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Advice for going into year 11

I have an idea of how I can study and prepare for my GSCE's, but I know I will feel very pressured. Does anyone have advice for stress management in year 11, or just any advice in general you think is important when entering the new year?
Breathe and also relax. Try to do meditation and mindfulness as well. Take breaks and eat properly too. Find some alone time in order to do some exercise, shower and get some sleep as that is important too. Pay very careful and close attention to the total number of marks that you will achieve for each exam question and then sit down and plan out your entire answer.
Make some brief summary notes as a initial starting point and develop them further. Good luck to you. Buy a few different recommended but fairly cheap student workbooks to use. I used those rather easy to find and low cost flashcards and made a lot of mind maps primarily. Research free and effective revision techniques to try online and see what works.
Just remember that GCSEs mean literally nothing and outside of 6th forms, Oxford (but not Cambridge) some medical/dental schools (but not all) and some courses at LSE, nobody will care about them ever again provided you've passed English and maths.

Truly in retrospect GCSEs were one of the least important things I've done in my life as it turned out...as long as you keep that in mind you will hopefully avoid overstressing yourself :tongue:
GCSEs are quite easy, you’ll feel the same way when you look back in retrospect.

Just make sure you condense and link the content properly for subjects like Bio & Chem and know the keywords they’re looking for. Also do past papers regularly throughout the year and the questions you don’t know will show you what you need more work on - write them down with the answer.

In terms of stress management, best way is to keep on top of the content and revise throughout the year. Apart from that just make sure you’re organised.

The best tip I can give you however is to get a tutor to come every few weeks to give you a 1-1 session. Whatever you’re struggling on will become much clearer, and they can give you more insight on the exams, as most tutors have been or are currently teachers.

Good luck
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by tahildacanter
I have an idea of how I can study and prepare for my GSCE's, but I know I will feel very pressured. Does anyone have advice for stress management in year 11, or just any advice in general you think is important when entering the new year?


Focus on yourself, but never put your school work before caring for yourself... no need to pull all-nighters etc.
This is what I would go back and tell my 15/16-year-old self just starting year 11

At the start of the year, I wouldn't be worrying too much about exam revision as you've not started to learn everything yet but definitely start to look into it (e.g., different methods, revision timetables, past papers etc)

Purchase how to ace your GCSEs and read through it (I read the a-level version but think the GCSE will still be great). It's not long and can get very cheap on eBay

Make sure you're sleeping properly as you'll learn better through the year and will help with stress (measure to help sleep is called sleep hygiene so look into it)

Keep you're attendance up as you be learning the material and concentrate on lessons (e.g. aim to complete all the tasks set in the session and respond to feedback from your teachers). If you a something hard-set your self the task of understanding in your own time (there are many more people on youtube for this)

Maintain a balance between school life and your social life

Outside of school actively use your time to do things you enjoy (drawing, films, walking, cooking, TV, gaming)

Hope this helps!
Original post by tinyperson
Breathe and also relax. Try to do meditation and mindfulness as well. Take breaks and eat properly too. Find some alone time in order to do some exercise, shower and get some sleep as that is important too. Pay very careful and close attention to the total number of marks that you will achieve for each exam question and then sit down and plan out your entire answer.
Make some brief summary notes as a initial starting point and develop them further. Good luck to you. Buy a few different recommended but fairly cheap student workbooks to use. I used those rather easy to find and low cost flashcards and made a lot of mind maps primarily. Research free and effective revision techniques to try online and see what works.


Thank you!
Original post by artful_lounger
Just remember that GCSEs mean literally nothing and outside of 6th forms, Oxford (but not Cambridge) some medical/dental schools (but not all) and some courses at LSE, nobody will care about them ever again provided you've passed English and maths.

Truly in retrospect GCSEs were one of the least important things I've done in my life as it turned out...as long as you keep that in mind you will hopefully avoid overstressing yourself :tongue:


Luckily I'm really aware of how low impact GSCE is on my life but it is very easy to get overwhelmed when school constantly overstresses how important it is. I'd rather spend my time looking for work experience tbh.
Original post by mittendorf
GCSEs are quite easy, you’ll feel the same way when you look back in retrospect.

Just make sure you condense and link the content properly for subjects like Bio & Chem and know the keywords they’re looking for. Also do past papers regularly throughout the year and the questions you don’t know will show you what you need more work on - write them down with the answer.

In terms of stress management, best way is to keep on top of the content and revise throughout the year. Apart from that just make sure you’re organised.

The best tip I can give you however is to get a tutor to come every few weeks to give you a 1-1 session. Whatever you’re struggling on will become much clearer, and they can give you more insight on the exams, as most tutors have been or are currently teachers.

Good luck

Thank you for your advice!
Original post by risette
Focus on yourself, but never put your school work before caring for yourself... no need to pull all-nighters etc.


I completely agree.
Original post by BiomedStudent3
This is what I would go back and tell my 15/16-year-old self just starting year 11

At the start of the year, I wouldn't be worrying too much about exam revision as you've not started to learn everything yet but definitely start to look into it (e.g., different methods, revision timetables, past papers etc)

Purchase how to ace your GCSEs and read through it (I read the a-level version but think the GCSE will still be great). It's not long and can get very cheap on eBay

Make sure you're sleeping properly as you'll learn better through the year and will help with stress (measure to help sleep is called sleep hygiene so look into it)

Keep you're attendance up as you be learning the material and concentrate on lessons (e.g. aim to complete all the tasks set in the session and respond to feedback from your teachers). If you a something hard-set your self the task of understanding in your own time (there are many more people on youtube for this)

Maintain a balance between school life and your social life

Outside of school actively use your time to do things you enjoy (drawing, films, walking, cooking, TV, gaming)

Hope this helps!


Thank you, I really do need to work on my sleep.
Original post by tahildacanter
I have an idea of how I can study and prepare for my GSCE's, but I know I will feel very pressured. Does anyone have advice for stress management in year 11, or just any advice in general you think is important when entering the new year?

Remember that no matter what other people tell you, no matter what results you get on any test, as long as you tried your best it is ok. Y11 is all about just trying your best and learning from mistakes. Don't overwork yourself but when you are working, give it your all.
Original post by tahildacanter
I have an idea of how I can study and prepare for my GSCE's, but I know I will feel very pressured. Does anyone have advice for stress management in year 11, or just any advice in general you think is important when entering the new year?


When I was revising for my GCSEs (as pointless as that turned out to be considering I was meant to take them during the pandemic), I used Seneca Learning and it helped a lot, as it was fast-paced and nudged you in the right direction when you get things wrong. It was pretty much the only method of revision that I actually learnt from. It's really good, and I would have used it in my A-levels if it had my courses.

I'd also recommend not overworking yourself. Don't do long stints of revising, because if you are not in the mood to learn you will not learn. When I was revising I'd do it until it became tedious, at which point I'd stop and come back to it later, which would give my brain a break and would make me less tense. Remember to have breaks when you work.
easier said than done but please try to not stress yourself out so much is my number one tip. for the first 4-5 months of year 11, focus on doing any given homework the day or day after it comes, re cap any content you don’t understand in lessons at home and overall enjoy it with your friends before exam panic. stress management when exam season comes is important, everyone around you will inevitably be panicking but you just need to focus on yourself and what you want to achieve. pace yourself with revision to make sure you don’t get burnt out early, you don’t need to revise for hours on end to achieve good grades, if anything it’s the opposite. Your teachers will make it seem much worse than it is. GCSE’s don’t define the rest of your future. Hope this helps

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