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I need tips and advice for year11

Hello you guys! Im currently in year 10 going onto year 11. And I really need advice and guidance on how to revise to receive those top 6 to 8 grades. Especially for English lit/language, religious studies, sociology and lastly business. The grading system has changed and it's pretty confusing now. So if anyone could give me a few pointers it would be so helpful x
I got a 9 in English Lit this year and the only thing I can say is make sure you know what they're looking for. Structure your paragraphs. Practice them! The papers from this year will be exceptionally helpful and the specification ones that were released for current Year 11s pre exams. I didn't bother learning the quotes as I didn't find them useful (but everyone is different). Do all the help offered to you! Every after school club, etc. You get the top grades by being straight to the point, clear & structured answers and making sure you're not going off topic! (Don't waffle your words, quality is better than quantity). But lastly, answer all of the questions you need to. This means you'll have the best chance at getting all the marks. The best way to do that is to set a certain amount of time for each question and stick to it. If you haven't finished that question - say you need 4 paragraphs and you've only done 3, move on! If you've timed it correctly you can leave some time at the end to go back. Don't write that extra paragraph and waste time and therefore lose marks on other questions that you could've answered, that potentially could be worth more marks.

You can do it! :smile: x
Original post by Lydia.mudwama133
Hello you guys! Im currently in year 10 going onto year 11. And I really need advice and guidance on how to revise to receive those top 6 to 8 grades. Especially for English lit/language, religious studies, sociology and lastly business. The grading system has changed and it's pretty confusing now. So if anyone could give me a few pointers it would be so helpful x


I'm in university now, so I'm afraid I can't help you much with the reforms, but I do have some revision tips that seem to work for different styles of exams.

GCSE is easy to revise for when you compare it to A-level or degree, but it still takes commitment.

Generally what I did was write word-for-word from the textbook (it helped set it in my mind) and read out loud from the book. Then I would go and time myself attempting past papers and essay questions. I also would pester my teachers for feedback on how I could improve.

I am a very obsessive person, so I would time all my sessions and stop after 20 or 30 minutes. Then I'd do something else -- another subject, for example.

Quizlet is ideal for GCSE, especially languages and essay based subjects. Revision can easily be turned into a fun game.

I didn't do amazingly well at GCSE, but by the time I got to A-level I'd perfected my revision technique and I came out with A*A*A*A.
Reply 3
10A* at GCSE (including 9s in the Englishs) hopefully I can be of use!

