Worried about year 9

TLDR: don’t know what to pick for options, if I should study before going back, am unsure if I’ll stay in good sets in core subjects. Help!

I’m worried about year 9. I go back in less than 3 weeks. Should I revise or study ahead? What should I pick for my options? The future is freaking me out because last year was probably the last chill year I’m going to have before the stress train rolls up and pulls me aboard for gcse studies.

I totally screwed up my maths test so I’ll probably be bottom set.
I don’t have a clue if I passed my English test to stay in top set.
My science test is probably just on the edge of a pass.

I’m way too freaked out because core subjects are what I value more than anything else education wise aside from computing. Slip in those and my parents kill me. Heck, slip in anything and my parents kill me.

So what do I do? Help!

Reply 1

roses.wys

Hello!! Since by the looks of things you may be learning GCSE content in years 9 to 11. I have a few tips (as I’m heading into year 10 this september)!

Reply 2

username3460126

Girl you need to chill,don’t worry yourself too much! Year 9 is one of the years you must enjoy and have fun so please do! In the weeks leading up to year 9, I did nothing tbh. Xx

Reply 3

roses.wys

The last thing you should do is freak out. For me year 9 gave me a chance to catch up with content and work extra hard to keep back on track. Some things I have learned are:

- Go into any extra curriculars whilst you still can! It may be weird, but the closer you get to year 11, the more busier you will get. Though please make a balance between academics and extra curriculars.

- Make notes! It’s early, but it’ll keep you prepared for year 11 when you need revision notes the most. Also, Start going into routine of actually revising content so it’ll stay in long-term memory.

- Always ask for help! If you need to ask your teacher a question, if you need a teacher to sit eith you during break/after school on a certain topic do not hesitate to ask. It will keep you the trouble of getting stuck with content out of the way.

As for GCSES, how I chose my GCSES were:
- Will this be useful to me for later (e.g a-levels/college/sixth form, and maybe uni)
- Will it be something I will enjoy despite the workload, as in, you don’t want to pick drama because it’s an “easy option” but actually, it takes a lot of analysis for theory.
- Is it something I know I have relatively high grades in

Do you have anything you’re interested in ?

Reply 4

roses.wys

Original post by FloralPrints

Girl you need to chill,don’t worry yourself too much! Year 9 is one of the years you must enjoy and have fun so please do! In the weeks leading up to year 9, I did nothing tbh. Xx

Right? There’s not much to worry about, but if you really want to start achieving and start improving your grades then it gives great opportunity to do so. Year 9 was a blast, finished DofE Bronze and got into a lot of clubs! ahaha

Reply 5

DarkShadow101

Original post by StargazingFloof

First of all, I understand if you get annoyed when people say 'just chill' because some people like you just want to get organised a bit earlier than others which I believe is amazing! My advice to you would be first, what kind of career are you interested in? And are there any subjects which are beneficial for it e.g For a programmer, computer science is a strong topic. As you have only got a few weeks left of summer, just go and enjoy it. This is because as you are choosing your topics in year 9 then it is most likely that your lessons are going to start being GCSE content related. However, you haven't been taught any of the GCSE stuff so you kinda don't have a lot to revise. Also, talking about what topics to choose to make sure you take topics which you enjoy or else you will regret it like I did because when i was in y9 i chose computer science only cuz i wanted to become a programmer but when the lessons came across as soo boring and i absolutely hated it! I soon emailed the school and asked to change the subject to triple science for y10 (which they did) but that meant that i had missed alot of the triple content! This meant i had to do a lot of catching up and revision whilst my other friends were enjoying y10 :frown:

Reply 6

username3046474

Hey, just a bit of advice for you when picking your options...

Pick a range of subjects that will keep your options open when it comes to GCSE’s and A-Levels.

If you don’t know what you are doing as a future career, follow this:
Pick a language - Spanish/German/French (whatever your school offers)
Pick a humanities - Geography/History/Sociology (once again whatever you seem interested in and what your school offers)
Pick another subject - Computer Science/Business/Media/DT/Art

If you do know what career you want to do:
Search up universities you may want to attend.
Then search what career you would like to do.
What are their A-Level subject entry requirements?
Pick your GCSE’s based on this, since you may need a GCSE to continue the subject as an A-Level. For example, to carry on Computer Science at A-Levels, you will need a GCSE in Computer Science.

In terms of revision, don’t stress out too much. Perhaps, you could start creating your revision notes.
From doing my GCSE’s, I learnt that knowing these things were important to get through the exam:
Biology - knowing definitions of keywords and being able to label parts and explain their function (for example, where is the pancreas on the digestive system and what does it do?)
Chemistry - knowing the equations and being able to rearrange them to solve questions. Also, try to remember all the tests (e.g. flame test)
Physics - formula’s and how to rearrange them! Also, learn the conversions. I can’t stress how important this is.
English Lit/Lang - Practise writing essays and getting them marked for feedback

Good luck with your GCSE’s! Don’t stress out too much, they are not as bad as they seem.