For English Literature, I didn’t like using revision guides as they felt too generic to get the higher grades (though they did give good starting points). I mostly did research online for different themes, read blogs, used my notes from class discussions and wrote down teacher suggestions on interpretations, looked at student exemplars and wrote responses. Then I’d go to one of my two English teachers and ask them for feedback. It was really helpful.
For Language, I’d practice exam technique (what AOs are needed for AQA Lang Paper 1 Q2, for example?) and write responses and ask for feedback. Again, looking at exemplars helped. Finally, I practiced story writing and description a lot (but it was technically already a hobby) and sometimes asked for feedback. One of my teachers started giving me books to read- just your typical prose, and for fun- and he said he did notice improvement after I did that. Though, again, I do just love reading. For AQA Lang P2 Section B, I practiced some article writing in lesson, asked for it to be checked and, to be honest, I just read a lot of journalism too. Just reading an article or two a day helps you pin the tone columnists have (I recommend the Guardian, especially the Opinion section, considering it’s harder to write with facts and statistics in the exam).
For Literature revision, I would have a document for each theme and a document for each character where I would type up all the relevant quotes, their chapters and analysis. I’d also include alternative interpretations and context (good ways to score higher marks). Then I’d condense this down onto flashcards that were labelled according to character, theme, poem, etc. For Literature, you need to be prepared to sometimes analyse a new concept or idea on the spot. This means you have to be really solid on the text and AO1 to be able to form new arguments or to argue a slightly different viewpoint than you revised (e.g. for ‘Storm on the Island’ in my mock, I revised from my notes on the changes in iambic pentameter in relation to Irish culture, but I had to change this to support my viewpoint on the conflict between people and nature; I used the same AO2 technique with a different interpretation and point, which is AO1). For stronger AO1, I’d recommend re-reading the text and having a timeline of events as well. Re-reading the text after having already analysed it once helps you make new connections across the text (e.g. contrasts in a character between the beginning and end, showing development). Remember to weave context into your argument rather than bolting it on at the end in order to keep it consistent and relevant. Another way to stay relevant to the question is to keep mentioning keywords from the question (e.g. ‘terror’, ‘fate’, ‘evil’, ‘Shakespeare’).
ASK QUESTIONS IN CLASS. Offer your interpretations to your teachers to find out whether or not your argument is solid. I did this as often as possible.
Also- don’t just revise quotes, but also their analysis alongside them. However, don’t rely too heavily on what you revised and be prepared to manipulate your pre-learned AO2 to apply it to new points you’re making that are slightly different (AO1).
Practice makes perfect. As well as having pre-learned AO2, you’ll have trained to spot new AO2 points on the spot.
I hope this all makes sense. This is what I did at GCSE though, to be fair, English is my favourite subject and also one of my strongest.
Good luck with your mocks. I’d be happy to help with other subjects, if you want.