I was awarded grade 8 with merit, here's my recommendations:
1.Know the exact time you have left to revise, not a guess, so get organised, you MUST know the exact amount of weeks and days you have before you sit the exam. It's 13 weeks for my exams.
2. Do cheat sheets, mind maps and index cards, in fact any that will help you learn and revise.
3. Watch Mr Bruff's videos on You Tube and if you can afford it get his PDF book from his website.
4. Read different broadsheet and tabloid newspapers to recognise they way they write a report, recognising the different techniques. Do the same with different books and genres.
5. Do past papers, or using the key similarities makeup your own papers and answer them. NB as far as I know the 2017 papers are locked for students, you might be able to get them through your teacher.
6. Ask your teacher what you can do specifically to improve. They are there to help, so ask them. If your own teacher is unhelpful, then approach another English teacher at the school.
START REVISING NOW