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Only 9 days to learn the entire Biology GCSE — Any advice/help?

I'm in a really difficult situation. I only have 9 days to learn the entire GCSE Biology course. There's a long story behind it, but it's honestly nothing to do with me being lazy or anything. Also, the textbook was really expensive, so I'm having to use the revision guide instead. Does anyone have any advice? Is it even possible to learn all that information in just 9 days? I can only study for 5 hours on weekdays and Saturdays, but I can do it all day on Sundays. It seems like there's a lot of information that you have to memorise for Biology. Does anyone have any tips on how to memorise everything. What areas should I focus on? Thanks.

Edit: Just to clarify, I don't mean that I have 9 days to revise it, I mean to literally learn it all from scratch. I've never learnt most of the information before. :s-smilie:
(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

took me a week to learn + memorise GCSEs. Sit down go through the whole book and make flashcards and then memorise them. on the last two days before your exam just rinse at least 5 past papers = A

Reply 2

For my biology exam i had 2 weeks to basically learn the biology spec because our teacher wasn't in school for 3/4 of the year. What i did was open up the spec for your exam board and go though the revision guide along with the spec, so look at the spec on the first topic and then open the revison guide and learn the facts that you see by heart. 1 read it 2 try to say it to yourself do this a couple more times, continue this for every topic. Once you get in the groove youll be fine. Also the night before try and do 2 practise papers to get the exam knowledge. When u are cramming i feel that it its important to at least one paper before the exam just to get in the test mood. Other than that, good luck and dont bother writing notes or revision card just hardcore memorisation and you will be fine.

Reply 3

I'd really recommend using revision sites as you get through the content a lot quicker on them. I used Seneca learning because it's free and literally takes you through the syllabus (plus they claim to make you learn 2x faster ?!!) but there are loads of them. eg things like quizlet can be useful or if your school has a tassomai / gcsepod subscription they can be good I've heard!
And I agree that doing lots of past papers in the day or 2 before will be so useful! Because they help so much with exam technique and making you do questions relating to lots of topics at once. Good luck!

Reply 4

May I ask why you would need to learn all of GCSE biology now? The exams are over

Reply 5

Heck you can easily learn it in 2 days and start practicing. I would only give 9 days to cram and learn A level biology. You'll soon realise how easy GCSEs were once you get a taste of A level.

Reply 6

Use Seneca learning!! Also that freesciencelessons guy on youtube if he does your spec (even if he doesn't I'd imagine most of the videos are relevant anyway). Do a practice paper if you have time as well.

Reply 7

If its a proper revision book it should be:

You must learn the summaries/conclusions, this is where the most important information is.
Then all the major headings and titles
The diagrams
Then the rest.

This is the basic way to study a text book.

Do go through past papers as the boards often repeat questions, also as vital is to mark the papers from the marking schemes, this gives you clues on how the board thinks and cues to the proper answers.

Reply 8

Original post by datjackguy
May I ask why you would need to learn all of GCSE biology now? The exams are over


Yeah which exam board is this? Just wondering

Reply 9

Original post by SureganSundara
took me a week to learn + memorise GCSEs. Sit down go through the whole book and make flashcards and then memorise them. on the last two days before your exam just rinse at least 5 past papers = A


Original post by sanadtw3
For my biology exam i had 2 weeks to basically learn the biology spec because our teacher wasn't in school for 3/4 of the year. What i did was open up the spec for your exam board and go though the revision guide along with the spec, so look at the spec on the first topic and then open the revison guide and learn the facts that you see by heart. 1 read it 2 try to say it to yourself do this a couple more times, continue this for every topic. Once you get in the groove youll be fine. Also the night before try and do 2 practise papers to get the exam knowledge. When u are cramming i feel that it its important to at least one paper before the exam just to get in the test mood. Other than that, good luck and dont bother writing notes or revision card just hardcore memorisation and you will be fine.


Original post by sallyS22
I'd really recommend using revision sites as you get through the content a lot quicker on them. I used Seneca learning because it's free and literally takes you through the syllabus (plus they claim to make you learn 2x faster ?!!) but there are loads of them. eg things like quizlet can be useful or if your school has a tassomai / gcsepod subscription they can be good I've heard!
And I agree that doing lots of past papers in the day or 2 before will be so useful! Because they help so much with exam technique and making you do questions relating to lots of topics at once. Good luck!


Original post by eeeli
Use Seneca learning!! Also that freesciencelessons guy on youtube if he does your spec (even if he doesn't I'd imagine most of the videos are relevant anyway). Do a practice paper if you have time as well.


Original post by Purdy7
If its a proper revision book it should be:

You must learn the summaries/conclusions, this is where the most important information is.
Then all the major headings and titles
The diagrams
Then the rest.

This is the basic way to study a text book.

Do go through past papers as the boards often repeat questions, also as vital is to mark the papers from the marking schemes, this gives you clues on how the board thinks and cues to the proper answers.


Hey, I know it's been ages since I posted this, but I just wanted to say thanks so much to everyone for the advice. It was all really helpful, and I managed to learn it all in time. Appreciate it :smile:

Reply 10

Original post by elevntwentyseven
I'm in a really difficult situation. I only have 9 days to learn the entire GCSE Biology course. There's a long story behind it, but it's honestly nothing to do with me being lazy or anything. Also, the textbook was really expensive, so I'm having to use the revision guide instead. Does anyone have any advice? Is it even possible to learn all that information in just 9 days? I can only study for 5 hours on weekdays and Saturdays, but I can do it all day on Sundays. It seems like there's a lot of information that you have to memorise for Biology. Does anyone have any tips on how to memorise everything. What areas should I focus on? Thanks.
Edit: Just to clarify, I don't mean that I have 9 days to revise it, I mean to literally learn it all from scratch. I've never learnt most of the information before. :s-smilie:

How did you do-im in same position 😂

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