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GCSE Jitters

Hi all, this post is aimed at other GCSE students, years 10 - 11 or even passed, I'm in year 10, and I'm having GCSE jitters. I know I have a year and a half to practice and everything I just feel like I'm not going to get it right, I keep feeling anxiety and doubt whenever I think about GCSEs and I don't know what to do about it. does anyone have any advise to calm my nerves and or have any advice to do with the GCSEs themselves

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Hi im in year 11 rn and was in the exact same position as you last year! all i can say is to make sure you stay on top of your online work and you should be fine. You don't need to start practising or revising anything in year 10 (you can if you want to, but make sure you don't burn yourself out, it's better to be the most motivated in yr 11), however i do recommend to start going over any weaker points/making some revision resources in the summer, so by the time you reach mocks, then all the work hasn't piled up on you. I did this in the summer last year and managed to do relatively well in my mocks, which was especially useful since the exams were cancelled again and the mocks could be used as evidence for teacher assessed grades. Also, to make sure you do effective revision, just do as many practise questions as possible, that way you're more likely to get more questions right and reinforce your understanding, but do the practise questions after going over the topic so you can understand it better. Wishing you the best for your GCSEs! :smile:
Reply 2
Avatar for MeleA
MeleA
12
Original post by H_allpress
Hi all, this post is aimed at other GCSE students, years 10 - 11 or even passed, I'm in year 10, and I'm having GCSE jitters. I know I have a year and a half to practice and everything I just feel like I'm not going to get it right, I keep feeling anxiety and doubt whenever I think about GCSEs and I don't know what to do about it. does anyone have any advise to calm my nerves and or have any advice to do with the GCSEs themselves

Hello, I can give subject specific advice if you want- which GCSEs do you take? Also, please don't stress!!! Year 10 is a year to discover how to revise and to work out how to nail each subject. As long as you try your best in year 10 that is all that matters. For calming nerves make sure to have a balance in your life- for example my friend goes for a run pretty much everyday to calm her nerves!! Find time to relax but at the same time do what you can with your work. You will improve so much throughout the rest of year 10 and year 11- for example in year 10 I got 6s in biology and thought I could scrape a 7 for GCSE but this year I have really improved and achieved a 9 on my mock! Try not to stress!!!! Let me know what subjects you take and I'll see if I can help with any worries you may have 😊
Original post by MeleA
Hello, I can give subject specific advice if you want- which GCSEs do you take? Also, please don't stress!!! Year 10 is a year to discover how to revise and to work out how to nail each subject. As long as you try your best in year 10 that is all that matters. For calming nerves make sure to have a balance in your life- for example my friend goes for a run pretty much everyday to calm her nerves!! Find time to relax but at the same time do what you can with your work. You will improve so much throughout the rest of year 10 and year 11- for example in year 10 I got 6s in biology and thought I could scrape a 7 for GCSE but this year I have really improved and achieved a 9 on my mock! Try not to stress!!!! Let me know what subjects you take and I'll see if I can help with any worries you may have 😊

I'm taking, the three core subjects (English, Maths, and science) along with History, Food Tech, Art, and Music
Reply 4
Avatar for fluous
fluous
15
Back in year 10 and 11 I also felt really anxious about taking my GCSEs, especially when I thought about the exams or how I would feel right before an exam. My year 10 experience was terrible, and I was constantly doubting my own abilities. I think I got better at handling pressure as time went on and slowly got into my own rhythm of things when I got into year 11. It's okay to feel worried, but don't let it consume you completely, since you still have so much time. I've also adopted a much healthier mindset on myself, where I prioritise improvement over hard grades. There are many things that time and experience will teach you that I can't explain through a small block of text.
A lot of this is my own opinion or approach but, I basically don't think about my exams at all (even though I'm a year 12 studying for A-levels); maybe I don't think about exams enough, but I still find that my mind was a lot more at ease in year 11 compared to year 10, even though year 11 was closer to doing my GCSEs. I just focused on my own mistakes and faults, and revised like crazy.
I hope you start feeling better soon!
Original post by H_allpress
Hi all, this post is aimed at other GCSE students, years 10 - 11 or even passed, I'm in year 10, and I'm having GCSE jitters. I know I have a year and a half to practice and everything I just feel like I'm not going to get it right, I keep feeling anxiety and doubt whenever I think about GCSEs and I don't know what to do about it. does anyone have any advise to calm my nerves and or have any advice to do with the GCSEs themselves

Hey! A year and a half is plenty of time to revise the content, attend your online lessons (even if they are boring) and if your struggling email your teachers for help :smile: I'd advise you not to think about exams too much, focus on understanding everything you learn in school and you'd be fine. Btw you can message me for any help, what specification are you on?
dw i was in your position last year
Original post by H_allpress
Hi all, this post is aimed at other GCSE students, years 10 - 11 or even passed, I'm in year 10, and I'm having GCSE jitters. I know I have a year and a half to practice and everything I just feel like I'm not going to get it right, I keep feeling anxiety and doubt whenever I think about GCSEs and I don't know what to do about it. does anyone have any advise to calm my nerves and or have any advice to do with the GCSEs themselves


