The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Have messed up my GCSEs???

So I'm currently in year 11, I have mocks in January and exams in May-June. I'm taking 10 subjects for my GCSEs. My problem is that I don't have any revisions material like flashcards. I only have my class notes and textbooks. I also have CGP revision guides for some subjects. I do have some flashcards which I did in the summer holidays. I was aiming for 9s and 8s, and a few 7s and 6s; but have changed my aim to anything above a 5. Everyone at school and my parents think I'm clever and stuff, but I don't think I'm as clever as they say I am.
Back to my question. Have I messed up? Do I have time to make all my revision material from year 10 and 11 in christmas holidays? If I do, will I have time to go over the material? Should I just do the best with what I have (class notes, books etc.)?

I know most people will say 'I got 10 A* and I only revised an hour before the exams'. But, I want an honest and helpful answer please, I'm freaking out a bit.
Thanks for reading this long essay :tongue:, and please leave a comment...
Original post by TheBoyWhoCried
So I'm currently in year 11, I have mocks in January and exams in May-June. I'm taking 10 subjects for my GCSEs. My problem is that I don't have any revisions material like flashcards. I only have my class notes and textbooks. I also have CGP revision guides for some subjects. I do have some flashcards which I did in the summer holidays. I was aiming for 9s and 8s, and a few 7s and 6s; but have changed my aim to anything above a 5. Everyone at school and my parents think I'm clever and stuff, but I don't think I'm as clever as they say I am.
Back to my question. Have I messed up? Do I have time to make all my revision material from year 10 and 11 in christmas holidays? If I do, will I have time to go over the material? Should I just do the best with what I have (class notes, books etc.)?

I know most people will say 'I got 10 A* and I only revised an hour before the exams'. But, I want an honest and helpful answer please, I'm freaking out a bit.
Thanks for reading this long essay :tongue:, and please leave a comment...



Same. Did you do any revision in Year 10?
You'll be fine as long as you start now. It'll be tough but you can do it. :yep:
Original post by TheBoyWhoCried
So I'm currently in year 11, I have mocks in January and exams in May-June. I'm taking 10 subjects for my GCSEs. My problem is that I don't have any revisions material like flashcards. I only have my class notes and textbooks. I also have CGP revision guides for some subjects. I do have some flashcards which I did in the summer holidays. I was aiming for 9s and 8s, and a few 7s and 6s; but have changed my aim to anything above a 5. Everyone at school and my parents think I'm clever and stuff, but I don't think I'm as clever as they say I am.
Back to my question. Have I messed up? Do I have time to make all my revision material from year 10 and 11 in christmas holidays? If I do, will I have time to go over the material? Should I just do the best with what I have (class notes, books etc.)?

I know most people will say 'I got 10 A* and I only revised an hour before the exams'. But, I want an honest and helpful answer please, I'm freaking out a bit.
Thanks for reading this long essay :tongue:, and please leave a comment...


What the guy above me said, I was getting 4s and 5s in English all the way through to the mocks and ended up getting 2 8s. A lot of people overestimate the time it takes to make revision resources. If you plan your time you can get them done pretty quickly. Don’t give up hope yet!
Original post by LucyMincePies
Same. Did you do any revision in Year 10?

No, just read my class notes for the year 10 end of year exams. Didn't go to well, dropped at least one grade in every subject. In the summer holidays I did make some flashcards. Made flashcards for about 25% of the things I did in year 10.
Original post by TheBoyWhoCried
No, just read my class notes for the year 10 end of year exams. Didn't go to well, dropped at least one grade in every subject. In the summer holidays I did make some flashcards. Made flashcards for about 25% of the things I did in year 10.

My advise to you: Rank your subjects from most important to least important (be aware that english and maths must be high prority even if you don't care about them). Do revision for both year 11 and year 10 topics in proportion to this and this way you should stay on top of your year 11 work whilst catching up on your year 10 work.
Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry, but I got more questions to ask.
How long do you think it will take making flashcards for everything? And can you elaborate more on making revision material everyday? So is is like after homework?
Firstly, there no reason why you can’t acheive 8’s and 9’s in all your subjects (assuming that you haven’t already taken contributing exams).
You have several months before you sit your exams. Ask yourself what it is you want to be opening on results day - not what is “ok” or you will “get by” with. The trick to getting high grades in GCSE’s, GCE’s etc. Is consistency. First scope each subject broadly, then build a schedule for each topic up to your exams. I would highly suggest you research into the likes of spaced repitition for revision and find out the best use of your time. Put hard work in and believe in yourself over the rest of this academic year and you will see the results you really want.