Literature
Too many people think literature will be fine if they can remember quotes based off flash cards. Don't fall into this! In your exam, you won't have flash cards with you, so you need to be able to recall quotes at the mention of a character or a theme. Don't get me wrong, flash cards are GREAT, but make sure you get to a level where you can just reel off quotes.
Essay plans are so important! Look at the question style and make a list of every possible question you can think of (I know you can't predict an extract, but you can predict the themes or characters they may ask about) and plan an essay of the key points you would make. For example, with Jekyll and Hyde, write essay plans for the themes of: repression, class, duality, science etc.
Read! Your! Texts! I'd say around 70% of my school never actually sat down and read the text. I'm not talking about analysing it in class, or when your teacher reads it to you. Just sit down and read the damn book and it will make infintely more sense, and quotes will definitely start to stick out at you.
Look at mark schemes, what do the examiners want to see from you? Look at how marks are awarded so you can tick these boxes in an exam.
Do past papers! Lots of them. Ask your teacher to mark them and get some critical feedback. DONT be like me and just do the past paper questions that look the easiest.
Resources I love: Eve Bennett on Youtube for motivation and general English advice and an amazing essay writing video, Mr Bruff for specific revision on texts and exam technique, I also read several essays by university scholars about Macbeth in order to get some good arguments. I didn't find revision guides much use.
English Language (the bane of my life)
Oh boy, I hated English Language. We barely covered it in lesson and to be honest, I didn't know what it was until mocks. If I can get from a 5 to a 9 in three months, so can anyone!
Past papers are completely the only way to get better. Unfortunately, there are very few out there. I managed to hunt down about one past paper from AQA and one that I found online by a school. I got my teacher to mark it, and then criticize it, then I would redo it until I got a mark I was happy with. I could then use that paper with a good mark as a template for future ones! When I ran out of past paper resources, I simply chose a book at random, picked out a random extract, and made up a question similar to those I saw on past papers. It doesn't matter that it's not a perfect past paper since it is still revision.
Mr Bruff definitely helped, he has a series on English Language and how to respond to each question. This is so useful! Make sure that when you are in an exam, you know EXACTLY what each question wants you to focus on. Different questions want you to comment on different literary devices, structure, and so on.
For creative writing, it's very tough. I would recommend analysing some really good descriptive writers (I highly recommend Margaret Atwood for this). I also read poetry (e.g Sylvia Plath) since poems are dense in literary devices and beautiful vocabulary you can roll off. I had a full poem by Sylvia Plath basically memorised, and I used some extensive vocabulary that I knew from that poem, nothing wrong with taking inspiration! Also, punctuation, paragraphs and coherent writing are so important. One English teacher told me to write each piece of punctuation (;:-,.?!) at the top of the page and tick them off as I used them to make sure I had a variety. I would also recommend reading some news articles right before the exam, they're great as a source of inspiration for creative writing, and they really help you get in the frame of mind to write something like a letter or a newspaper article in Paper 2.
Resources: I used the Eng Lang revision guide by Mr Bruff, and a YouTuber that really helped my Eng Lang was English with Mr Salles. To be honest, most my Eng Lang resources were simply my teacher and practice!
Maths
Maths was my biggest struggle at GCSE, it took me ages to stop getting 5s and 6s and get up to an 8 on results day. Maths is one of those subjects that you can't cram - things like Maths, Languages and Eng Lang are skills that progress with time. Don't leave it until too late to start revising!
Past papers with maths are absolutely essential. It's all well and good being able to do the content, but can you apply it to a question?
Revision guides are so useful for maths. I used the standard CGP AQA Maths and Further Maths guides (for maths and further maths respectively) and they were so good! It meant that I could cover absolutely everything. My general way of revising was by doing past papers, and if I was stuck on a question or got it wrong, I would reapproach the question using the revision guide so that I would understand. Then I would do all the questions that were in the revision guide on that topic to secure my knowledge.
Also, don't just learn the quadratic formula and sine rule, make sure you can spot where you need to use it!
Resources: Various Youtubers, if I didnt understand anything, I would just search it and there was always plenty of maths revision. If you need questions on a specific topic, just google 'circle theorem questions'. Also the CGP AQA 9-1 Maths guide was so useful! Many of my friends used CGP workbooks and they seemed helpful, however I don't think they are too accurate in mimicking actual exam questions.
Original post by nightisdark
I got a 9 in English Lit this year and the only thing I can say is make sure you know what they're looking for. Structure your paragraphs. Practice them! The papers from this year will be exceptionally helpful and the specification ones that were released for current Year 11s pre exams. I didn't bother learning the quotes as I didn't find them useful (but everyone is different). Do all the help offered to you! Every after school club, etc. You get the top grades by being straight to the point, clear & structured answers and making sure you're not going off topic! (Don't waffle your words, quality is better than quantity). But lastly, answer all of the questions you need to. This means you'll have the best chance at getting all the marks. The best way to do that is to set a certain amount of time for each question and stick to it. If you haven't finished that question - say you need 4 paragraphs and you've only done 3, move on! If you've timed it correctly you can leave some time at the end to go back. Don't write that extra paragraph and waste time and therefore lose marks on other questions that you could've answered, that potentially could be worth more marks.

You can do it! :smile: x



Thank you so much!
Hi there!

You've had some fantastic advice from the people above, so I'll try not to repeat anything that they've said.

I'm afraid I didn't study Sociology or Business so I can't help with those, but I can with your others.

English Lit- Mr Bruff and Quizlet are both great resources, as the others have said. My only really original thing to add is that to make sure that you hit each part of the assessment criteria, I would always structure my paragraphs with PEACE (Point, Evidence, Analysis, Context and Effect on the Audience). This was quite a formulaic approach and wouldn't work for some people who prefer to allow their points to flow more naturally. However, for me this ensured that I was forced to analyse everything in depth and explore all the elements required for a the highest standard of answer. Truly a matter of preference, but this structure was something that worked really well for me!

English Language - For the reading part, you just need to use the skills that you will develop in English Lit, although some of the assessment objectives vary and the material you focus on will differ to your texts in English Lit. However, I'm sure your teacher will go through these things in more detail with you! For the writing, I would recommend reading as much as possible: novels, newspaper articles, classic literature, nonfiction books about whatever area you are interested in- all of it will be helpful! Your aim will be to show off as broad a vocabulary as possible, in addition to displaying a variety of literary techniques. You can draw inspiration from the things you've read to ensure that every piece of writing you do fits its genre perfectly and showcases some sophisticated language features.

Religious Studies - I did AQA, so my course was essentially Philosophy & Ethics with some religious viewpoints thrown in. If you are answering questions in which there is a demand for some religious view, make sure you know a quote to demonstrate it! It's an easy way of showing the examiner that you really know what you are talking about. For my GCSE I made mind maps covering the minutiae of every topic and ensured that I had learnt a quote from some religious scripture for each bit. Quizlet is perfect for making flashcards to learn quotes.
If you are doing AQA, the perfect way to confirm that you truly understand the issues inside out is by discussing them; try to convince someone to have a debate about the death penalty, abortion, or whatever you are studying! It's quite fun and prepares you for answering questions about that topic from any angle. My final tip for RS is to learn the key terms as you would quotes and use them at every opportunity (in my exam I must have used the words omnipotent, omnibenevolent, immanent and transcendant like 100 times haha). Again, it just shows the examiner that you know your stuff.