So long as you have confidence in what you're good at and are willing to learn to improve on things you're not as good at, you'll be fine. Make sure to start studying whilst you can, the sooner you start the more confidence you'll have in yourself. GCSEs aren't going to be tough if you're ready and being nervous about them shows you care. The fear is a good thing, it means you want to put your best in and come out with equal results. If you get a bad grade, don't panic. See where you went wrong and learn and adapt. You'll be okay :smile:
Reply 8
Avatar for Jsmithx
Jsmithx
11
https://youtube.com/channel/UCOU1qp1q5-mBb4vqmK85pPw
Try the videos about GCSEs. I agree with everything she says. Basically you’ll be ok :smile:
Reply 9
Avatar for Zenith04
Zenith04
4
Original post by MeleA
Hello, I can give subject specific advice if you want- which GCSEs do you take? Also, please don't stress!!! Year 10 is a year to discover how to revise and to work out how to nail each subject. As long as you try your best in year 10 that is all that matters. For calming nerves make sure to have a balance in your life- for example my friend goes for a run pretty much everyday to calm her nerves!! Find time to relax but at the same time do what you can with your work. You will improve so much throughout the rest of year 10 and year 11- for example in year 10 I got 6s in biology and thought I could scrape a 7 for GCSE but this year I have really improved and achieved a 9 on my mock! Try not to stress!!!! Let me know what subjects you take and I'll see if I can help with any worries you may have 😊

I had the similar story. I'm in year 12 and I was given a CAG of 6 for Maths GCSE. I did the resits in November and revised from August until November and managed to nail a grade 8 even though I was aiming for a 7 and thinking I wouldn't get a 7.
Original post by H_allpress
Hi all, this post is aimed at other GCSE students, years 10 - 11 or even passed, I'm in year 10, and I'm having GCSE jitters. I know I have a year and a half to practice and everything I just feel like I'm not going to get it right, I keep feeling anxiety and doubt whenever I think about GCSEs and I don't know what to do about it. does anyone have any advise to calm my nerves and or have any advice to do with the GCSEs themselves


just remiund yourself that you have learnt only half of what you need to know. as long as you keep up with your online lessons and work, you will be fine. just dont do what i did! i left all revision untill the morning of my exams
Original post by Levi-Jai
just remiund yourself that you have learnt only half of what you need to know. as long as you keep up with your online lessons and work, you will be fine. just dont do what i did! i left all revision untill the morning of my exams

Oooof, how did that work out? x
Hi everyone, I was just wondering if people think/don't think we'll be having mini assessments for gcse grading- bc it hasn't been announced yet :smile:
in my experience
all i ever needed was 5C grades a B grade in maths to get a BSc and a MSc. on my CV grades haven't been on there since sixth form
i was quite a good student aiming for A grades generally but if i knew all this was i needed
i would have sort of relaxed more had a bit more fun. all that time spent trying to get an A grade in media studies ffs when everyone else was out having fun. no one really said why i need the A grade but I went for it anyway (it mattered way more to teachers than me ie. on their performance) kinda feel scammed...
(edited 3 years ago)
Reply 14
Avatar for neney
neney
11
Original post by anushkarxy
Hi everyone, I was just wondering if people think/don't think we'll be having mini assessments for gcse grading- bc it hasn't been announced yet :smile:

hii! i'm also in year 11 and in my school our teachers have already made our last set of exams (for march which is most likely my last ones for gcse) and they have given us checklists to revise based on those tests - i thought this was for every school so i'm interested to see what other schools are doing
Reply 15
Avatar for Lovlie
Lovlie
5
Original post by MeleA
Hello, I can give subject specific advice if you want- which GCSEs do you take? Also, please don't stress!!! Year 10 is a year to discover how to revise and to work out how to nail each subject. As long as you try your best in year 10 that is all that matters. For calming nerves make sure to have a balance in your life- for example my friend goes for a run pretty much everyday to calm her nerves!! Find time to relax but at the same time do what you can with your work. You will improve so much throughout the rest of year 10 and year 11- for example in year 10 I got 6s in biology and thought I could scrape a 7 for GCSE but this year I have really improved and achieved a 9 on my mock! Try not to stress!!!! Let me know what subjects you take and I'll see if I can help with any worries you may have 😊

How long would you recommend studying a day for a year 10. I can never sit down and study for more 30 minutes. I tried the break method thing but I can never come back and start studying again 😑😑😑😑
Original post by neney
hii! i'm also in year 11 and in my school our teachers have already made our last set of exams (for march which is most likely my last ones for gcse) and they have given us checklists to revise based on those tests - i thought this was for every school so i'm interested to see what other schools are doing

Hi! thanks for your response, if they're in march will you have them online? we haven't been told anything about tests for us yet :frown:
Original post by H_allpress
Oooof, how did that work out? x


i passed my math by the skin of my teeth, failed english language but passed english lit, failed science, passes childcare with an A, failed haelth and social care.
would not recomend doing that
Reply 18
Avatar for MeleA
MeleA
12
Original post by Lovlie
How long would you recommend studying a day for a year 10. I can never sit down and study for more 30 minutes. I tried the break method thing but I can never come back and start studying again 😑😑😑😑

Hey! don't worry too much about doing too much work in year 10! Make sure you complete all homework and for tests make revision resources- you'll thank yourself in year 11. Try giving in your phone to your parents as it can be a BIG distraction when you have lots of work to do. Also, try making a list of things you want to achieve as it is nice when you can tick stuff off. Hope this helps 😊
Reply 19
Avatar for neney
neney
11
Original post by anushkarxy
Hi! thanks for your response, if they're in march will you have them online? we haven't been told anything about tests for us yet :frown:

sorry for the late response
my school are considering it since everything is uncertain atm - for now, the plan is to have them in school (mostly going to be us and the year 13s in for school to do exams) but obviously if cases go up we can do them online which i think is not fair.

has your school given you anymore information?

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