5 Important Tips For Future Year 11s!

Having just finished GCSEs, and used TSR as a site to discuss exams and mark schemes, I thought a quick advice post would be useful. I am aware there are many of these, but I wish I had looked at these in the summer before year 11 as a head start to what the year could bring. Regardless of what I do get (hopefully I will be pleased!) these are some tips I wish I had known and thought about going into year 11.

The Summer
I think the summer before year 11 starts is really key. My summer was not very productive, and consisted of going out with friends, reading, and watching TV. Obviously in summer you want to have fun and relax, but there are a few vital things you can do to make sure you do not forget content learnt in year 10. Go over the syllabus for your subjects, and start looking at units you have not learnt yet. This is extremely helpful for the sciences and languages. I did my language GCSE in year 10, so I can't really remember what I did, but vocab is key to getting that A*. Use the summer to make flashcards of vocab you have learnt as well as future vocab. Make essay plans if you know the controlled assessment topics so when you come to the time you need to write it, you'll have a good idea of what you want to write. QUIZLET is an amazing app to learn vocab. Year 11 goes by incredibly quickly, so already starting to learn content will give you a massive head start. For sciences, look at the specification and your textbooks and start reading through. I did not look at any content over the summer, and deeply regretted this when it came to mocks, which leads me onto my second point.

Mocks/Tests
I cannot stress enough how important mocks are. Again, I did not revise for my mocks as much as I should have, as I had sixth form exams and interviews during mocks and so decided it was more important to focus on that rather than my mocks. If you are applying to other sixth forms and the interviews or exams clash with your mocks, you must achieve a balance in what you spend your time on. Mocks are extremely important, because you would have learnt most of your syllabus by then. Mocks will be a good judge on where you are currently, and will mean if you revise properly for them, you won't have to stress as much for the real thing. Not only will you have learnt most of the content by the time you get to GCSEs, but you will figure out what revision techniques work best for you and what type of learner you are (visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinaesthetic). This is a good resource to give you some idea on what type of learner you may be: http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml

This is important because two weeks before my GCSEs I rewrote all my notes (which I started in february -- more on notes later) in flashcard form. This really stressed me out because this took up major revision time as I am a mish-mash of learning styles - I can only revise by speaking out loud and writing. Unit tests are also extremely important, because then whenever you start revising you already understand the content and don't need to waste time actually learning new content.

Notes
If there is just ONE THING that I think is super important from this post is making notes as you go along. Don't wait till April to make notes, even if you learn by making notes. By April you want to be memorising info, not spending time writing it. Also make sure you understand and can read your notes, because sometimes I couldn't understand my handwriting or abbreviations.

Mindset
Lastly, and one which is the most important factor in success, is mindset. You need to decide right from the beginning of year 11 (year 10 would be even better because then you are completely focussed from the get go) on what your goal is. I only decided what my goal was in April, and this is not good at all, because I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. If you have decided in the summer before year 11 what you are aiming for, this will keep you motivated. Staying motivated and keeping your stress levels in check was particularly hard for me as someone who struggles with anxiety. A few good revision and exam youtubers, which I sadly only started watching in April, were:
- UnjadedJade https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-uObu-mfafJyxxZFEwbvQ
- OnlineNoo https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCur1bEyxiyDZkOcfDt459gg
- EveBennett: her main channel https://www.youtube.com/user/evebennettx and her revision channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD2h_l6FMIta19ronaayedg
- RubyGranger https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6a8lp6vaCMhUVXPyynhjUA
All of these youtubers, and I'm sure many others, are good motivators and have excellent revision tips. I am also into visualisation (visualise yourself during the exam doing extremely well the night before to get you into the positive mindset) and manifestation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKV8_5h3P_I - this video is a favourite of mine.

Without making this post too long (which it already is - sorry!!) something incredibly important is that while revising, free yourself from distraction. Put your phone somewhere hard to find - I put mine under the bed - and turn the ringer off, with airplane mode on if you can. Keep it as far away from you as possible. I deleted Snapchat during the day and re-downloaded it in the evening when I had stopped revising so I wouldn't be revising.

Quick tip - make your timetable realistic, and slot in time for breaks - I gave myself 1 hour breaks which I rarely used, but it's always good to slot in that time just in case.

Lastly, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Be sensible with the hours you study (I studied 7-8 hours on an average, taking breaks in between to eat, shower, walk etc.) If you are a morning person, wake up at 6 or whatever time and utilise the morning, as the first 2/3 hours you are awake are said to be the most productive. That being said, my friend started at around 2pm properly and went to 9pm. Sleep 7-8 hours each night if you can, and drink plenty of water. I drank loads of coffee during revision days which is not so good for you, but didn't drink any on the day of an exam because your nerves can you give you more than enough energy.

PS - don't spend too much time after an exam on TSR looking at markschemes, as that wastes valuable revision time and could make you even more stressed, as it did with me! As long as you are focussed on your goal, revise throughout year 11, and have a look at content in the summer now, you will be ready and prepared for year 11.


Wishing you future year 11s all the best for your GCSEs, and have faith that you can achieve your goals!
- nish2910

I just realised I have 4 key points, not 5.