Tips for GCSE Revision

As a former student who received 4 A*s, 3 As and 1 B and 1 C for their 2017 GCSEs (first year for the 9-1s) I really want to help other students with their revision and which revision is best for which subject.

Remember for 9-1 GCSEs:
9 - A**
8 - A*
7 - A
6 - B
5 - C (high pass)
4 - D (low pass)
3 - does it matter, you failed
2 - does it matter, you failed
1 - does it matter, you failed
0 - does it matter, you failed

After years of different types of revision techniques these are what I found that worked for me:-

- Maths (PRACTICE! You need to practice maths everyday, it's not really a memory subject. The website MathsWatch really helped me a lot, and past papers help too.)

- Science (MARK SCHEME! My teacher told me 'it doesn't matter if you have the right answer, but if you don't WORD it properly, you will get no marks. Study past papers and look at the marking scheme and how it's graded. The same keywords will keep coming up and you'll see a pattern. Every year they ask the same questions, but word them differently but the answers will be the same. As long as you use those keywords, even in sentences that don't make sense, if the words are there, you will get the marks. I really hated this, because it wasn't fair and was treating students like robots, but it's what you gotta do. I didn't understand **** for science but I got an A by using keywords).

- Religious Studies (MEMORISE QUOTES! From the Bible, or the Quran or whatever religion you're studying. You also need to ANSWER THE QUESTIONS, and get to the point and ensure everything is relevant. It's easy to come up with arguments, but you will need evidence for your arguments, which will come from quotes you need to memorise. I used post-it notes on my wall and read them every day to memorise. I did the OCR paper.)

- English Language (READ! You need to read books, especially those that use lots of descriptive language. Examiners love that 'the grass dewdrops reflected the tears that cascaded down my cheeks' ****. I memorised as many fancy words as I could, came up with a story and used those words. Try to write as much as you can, because quantity matters too.)

- English Literature (MEMORISE! The quotes from whatever book you're studying will need to be used. So will poems. Try to memorise as much evidence as you can, as you can come up with arguments on the spot but you can't come up with evidence on the spot. Make sure to ANSWER THE QUESTION, make everything relevant.)

- ICT (MARK SCHEME! Like science, the same questions every year will come up just worded differently. Even if your answer it correct, if not WORDED correctly, you will not get the marks. Practice with past papers, and spot the patterns and correlations between questions and keywords used as answers in the mark scheme. Overtime you will pick up on the patterns.)

- Art & Design (TIME CONSUMING! Art is incredibly time consuming, it can't be rushed, you need to dedicate a lot of time to it. This is why I got a C for Art, because I was so busy revising for other subjects I didn't get enough time for art.)

DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE ALL TIPS I FOUND THAT WORKED FOR ME. SOME OF THESE TIPS INCLUDE THINGS LIKE 'USE KEYWORDS FROM PAST PAPERS IN THE MARK SCHEME' WHICH SOME PEOPLE WILL OBJECT TO AND SAY THAT'S NOT HELPING YOU LEARN. GCSEs DON'T HELP YOU LEARN, THEY TREAT YOU LIKE ROBOTS. IF YOU DON'T INCLUDE THE KEYWORDS IN THE MARK SCHEME, YOU DON'T GET THE MARKS, IT'S INCREDIBLY UNFAIR BUT THAT'S HOW IT IS. IF THEY TREAT ME LIKE A ROBOT, I'LL REVISE LIKE ONE.