Advice for new Year 11s

As myself and many others have come out of the end of GCSEs, I thought I would share some of the advice I would have appreciated when I went in to Year 11, as well as some of the things that allowed me to do well at GCSE. Other ex year 11s please feel free to add to this, and it should become a useful resource for new year 11s or even new year 10s.

1) Start early. Yes this is probably the advice that all your teachers are giving you, but starting in the March of year 11 will NOT give you enough time, no matter how quick you think you are. Start at the start of year 11 if you haven’t already, and get started on your notes.

2) Revise for those topic tests. This applies particularly in science. Most schools will give you a topic test at the end of each module, in fact, they probably have already. Many students don’t revise for these because they ‘don’t matter’. However, if you revise properly for these tests, and do all the notes for the module before the topic test, by the time you have finished the course, all your notes will be done and ready to revise from when the real exams come around.

3) Only do past papers when you have finished your notes. Past papers and practice questions are a great way to revise, however if you haven’t actually learnt the material, they are pointless. Start doing past papers around Xmas of year 11 when you know most of the material. Make sure you mark them too, otherwise what you have done is of no use. Also try and be a tough marker, don’t give yourself the point if you aren’t 100% sure of it, or even better, ask your teacher to mark them for you.

4) Put other stuff on the backburner. Don’t go to clubs and extra curricular stuff in y11, concentrate on studying or relaxing from studying.

5) Know your exam board. Ask your teacher or simply look at the textbook so you know which board your studying. This will allow you to concentrate revising the content that the exam board actually wants. Print off the specification for your specific course. Read it. Highlight what you know and what you don’t. If it’s not in the spec, you don’t need it. Plus, it’s a lovely big document to burn at the end of Y11.

6) Youtube. Youtube is probably your best source of revision. Some channels below are the best for GCSE Revision.
- Freesciencelessons. A god among men, his videos feature every aspect of the science spec in small, bitesize chunks.
- Science and Maths by primrose kitten. Longer, whole topic videos for science and maths.
- Mr Bruff. Our Lord and Saviour. English lang and lit revision on youtube with everything you need for every book under the sun. Plus his revision guides are better than the CGP ones but also much cheaper.
- Mr Salles teaches English. Similar to Mr Bruff but less well known, especially good for high ability students.
- CraigNDave. Computer science spec covered by these two (slightly dull) computing teachers.
- Hegarty Maths. Colin Hegarty won teacher of the year a few years ago and for good reason. His videos explain maths topics brilliantly. His website is worth a look too.
- Corbett Maths. Similar to Hegarty Maths but with a cooler accent.
- Gorrilla Physics. Great Channel if you struggle with Physics.
- Matthew Langridge. History revision videos. He doesn’t cover everything but what he does do (cold war and Germany) is superb.
- MrMacMillanREVis RE revision channel. I did an obscure board for RE but his videos were still helpful.

7) In History, don’t bother learning the dates inside out. Nobody will ask you about them in the exam. Learn Causes, Events and Consequences for each topic.

8) Make sure you learn the practicals in science, there will likely be at least 1 six marker on them in the exam.

9) Don’t bother with mind maps. They don’t contain much information, and only serve to look pretty. Get more information down in note form and condensed using flashcards. All the time spent making mind maps loom pretty is time wasted.

10) Know your calculator. Ensure your calculator is OK for the exam (check with your maths teacher). However, most good calculators (the Casio fx-991es Plus is a great one) have hidden functions that make some things easier. For example, some calculators have functions that solve quadratic equations instantly.

11) In languages, learn the little words. Things like ‘and’, ‘because’, ‘about’ and other small words are the cornerstone of your language but many people don’t know them.

12) Make sure you nail your MFL speaking exam, that if where most of your marks will come from.

13) Have a different ring binder for each subject. This will ensure nothing will get lost and allow you to organise and structure your revision.

14) In chemistry, make sure you know what a mole is. They come up a lot in the exam.

15) Go to bed early the day before maths exams.

16) Search ‘The Physics Equations song on youtube’ Yes it’s cringey and horrible, but it’ll get stuck in your head and is great for remembering those equations.

Good luck all, and please feel free to add to this thread

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 1

absolutelynoclue

Thanks for the help. Will definitely come in useful over the next dreaded year!!

Reply 2

Toastiekid

I disagree with number 4- you want to stay human during year 11! I kept up extracurricular (like tennis) and found they helped me with stress.
I’d suggest you find a way to destress; you don’t want to burn out during year 11. Things like sport, meditation and mindfulness colouring may help :wink:

Advice for new Year 11s

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you