help

hi guys, really need some effective tips on revising for gcse's. tips that will help me get a's please, I'm predicted c's but i really want to exceed that. help please

Past Paper Practice

OP

Original post by shawn_o1

Past Paper Practice

i really struggle with them a lot (which is certainly not good) should i just give them my best or learn my weakest parts in them first then try, or just keep doing them?

Reply 3

shawn_o1

21

Original post by amyr432

i really struggle with them a lot (which is certainly not good) should i just give them my best or learn my weakest parts in them first then try, or just keep doing them?

If you do a past paper you'll soon know which areas you're struggling with, you can return to learning those areas before doing the past paper again

Reply 4

'Chris'

2

I agree with the post made above but you need to learn the content first before doing past papers.

The first thing I suggest doing is making a revision timetable. This ensures that you won't be wasting time calculating which subject to do each day. I suggest possibly doing three subjects each day? But it's really your preference. You could also just stick to your school timetable, presuming you're still in the easter holidays, that's what I've done and just followed that. The second thing is to order revision materials to aid your revision. The CGP revision guides are almost essential, in my opinion, to have. They're relatively cheap on Amazon or Ebay and they go through all the specific information you need to know for the exam. These books are very concise so you don't need to worry if the information you are learning is necessary for your exam (make sure you enter the exam board when searching for the book because they offer a huge range of revision books). There is also other resources online which could be useful. For example, Memrise for languages, MyMaths/Mathswatch for maths are also very helpful. But the one app/website which is VERY useful, for me, is StudyBlue. Flashcards lead to success. I make flashcards for almost all my subjects on this website. They're all very easily organised in folders so I can access them 24/7 (or you could just do it the old fashioned way and write them out

). Also, especially for the sciences, print out the specification! That way you can just tick off what you've covered which will definitely be on the exam. Other revision techniques I advise could be to create mind maps, as well as creating booklets for each subject. Now, on to the most important part of the revision. Once you've learnt the content, you need to do PAST PAPERS!!! I can't stress how important past papers are when succeeding in an exam. They give you the best understanding of the exam format and what the examiners are looking for.

I hope this gives you some ideas of where to start. I've tried to condense this as much as possible so if you have any more questions please just ask.

Reply 5

amyr432

OP

1

Original post by 'Chris'

I agree with the post made above but you need to learn the content first before doing past papers.

The first thing I suggest doing is making a revision timetable. This ensures that you won't be wasting time calculating which subject to do each day. I suggest possibly doing three subjects each day? But it's really your preference. You could also just stick to your school timetable, presuming you're still in the easter holidays, that's what I've done and just followed that. The second thing is to order revision materials to aid your revision. The CGP revision guides are almost essential, in my opinion, to have. They're relatively cheap on Amazon or Ebay and they go through all the specific information you need to know for the exam. These books are very concise so you don't need to worry if the information you are learning is necessary for your exam (make sure you enter the exam board when searching for the book because they offer a huge range of revision books). There is also other resources online which could be useful. For example, Memrise for languages, MyMaths/Mathswatch for maths are also very helpful. But the one app/website which is VERY useful, for me, is StudyBlue. Flashcards lead to success. I make flashcards for almost all my subjects on this website. They're all very easily organised in folders so I can access them 24/7 (or you could just do it the old fashioned way and write them out

). Also, especially for the sciences, print out the specification! That way you can just tick off what you've covered which will definitely be on the exam. Other revision techniques I advise could be to create mind maps, as well as creating booklets for each subject. Now, on to the most important part of the revision. Once you've learnt the content, you need to do PAST PAPERS!!! I can't stress how important past papers are when succeeding in an exam. They give you the best understanding of the exam format and what the examiners are looking for.

I hope this gives you some ideas of where to start. I've tried to condense this as much as possible so if you have any more questions please just ask.

Wow Thankyou so much! I really appreciate the help! I'm on the Aqa board and I can't find the specifications (that might sound dumb haha) if you know where they are could you send the link please I'd be so grateful? Thankyou so much

Reply 6

'Chris'

2

I think this is the AQA Biology but you probably know better than me :smile:

. It came up as this in Google:
GCSE Biology Specification Specification 2014 - AQA- Just replace Biology with the subject you want. Hope this is it :smile:

.

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-BIOL-W-SP-14.PDF

Reply 7

amyr432

OP

1

Original post by 'Chris'

I think this is the AQA Biology but you probably know better than me :smile:

. It came up as this in Google:
GCSE Biology Specification Specification 2014 - AQA- Just replace Biology with the subject you want. Hope this is it :smile:

.

http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-BIOL-W-SP-14.PDF

Thankyou it says 2014 is that still ok?