Mocks!

I have gcse mocks in less than a week and i seriously need help. I just feel that there is so much content to learn in such little time. I have made a study timetable, flashcards and have done some pastpapers but my grades are not improving!! Does anyone have any tips for learning stuff quickly or websites that are helpful? Especially in the sciences! Thanks!

Reply 1

Hajra Momoniat

I don't know any other techniques that are fast but what your method is showing is that you need to practise more exam papers and after your mocks you need to change the technique of writing flashcards. For advice, instead of writing flashcards you could teach others :smile:

Reply 2

no2573571

Original post by ainsliemurdoch

This is what I posted on a similar thread. I hope it will be of some use as I really can appreciate how stressful mocks are. My school do the GCSE mocks in November, so I was in your position just last month. Anyway, here it is:

In an ideal situation, I'd recommend making notes and then doing questions, but you're quite short of time, so here's what I would do:

1. Prioritise subjects: you will have short spaces between your exams during your mocks (i.e: mornings, afternoons and sometimes whole days) to revise, so revise the subjects which you will sit first and the ones you struggle with most during the holiday, leaving those you are more confident with for later

. 2. Prioritise topics within those subjects: it is really tempting to revise the stuff you know well as this gives you satisfaction, but try to avoid this and revise what you find more challenging in those subjects. Try and read your school reports from last year, if you can find them, as these sometimes have some suggestions as to where you can improve. Narrow down your revision to the areas that really need attention, and note these down as a checklist <<<< this is really important. The specification will definitely be of good use to identify the main points needed.

3. USING resources already available to you: don't remake or make (that's the time-consuming part) - just use. As mentioned before, in an ideal world, you'd be able to make your own resource consisting of a neat folder of notes, flash cards which are all colour coded etc. but you don't have time. Revision guides, specifications, textbooks (might be too detailed though), class notes and the internet are all indispensable resources. I'd recommend BBC Bitesize for sciences especially.
Online quizzes are very useful as you don't need to write anything down, but you can test yourself of the key facts and concepts again and again and learn them thoroughly in the process. This is a lot more fun than making notes.
Also, do not underestimate how useful videos and animations can be - watch them through two or three times then you can learn a lot from the comfort of your own bed!
As these are mocks, I would save doing whole past exam papers until the summer but, only if you have time, you might want to try to find a few past exam questions on a particular topic online, print those off, and try to answer without your notes, but you must mark these strictly using a mark scheme/ your notes.
Tick off a topic every time you feel you have understood it and memorised the facts you needed to fully.

I really appreciate this is all easier said than done, especially in the last weeks of the Christmas holidays. But whatever you can do, if done with full focus, will help you in some way in the exams. GOOD LUCK! It's all worth it for the feeling you get when they are over.

Mocks!

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