Tl;dr - No you haven’t messed up your GCSE’s. Decide what you really want then put the work in for it.
Original post by TheBoyWhoCried
So I'm currently in year 11, I have mocks in January and exams in May-June. I'm taking 10 subjects for my GCSEs. My problem is that I don't have any revisions material like flashcards. I only have my class notes and textbooks. I also have CGP revision guides for some subjects. I do have some flashcards which I did in the summer holidays. I was aiming for 9s and 8s, and a few 7s and 6s; but have changed my aim to anything above a 5. Everyone at school and my parents think I'm clever and stuff, but I don't think I'm as clever as they say I am.
Back to my question. Have I messed up? Do I have time to make all my revision material from year 10 and 11 in christmas holidays? If I do, will I have time to go over the material? Should I just do the best with what I have (class notes, books etc.)?

I know most people will say 'I got 10 A* and I only revised an hour before the exams'. But, I want an honest and helpful answer please, I'm freaking out a bit.
Thanks for reading this long essay :tongue:, and please leave a comment...


Loool I've done this as well, just don't stress, I've known people who revised in the last two months and have managed to get 6/7. You still have time, do recent practice papers, make mind maps. For maths use MathsGenie, MathsWatch, Mymaths. You can find online flashcards such as Quizlet.
Okay I'm gonna be one of those people but I got 5 9s and 5 8s without making any revision materials so no flashcards, notes or anything. I did revise but I didn't make any notes. Personally I don't find notes or flashcards very helpful so I just read the revision guides a lot of times but I have quite a good memory so whatever. To me the revision guides are like pre-made notes.
Either way you have plenty of time to make notes/flashcards if you want to. You should set aside a set amount of time after school each day to make notes and use the timer on your phone. GCSEs don't really have that much content so you should be fine
wait only one set off mocks??? , i hate my school. i have 2 sets of them
Original post by TheBoyWhoCried
So I'm currently in year 11, I have mocks in January and exams in May-June. I'm taking 10 subjects for my GCSEs. My problem is that I don't have any revisions material like flashcards. I only have my class notes and textbooks. I also have CGP revision guides for some subjects. I do have some flashcards which I did in the summer holidays. I was aiming for 9s and 8s, and a few 7s and 6s; but have changed my aim to anything above a 5. Everyone at school and my parents think I'm clever and stuff, but I don't think I'm as clever as they say I am.
Back to my question. Have I messed up? Do I have time to make all my revision material from year 10 and 11 in christmas holidays? If I do, will I have time to go over the material? Should I just do the best with what I have (class notes, books etc.)?

I know most people will say 'I got 10 A* and I only revised an hour before the exams'. But, I want an honest and helpful answer please, I'm freaking out a bit.
Thanks for reading this long essay :tongue:, and please leave a comment...

I believe you can do it. I was only in this country for 11 months when I took my GCSEs (I'm from the philippines) so it was a big change. English isn't even my first language. I skipped year 10 so had to catch up 1 year worth of contents and keep up with the year 11 contents too and I passed all of it and even got 6s. All you have to do now is to focus on revising and don't let anything distract you. Have a little bit of fun and breaks too and you'll be just fine. Goodluck
Reply 12
Avatar for kbowler
kbowler
5
Honestly, just start now. You will be fine. For example, when I did mine, I had no notes or anything for history. Nothing I could revise from. I knew nothing. I went from a D in the January mock to an A by the end. At GCSE, there isn't much content per subject, so as long as you know the main things from each one as a starting point, and build up as you go through revision, you'll be fine. I did like no revision before year 11, and managed to get all Bs and above, and I am not at Manchester uni. You will be fine
Original post by TheBoyWhoCried
So I'm currently in year 11, I have mocks in January and exams in May-June. I'm taking 10 subjects for my GCSEs. My problem is that I don't have any revisions material like flashcards. I only have my class notes and textbooks. I also have CGP revision guides for some subjects. I do have some flashcards which I did in the summer holidays. I was aiming for 9s and 8s, and a few 7s and 6s; but have changed my aim to anything above a 5. Everyone at school and my parents think I'm clever and stuff, but I don't think I'm as clever as they say I am.
Back to my question. Have I messed up? Do I have time to make all my revision material from year 10 and 11 in christmas holidays? If I do, will I have time to go over the material? Should I just do the best with what I have (class notes, books etc.)?

I know most people will say 'I got 10 A* and I only revised an hour before the exams'. But, I want an honest and helpful answer please, I'm freaking out a bit.
Thanks for reading this long essay :tongue:, and please leave a comment...


First and foremost, try not to stress too much about it. I know it's easier said than done - take it from someone who stresses about literally every imperfection I see - but it'll be easier for you to take in everything you revise if you take a step back and realise how much time you have before exams.

I know you said you didn't want people saying about high grades and all that, but it helps to give hope in some cases. I ended up getting grades ranging from 7-9 in my actual GCSEs, which came as a surprise to me considering my revision prior to them. Our school did two sets of mocks - one of which was in November, the other of which was at the end of January. I didn't do as well in these mocks as I did in my actual GCSEs, but I honestly didn't revise much for them yet still got decently good grades. I started properly revising probably about a month before exams, because I know that personally, I find it difficult to maintain such detailed information over time. Of course, some information will stick in your mind across the lessons, and you'll find that you retain a lot more information than you realise when it comes to exams.

