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Going in to Year 11- How much should I revise in the summer?

Hey guys,

I am in year 10 and will be going into year 11 after the summer of course
I was planning on revising

- All the science modules we have covered

- Maybe go through some extra modules so I have less to learn in September

-Great expectations, macbeth, an inspector calls and poetry as we have covered all of that this year

-Psychology modules that we have covered this year

-R.e modules

-History definitley as we had not had a proper teacher for a few months

- Maths practice

-Go through english lang paper 1 as we did that last year

However is it too much? This year I found myself not having a lot of time for revision and now I am a bit wary to be honest. But I know I can burn out and I know it might make me dismotivated or lazy to do anything after. However do you guys have any tips

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Take the summer off. GCSES are certainly the easier exams youll do in life and so you can spend your term times revising and easily come out with amazing grades. Take a break, have some fun and come back in september ready to work hard. Otherwise you risk wasting time that could have been spent in a more enjoyable way for little to no added benefit.
Original post by reinaadira
Hey guys,

I am in year 10 and will be going into year 11 after the summer of course
I was planning on revising

- All the science modules we have covered

- Maybe go through some extra modules so I have less to learn in September

-Great expectations, macbeth, an inspector calls and poetry as we have covered all of that this year

-Psychology modules that we have covered this year

-R.e modules

-History definitley as we had not had a proper teacher for a few months

- Maths practice

-Go through english lang paper 1 as we did that last year

However is it too much? This year I found myself not having a lot of time for revision and now I am a bit wary to be honest. But I know I can burn out and I know it might make me dismotivated or lazy to do anything after. However do you guys have any tips


Do 30 to 45 minutes per day at home up until December. Take it up to 1 hour per day until March. After that 1 hour 30 per day. You'll have all A's and A*'s if you stick to it and you won't regret it when exam season comes and you're not stressed. As for what subject to study, either split the time in half and do 2 subjects, just skim reading through the notes (it adds up over time), or do 1 subject and make it a bit more detailed. It's better to get it out of the way in the morning imo, get a routine going
not gonna lie my friend, doing a lot of revision in the summer is a bad idea unless it's something you enjoy

Maybe go over some stuff you've done so you don't forget but nothing major

don't do modules you're going to do because you'll be bored af next year

enjoy your summer!

(at the end of the day do what you want, this is just my 2 cents)
Reply 4
Original post by JakeRStudent
Take the summer off. GCSES are certainly the easier exams youll do in life and so you can spend your term times revising and easily come out with amazing grades. Take a break, have some fun and come back in september ready to work hard. Otherwise you risk wasting time that could have been spent in a more enjoyable way for little to no added benefit.


I really want to take the summer off however I literally have nothing to do honestly
I am not going on holiday and unfortunately, my family aren't ones that like to go outside or go places and no friends either to do stuff with! Only thing is to waste my time on social media but everyone does things and it makes me so bored
Reply 5
Original post by Plastic_Chicken
not gonna lie my friend, doing a lot of revision in the summer is a bad idea unless it's something you enjoy

Maybe go over some stuff you've done so you don't forget but nothing major

don't do modules you're going to do because you'll be bored af next year

enjoy your summer!

(at the end of the day do what you want, this is just my 2 cents)



I like learning new things but yeah to be honest revising old things does get kinda boring sometimes
I don't want to make it seem like a chore or something like ugh I have to do revision because I need to get 8/9's but more of a I genuinely like this content! kinda thing
Reply 6
Original post by addingishard
Do 30 to 45 minutes per day at home up until December. Take it up to 1 hour per day until March. After that 1 hour 30 per day. You'll have all A's and A*'s if you stick to it and you won't regret it when exam season comes and you're not stressed. As for what subject to study, either split the time in half and do 2 subjects, just skim reading through the notes (it adds up over time), or do 1 subject and make it a bit more detailed. It's better to get it out of the way in the morning imo, get a routine going


The reason why I genuinely like going to school for the lessons only is because I prefer someone teaching me than revising & learning on my own

It's just that there's so many revision resources out there, it overwhelmes me
Reply 7
You should nothing in the summer. It's possible to do amazing regardless.
Take your summer off! I didn't do any of this and came out with good GCSE's. You've got to develop a good work ethic which is sustainable, if you start revising in summer would you be able to keep yourself motivated until your exams? If you really feel like you must, just download the app called quizlet, find your GCSE courses and read other peoples notes / flashcards when you're free e.g. on a bus etc.
Reply 9
Original post by reinaadira
Hey guys,