Hope this helps, and best of luck with your GCSEs!
Original post by Lydia.mudwama133
Hello you guys! Im currently in year 10 going onto year 11. And I really need advice and guidance on how to revise to receive those top 6 to 8 grades. Especially for English lit/language, religious studies, sociology and lastly business. The grading system has changed and it's pretty confusing now. So if anyone could give me a few pointers it would be so helpful x


Revise for every mock as if it was your real exam :smile: Then you will have already revised a few times before your exam happens, made your revision techniques better, have the resources and know some of the stuff :smile:
Original post by LEuphoria
Hi there!

You've had some fantastic advice from the people above, so I'll try not to repeat anything that they've said.

I'm afraid I didn't study Sociology or Business so I can't help with those, but I can with your others.

English Lit- Mr Bruff and Quizlet are both great resources, as the others have said. My only really original thing to add is that to make sure that you hit each part of the assessment criteria, I would always structure my paragraphs with PEACE (Point, Evidence, Analysis, Context and Effect on the Audience). This was quite a formulaic approach and wouldn't work for some people who prefer to allow their points to flow more naturally. However, for me this ensured that I was forced to analyse everything in depth and explore all the elements required for a the highest standard of answer. Truly a matter of preference, but this structure was something that worked really well for me!

English Language - For the reading part, you just need to use the skills that you will develop in English Lit, although some of the assessment objectives vary and the material you focus on will differ to your texts in English Lit. However, I'm sure your teacher will go through these things in more detail with you! For the writing, I would recommend reading as much as possible: novels, newspaper articles, classic literature, nonfiction books about whatever area you are interested in- all of it will be helpful! Your aim will be to show off as broad a vocabulary as possible, in addition to displaying a variety of literary techniques. You can draw inspiration from the things you've read to ensure that every piece of writing you do fits its genre perfectly and showcases some sophisticated language features.

Religious Studies - I did AQA, so my course was essentially Philosophy & Ethics with some religious viewpoints thrown in. If you are answering questions in which there is a demand for some religious view, make sure you know a quote to demonstrate it! It's an easy way of showing the examiner that you really know what you are talking about. For my GCSE I made mind maps covering the minutiae of every topic and ensured that I had learnt a quote from some religious scripture for each bit. Quizlet is perfect for making flashcards to learn quotes.
If you are doing AQA, the perfect way to confirm that you truly understand the issues inside out is by discussing them; try to convince someone to have a debate about the death penalty, abortion, or whatever you are studying! It's quite fun and prepares you for answering questions about that topic from any angle. My final tip for RS is to learn the key terms as you would quotes and use them at every opportunity (in my exam I must have used the words omnipotent, omnibenevolent, immanent and transcendant like 100 times haha). Again, it just shows the examiner that you know your stuff.

Hope this helps, and best of luck with your GCSEs!


Thank you so much for taking your time out and for giving me such informative advice!
Reply 8
just finished year 11 with 10 A*s and an A -

here's the holy trinity

corbett maths - quizlet - CGP revision guides

also, I'm not sure how the reformed subjects such as sciences work, but I'm guessing there will be different modules to the course like B1, B2, etc.

When you finish a module in class you'll probably be given a topic test. Make really neat and clever notes with little memory tools all over them (the stupider the better), then KEEP THOSE NOTES and look over them once a month, with increased frequency as exams draw closer. Actually, as I'm writing this, I'm realising that since you're going into year 11 you'll be halfway through your courses already, so never mind :tongue:

My absolute BEST revision method is to whip out my revision guide, stand in front of a mirror, then repeat the information I just learned as if I am a news anchor/teacher.
Original post by pasiphae
just finished year 11 with 10 A*s and an A -

here's the holy trinity

corbett maths - quizlet - CGP revision guides

also, I'm not sure how the reformed subjects such as sciences work, but I'm guessing there will be different modules to the course like B1, B2, etc.

When you finish a module in class you'll probably be given a topic test. Make really neat and clever notes with little memory tools all over them (the stupider the better), then KEEP THOSE NOTES and look over them once a month, with increased frequency as exams draw closer. Actually, as I'm writing this, I'm realising that since you're going into year 11 you'll be halfway through your courses already, so never mind :tongue:

My absolute BEST revision method is to whip out my revision guide, stand in front of a mirror, then repeat the information I just learned as if I am a news anchor/teacher.


Thank you and I'll try it. Congratulations on your results by the way

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