Maths was hard, relative to the old spec, as everyone expected, but I think that it was not so bad because everyone expected the three papers to be very tricky so they knew going into the exam not to expect to be able to answer everything. We just have to wait and see how the grade boundaries play out because that's the one thing that could **** everybody over, people are predicting very low boundaries. The mock GCSE maths papers created by edexcel (which we sat as out mocks since there were no past papers) were very hard for some people. People were averaging 50% or less. So that kind of scared everyone and showed people what to expect from the real exam. I would say that the mocks were slightly harder than the real thing, but not by much.
You guys will probably be sitting the exams we took as mocks.
Overall the hardest question was the last question in paper 1, a tricky geometry proof. It had a diagram with barely any information on angles/lengths, and then it just had a question prove that this length is equal to this long fraction with surds and ****. Most of the people I talked to just looked at it and said (internally) "**** that ****" and didn't attempt it. Those who did try it, had no idea what to do. I think I got it in the end but the proof was longggg, like needing to ask for more paper long, you needed to be really perceptive.
Paper 2 many people thought was overall the hardest paper (despite not having the hardest overall question). Most geometry proofs, vectors etc.
And then Paper 3 was the easiest paper.
I think a lot of people were thrown off, expecting the papers to get gradually harder.
Common to all papers was that all of them started off with easy questions, just to warm you up, it almost tricks you into believing that the paper is half-decent and then you turn the page and read the question that just completely throws you off. The biggest thing in maths is to not get thrown, stay calm, remain level-headed. It's really bad for people predicing A*/9 who invevitable reads one of the questions that just is hard and it throws you off and you lose all your confidence for the rest of the paper.
In year 11, you'll probably finish off the content very early. In that interim, I think the best thing to do is to really practice your proofs. Vector proofs, very important. Geometry proofs very very important. Number theory proofs, also quite important (although once you know what to do with number theory, it's quite easy. All the questions take the same format)
AQA English Language, I mean, there's not much you can do to prepare. Learn and memorise the mark scheme, know what the examiners want from you and again stay calm. If you don't know what to write, just write any old ******** you can think of. If you can justify it (even in a very tenuous way), you'll still get credit. Pick out techniques and attribute it to any effect that comes to mind, if none comes to mind, just make it up and make a link in whatever way you can. Just try and write as much as you can about as little as possible and it shows detailed analysis / perceptiveness. For the writing, I think it's helpful to remember really good words to use. Like really fancy words to use. Memorise like 15-20 of these and try and use them wherever you can and it's just an easy way to gain marks. It also helps avoiding writer's block, since when you get blocked and don't know what to write next, try and fit once of your long words in the next sentence in a way that makes sense and that will naturally take the story / argument in a certain direction. I would avoid memorising a certain structure or way you're going to write before you go into exam. I think it's most important to just write freely and imaginatively and don't block yourself into only writing in a certain structure or way. One of the biggest exam mistakes people made with language was not leaving enough time for the writing. It is very very easy to fall into this trap. You need to be strict with yourself. At the very MINIMUM you need to leave yourself 40 minutes or so, and that's only if you've fallen off your schedule during the exam. Also, avoid cliches. There's nothing worse for an examiner than marking cliche work.
Literature, I think the biggest tip is to actually read the set texts. It makes memorising quotes so much easier. If you haven't read one of the studied texts yet, make sure you read it during the summer. You will naturally remember quotes as you read. One of the biggest life savers was getting a question where none of the quotes in your memorised list were very relevant but you just remember some relevant ones from reading it. Also when you've actually read it as a reader, you can really talk about the effects on the reader in a more perceptive way, since you're not going to be saying what everybody else is saying that can be found on every CGP revision guide, but you're going to be saying how the book personally effected you and how it made you personally feel. If worst comes to worst, and you really can't ****ing remember quotes or are just having a writer's block and are on the verge of a panic attack, just ****ing ********. Write anything, just write. As long as it's in English and about the book or poem, just write. You'll be surprised as to what comes out. You'll be surprised to what hidden gems your brain is hiding from you. The second literature exam is very long, like very long. 2 hours 15 minutes may seem not so bad, but to be writing continuously for that time messes you up. It's very easy to lose focus. Most young people have attention spans of about 5-10 minutes, let alone 2 hours 15 minutes. But what I'd say (quite controversial), let yourself lose focus occasionaly. After you've finished a paragraph, just stare into space for 15 seconds, look into the invigilator's faces. Take in the atmosphere and then come back to the next paragraph fresh. Don't just trudge along ignoring your bodily instincts. At the end of every question, take a one minute break. It's during this time that I really settled into exam season. Accept that this is your life now for the next month. It almost helps relieve the stress as well. It makes it feel less like an exam but more like you procrastinating during the lessons when the teacher is making you write more PETAL paragraphs.
Good Luck.