I am in year 10 and will be going into year 11 after the summer of course
I was planning on revising

- All the science modules we have covered

- Maybe go through some extra modules so I have less to learn in September

-Great expectations, macbeth, an inspector calls and poetry as we have covered all of that this year

-Psychology modules that we have covered this year

-R.e modules

-History definitley as we had not had a proper teacher for a few months

- Maths practice

-Go through english lang paper 1 as we did that last year

However is it too much? This year I found myself not having a lot of time for revision and now I am a bit wary to be honest. But I know I can burn out and I know it might make me dismotivated or lazy to do anything after. However do you guys have any tips


All you need to do imo is have all of your year 10 revision notes prepared and stored away so you can access them again next year in around February time. Focus on making sure you understand and have made clear notes on history especially, but don't worry about memorising it. Make sure you understand the stuff and maybe read over the books you mentioned just for fun, to help you remember what went on but don't bother analysing them yet. I got 12 A*s at GCSE through working hard from March through to June and having my notes typed up as I went along. If you don't have these done, it's going to be hard work around Easter creating loads of revision cards so do it as you go along. For every topic you finish in year 11, make the notes at the end and your life will be easy and your grades will be on point. Don't actually revise, just take an hour or so each day to make sure your notes are ok.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by reinaadira
Hey guys,

I am in year 10 and will be going into year 11 after the summer of course
I was planning on revising

- All the science modules we have covered

- Maybe go through some extra modules so I have less to learn in September

-Great expectations, macbeth, an inspector calls and poetry as we have covered all of that this year

-Psychology modules that we have covered this year

-R.e modules

-History definitley as we had not had a proper teacher for a few months

- Maths practice

-Go through english lang paper 1 as we did that last year

However is it too much? This year I found myself not having a lot of time for revision and now I am a bit wary to be honest. But I know I can burn out and I know it might make me dismotivated or lazy to do anything after. However do you guys have any tips


Omg no. I plan on revising the entire summer holidays. I already revise a lot now and it wil totally help in year 11.
If your more relaxed than I am, you can do less hours but more consistent. Like 3-4 hours most days versus 10-13 hours.
Original post by reinaadira
Hey guys,

I am in year 10 and will be going into year 11 after the summer of course
I was planning on revising

- All the science modules we have covered

- Maybe go through some extra modules so I have less to learn in September

-Great expectations, macbeth, an inspector calls and poetry as we have covered all of that this year

-Psychology modules that we have covered this year

-R.e modules

-History definitley as we had not had a proper teacher for a few months

- Maths practice

-Go through english lang paper 1 as we did that last year

However is it too much? This year I found myself not having a lot of time for revision and now I am a bit wary to be honest. But I know I can burn out and I know it might make me dismotivated or lazy to do anything after. However do you guys have any tips


I moved in year 11 so I understand the huge volume of work there is. My biggest advice is spend your time over the summer not revising. Make the best notes for everything you have covered so far so that when it comes to mocks and the real thing you can spend all of that time revising - your friends will wish they did the same thing! Try and find different methods for each subject whether its making A3 mind maps, coggles, flashcards, cards with questions and answers to test, vocab cards for languages, record your voice and listen to it, have great notes written out by spec point so you know exactly what to revise for each exam (this is what I did and then verbally dictated it and learnt it that way).

Hope this helps x
If you want to do a bit of revision that's great and will definitely help you for next year. If there's topics you don't understand you could go over them but don't do loads and focus on enjoying the summer instead. I just finished year 11 and GCSEs and it will get pretty stressful in the middle of exams which is why you should have a break now. And the start of year 11 didn't feel any different to year 10 for me.If you don't have much to do you could practice/learn an instrument. I bought a guitar last summer and I'm pretty decent now. And it definitely helped to keep stress down this year!You could go on bike rides in the mornings and bake something each week.
Reply 13
I'm currently in Year 11 going into Year 12 ...

