length depending if you’d like to watch one on the bus to a more detailed analysis.

One last thing to land off on is expectations. Don’t get disheartened if you don’t pick something up straight away. Going into a school with peers can sometimes lead to you comparing yourself to others, which is the last thing you should do! Everyone is different and learns in a different way. Remember, you have not been in this environment for quite a while, please do not let it overwhelm you.
Also, please don’t use grades as a benchmark. These boundaries can vary quite widely from year to year in English, and it is better to mark yourself on levels (in the mark scheme of your exam board) as these are a more concrete way to see how you progress.
I’ve rambled for quite a bit there! This is just my advice for English literature. English language is something I am trying to figure out myself at the moment, so I’d be cautious to offer my advice on those papers.(@macy_m is a queen of English Lang, as well as practically everything else! I’m sure she’d be happy to offer a tip or two on how to approach that ).
May I wish the best of luck! Enjoy it!!
Moonbow

Hello!
I’m currently a year 11 about to go into sixth form
Which exam board are you planning to take for English? I’ll be talking from my experience with AQA, but some points of learning may differ for other exam boards. If you are not sure of your exam board, I recommend getting in contact with your school via email so you can check if this differs from the board you took whilst homeschooling.
My first point I’d like to point out is poetry has been given the green light by Ofqual to be removed from the GCSE 2021 exams due to the schooling situation in the pandemic (I believe). This is a massive weight off your shoulders!!! Please keep all your revision notes though! If this situation was to change, you would certainly not want to put that hard work down the drain.
I also suggest getting up to date with your texts. You need to once again ask your school which books they study in preparation for year 11. If these books do not line up with the ones you studied yourself (as there is quite a wide range of texts that can be chosen) you will need to make sure that you get a head start by giving these books a read. It is likely the other students already covered a book in the previous year and the only time they will go over it will be revision. See if the school could offer any resources or powerpoints they used from the lessons so you can start to prepare independent study and are caught up on what you missed

In terms of revision, here are my top tips:
1. Past papers. Nothing beats doing the actual papers in terms of revision. It is a wonderful opportunity to really see what went well and which areas you need to go back on. If you can alleviate some of the stress of the exam by trying past ones, you have overcome one of the greatest obstacles.
2. Peer review. Ask others around you to read through your work. Getting a second opinion can really give you an idea of how it looks from an examiner’s perspective. It can be family members, friends or even a friendly face on TSR! This is a great place for help and support and I’m sure you’ll find lots of hints and tips around
I’d also like you to consider watching YouTube revision videos such as MrBruff. They offer a wide range of interesting perspectives on the texts and can vary in length depending if you’d like to watch one on the bus to a more detailed analysis.

One last thing to land off on is expectations. Don’t get disheartened if you don’t pick something up straight away. Going into a school with peers can sometimes lead to you comparing yourself to others, which is the last thing you should do! Everyone is different and learns in a different way. Remember, you have not been in this environment for quite a while, please do not let it overwhelm you.
Also, please don’t use grades as a benchmark. These boundaries can vary quite widely from year to year in English, and it is better to mark yourself on levels (in the mark scheme of your exam board) as these are a more concrete way to see how you progress.
I’ve rambled for quite a bit there! This is just my advice for English literature. English language is something I am trying to figure out myself at the moment, so I’d be cautious to offer my advice on those papers.(@macy_m is a queen of English Lang, as well as practically everything else! I’m sure she’d be happy to offer a tip or two on how to approach that ).
May I wish the best of luck! Enjoy it!!
Moonbow

Wait. I am going into year 11. Is poetry actually not going to be in exam. I do aqa English lit. When will this be official?

It is official, that’s why I said I wouldn’t say anything that’s based on rumours, I know how frustrated I would be if someone said something that was just a conspiracy I think that there has been an option provided for subjects like poetry to be dropped from Ofqual (I think they are above the exam boards and it was them who organised exam cancellations this year), but I’m not sure if it is up to exam boards whether they actually do so. I’ll get a link

@Moonbow I thought that they announced we would definitely to a Shakespearean text and the 1 of the other 3 could be dropped but not specially poetry. Have I misunderstood 🤔 I’ll tag you in the thread I saw this

I think it was one of them? I think poetry has been given the green light, but I’m not sure if all exam boards will drop the same areas. Let me get the link from ofqual

Wait. I am going into year 11. Is poetry actually not going to be in exam. I do aqa English lit. When will this be official?

Also what areas of history GCSEs edexcel have been altered? Thanks.

Ok! Sorry about that, it is going to be one of a few topics your school will get to pick to drop. Don’t worry! It still means you’ll have shorter exams and less content no matter which you end up doing
Thanks @Cherrygrape1234 for the help!!
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-53645824

I’m not too sure I think that it’d be best to search that up on the official Ofqual website. As a geographer myself, I find it quite insulting they are giving one humanity an easier time than the other Don’t worry! I’m sure it will go well