A* revision tips for GCSE English language

I'm in Y11 too and I feel that time management and knowing what is expected of you is crucial. You can't really revise much for it, obviously there's a few bits you can read through a revision book - but I think it's just down to practice and looking at mark schemes to know exactly what needs to be on that piece of paper.

I got an A* in my mock thanks to mrbruff (on YouTube) and his videos are really good!

Perhaps make notes of how long to spend on each question, how much to write, how to analyse texts, what techniques show etc. for each question. Although a few (such as techniques) are question specific. Also for Q5 - it is generally formal writing, so make sure you know how to write formally using lots of techniques. Q6 should be full of techniques and have a huge variety of structure etc. you probably know all of this.

Hi

Can I ask in which order you answer the questions?

I'm in Y11 too and I feel that time management and knowing what is expected of you is crucial. You can't really revise much for it, obviously there's a few bits you can read through a revision book - but I think it's just down to practice and looking at mark schemes to know exactly what needs to be on that piece of paper.

I got an A* in my mock thanks to mrbruff (on YouTube) and his videos are really good!

Perhaps make notes of how long to spend on each question, how much to write, how to analyse texts, what techniques show etc. for each question. Although a few (such as techniques) are question specific. Also for Q5 - it is generally formal writing, so make sure you know how to write formally using lots of techniques. Q6 should be full of techniques and have a huge variety of structure etc. you probably know all of this.

Thank you so much! I got an A* too (literally JUST on paper 1) but I always worry that my teacher over-marks our work as everyone seems to achieve high grades in class but doesn't replicate them in exams (Lit being a prime example!)
What exam board are you on?

Me personally - 6, 1, 2, 3, 4 and then 5. However if Q4 looks hard, I'd move on to Q5 because they're equal the same amount of marks and then do Q4.

However, there is no 'right' way to the order. You can go from Q1-6, although you may end up rushing Q6 and not get as many marks.

Thanks My teacher told us to do it like this: 1,2,3,4,6,5 so I was just curious. How did you revise or prepare for the exam?

I watched mrbruff videos for an hour or so, and then I went into the exam knowing exactly what I have to do.

Once you've done endless past papers and practice papers, just focus on time management!

For the source based questions, what I found most useful for an A* was not necessarily practicing past papers but instead practicing coming up with perceptive/unique/sophisticated comments to make about the articles given. Once you're used to the exam technique it gets a lot easier and faster to come up with things you could discuss in your answer, try to write the points that you believe 9/10 students wouldn't have come up with, this makes you stand out as an A/A* student. Not everything you write has to be this unique, however, but try to include at least a few perceptive interpretations per answer (since each question is usually marked by a different examiner, so they won't be able to 'get a general feel for your ability' across the paper as a whole). If you struggle to do this on a certain question, try to develop you 'regular level' points as far as you can, this separates you from slightly lower grade students who make many points but don't develop them very much. In addition, use sophisticated language wherever you can; don't say "this means" when refering to a quote from the source, instead use "this connotes/implies/signifies" etc, and embed your quotes!
Also, this goes for the non-source based questions too, if you've been given a mnemonic such as DAFOREST or THE RED RASP to help you remember a variety of techniques to use in your exam, try to treat this as a guide or prompt rather than a checklist. You definitely don't need to use all of these, use the ones that you feel are best suited to the question you've been given, otherwise you'll just end up 'technique spotting' and give yourself less time to develop your points, which is where most of your marks lie.
Hope that helps, this is the best advice my teachers gave me last year

Thanks, yeah I watched his videos but I didn't manage my time well during my mock

Consider changing the order of questions.

If you're teacher says go from 1-6 because that's the best way, he is wrong. I recommend doing - 6, 1, 2, 3 and then either 4 or 5 depending on the difficulty of questions - so if Q4 is easier, do that before Q5.

Yeah will do thanks!