Top Tips:
1) Do NOT burn yourself out during the Summer Holidays by revising
2) Revision should be done Little and Often
3) Split your revision into 30 mins slots or something similar and mix the different subjects around - this will ensure you don't get bored
4) Do NOT waste time making your notes looking pretty, that is pointless and copying out a whole revision guide is NOT sufficient revision
5) Do ALL the specimen papers/past papers for your specification where possible
6) Eat healthily and sleep at an appropriate time - you'll hate me for this but when your doing GCSEs eventually, you'll find yourself feeling extremely tired
7) Try out different revision methods and see which one suits you
8) Always ensure your desk/study area is kept tidy because then you can study in peace without wondering about where you've put a certain book in the room or something.

P.S: If anyone needs help with History, I can help on certain topic areas i.e. Cold War and I can also give you general advice as to how to answer the questions.

Good luck next cohort of Year 11s!!!
Original post by reinaadira
I really want to take the summer off however I literally have nothing to do honestly
I am not going on holiday and unfortunately, my family aren't ones that like to go outside or go places and no friends either to do stuff with! Only thing is to waste my time on social media but everyone does things and it makes me so bored


As you just said you really want to take the summer off! An regarding your counter points; so? Who cares if your family dont want to go out and who cares if you dont have friends which would want to either? Go make some friends. Pick up a new hobby (the weirder and less common the better!. Read some books! Find a subject youre really interested in and learn all about it (from outside your specifications. What you get taught at gcse is hardly ever fully correct or to an interesting level). You can make excuses but this is literally one of the best summers you have. You can do so much! Just find something fun and interesting to do and take a break my friend!
Original post by Mosope17
Omg no. I plan on revising the entire summer holidays. I already revise a lot now and it wil totally help in year 11.
If your more relaxed than I am, you can do less hours but more consistent. Like 3-4 hours most days versus 10-13 hours.


Why waste some of the best times in your life with work? You could o 0 work over the summer and get just as good grades?
Original post by JakeRStudent
As you just said you really want to take the summer off! An regarding your counter points; so? Who cares if your family dont want to go out and who cares if you dont have friends which would want to either? Go make some friends. Pick up a new hobby (the weirder and less common the better!. Read some books! Find a subject youre really interested in and learn all about it (from outside your specifications. What you get taught at gcse is hardly ever fully correct or to an interesting level). You can make excuses but this is literally one of the best summers you have. You can do so much! Just find something fun and interesting to do and take a break my friend!


Unlike most people, I'm not a huge fan of the hot weather so I doubt I'll go outside much
Last summer for me I literally did nothing, no school work, no educational things and yeah it would be nice to do something new
It's just for me, learning on my own is hard, like I know there's a lot of online courses but I like someone teaching me it
Original post by Mosope17
Omg no. I plan on revising the entire summer holidays. I already revise a lot now and it wil totally help in year 11.
If your more relaxed than I am, you can do less hours but more consistent. Like 3-4 hours most days versus 10-13 hours.



Yeah I generally revise everyday, but I don't do anything like 5 hours on a weekend day like a normal school day
I would ideally do 3-4 hours, could never think of doing 10-13 that's a lot!
Original post by lotibend13
I moved in year 11 so I understand the huge volume of work there is. My biggest advice is spend your time over the summer not revising. Make the best notes for everything you have covered so far so that when it comes to mocks and the real thing you can spend all of that time revising - your friends will wish they did the same thing! Try and find different methods for each subject whether its making A3 mind maps, coggles, flashcards, cards with questions and answers to test, vocab cards for languages, record your voice and listen to it, have great notes written out by spec point so you know exactly what to revise for each exam (this is what I did and then verbally dictated it and learnt it that way).

Hope this helps x


I want to make all the notes so I am prepared for year 11 and know what to expect and what I need to know
I love languages so I know I'll defo be practising that
Original post by miss-who
If you want to do a bit of revision that's great and will definitely help you for next year. If there's topics you don't understand you could go over them but don't do loads and focus on enjoying the summer instead. I just finished year 11 and GCSEs and it will get pretty stressful in the middle of exams which is why you should have a break now. And the start of year 11 didn't feel any different to year 10 for me.If you don't have much to do you could practice/learn an instrument. I bought a guitar last summer and I'm pretty decent now. And it definitely helped to keep stress down this year!You could go on bike rides in the mornings and bake something each week.


I know I'll forget a lot of it, especially if I don't go over it after and that is the hard part to be honest! :frown:
Like I can go the physics modules we covered this year but if I don't keep going back to it I know I won't remember it forever
I plan on learning to cook to be honest hahaha

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