Rather than thinking of the mocks as a time to panic, try and revise as much as you can for now and see how it goes. Once the results come back, your teachers will surely give you back your papers and go through them with your class, and you'll be able to see which areas you need to improve on and which ones you're more confident with. I don't think I can emphasise enough that you remember a whoooooole lot more than you think you might when you're sat at that exam desk.

In terms of revision, it's good to find out what kind of learner you are. If you're a visual learner, then try making some mindmaps, revision cards, powerpoints, prezzo's- wait, that's a pizza place- prezzis*, or something along those lines which you can refer back to. Try and condense your notes into the key notes, so that you only remember what you need to, rather than a piece of info that won't make a difference if it came to actually answering an exam question. Personally, I'm a visual learner, but I tended to learn by remembering how things looked in my notes (which is why condensing your notes is quite important). For me, a lot of my revision was based around that kind of method.

If you're an auditory learner, then you may want to think about making some voice recordings so that you can listen to them in your free time, perhaps before you're going to sleep or even when you're actually asleep.

If you're a reading/writing learner, then try repetition. Look at your notes, cover them, write down what you remember from looking at them, and then check them - "Look, cover, write, check". It's very effective, and one of which I used often.

You might be a kinesthetic learner, where you like to use your hands and be more practical. For this, you could try throwing a ball into labelled hoops or something of the sort, which held either questions or answers.

Perhaps you could simply test yourself with others. My friends and I did this significantly more in the upcoming weeks towards the exams, especially so on the morning of the exams. I think this is probably one of the best ways to revise, because it's highly interactive and there's a little more pressure to get it right as someone's there to correct you. If you get something wrong, it helps if they prompt you of the answer. This is usually when you remember the correct one for the next time, because you had to be told otherwise from what you previously thought, rather than just looking at notes and thinking, "Oh."

I'd suggest getting a notebook for each subject, or a folder with dividers to separate them all so that you can write down your key points for each topic. Try and organise your notes properly and neatly so it's easier for you to take in the information, and that they're all relevant to each other rather than in some random order.

If you're serious already, then I recommend making a revision timetable so that you can section each subject. Don't revise for longer than 40 minutes per session, because otherwise you won't take in as much information after that. Take breaks regularly, and when going from one subject to another, try to make them different from each other. For example, if you just revised Chemistry, don't hop over to physics right away, because they're both specified sciences and use the same kinds of skills and technique. Another thing I would recommend is to read or revise before you go to bed. When you're asleep, your brain almost files away the things you learned to take out for another time. I found that I often remembered a lot more when I had recently revised it before bed, and was able to reciprocate the information in the morning.

Talk to your teachers if you're uncertain with anything, because I can't stress enough that they're there to help and support you if you don't understand anything. If you're getting worried or stressed, speak to a trusted adult. Honestly, I often broke into tears because of how stressed I became throughout the year. I have particularly high standards of myself even though no one asks that of me, and as you were aiming high beforehand as well, I'm not sure how it is with you but you might find it frustrating to not get the grades you wanted. I, despite not knowing you at all, however, have full confidence that you can do extremely well in your exams.

Anyway, starting early is always good because you'll retain more information for when you're revising closer to the exams. You'll go through practice questions thinking, "Oh yeah, I knew that!" because you'll have done bits of revision here and there across the months. Again, use the mocks as the key practice. I'm sure your teachers would be willing to look over any practice questions you can find from workbooks or online if you asked them, as well. Year 11 was the year I properly got to know a lot of my teachers, because I was going to them frequently to check my understanding of content and they were there to support me the entire way through. You don't need to do revision every day, especially not as of right now, but along the line there will come a time where you'll need to do a significant amount more in order to ensure that you're confident with the content. Of course, perfection is highly unlikely, but so long as you do your best, I'm sure you'll be happy with your results!

I'd also like to note that the mocks are marked a lot more harshly than the actual exams. I'm sure lots of people have told you this, but it's true - teachers often go by either previous grade boundaries or set grade boundaries (like 60% = 7, 50% = 6, 40% = 5, etc... ). Because of this, whatever you get in your mocks will most likely be higher if you did the exact same thing in your actual GCSEs, because your grade will be compared with everyone else in the country who took the same exam.

There are many many past papers online, and many practice questions provided by teachers, professors, educational websites and exam boards as well. You could invest in online resources such as memrise and quizlet, or tassomai and samlearning (even though I think that some of those require a school ID). I'm sure your school will have some resources if you asked, as well. The internet is a wonderful place, after all! (Most of the time...)

Anyway, sorry if this was too long for you to read or anything. I tend to write a lot when it comes to helping others with GCSEs and all that considering I've just been through them, but if my advice is helpful at all then I'd be happy to spend the time writing it all out.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck with your GCSEs and revision! Just ask if there's anything else you'd like to know - I'd be more than willing to respond.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you