Year 11 advice

I'm going into year 11 this September and I'm so nervous about the GCSEs. I haven't made a revision timetable as i need to know my school timetable first but i know that i want to get up at around 5 am to get extra revision in. I've read most people start revising in the Easter break but i really want to get 9s. So is this too early?

hey! gcses can be nerve-wracking, but please don't worry too much about that yet! honestly, i wouldn't get up at 5 to do revision, especially not at the start of the year - it sounds like you're going to work yourself too hard and that's not good for your physical or mental health.

some people do revise in the easter break for the real thing, that's true, but i definitely didn't. for my actual exams, i began revising in march, but began small and worked my way up! i'm assuming that you will have mocks throughout the year, so revising for those counts too!

as long as the revision you do works for you and is productive, then it doesn't have to be hours and hours long - quantity over quantity! any other questions/concerns, feel free to ask

Hi there,

I'm sure a lot of current or past GCSE students will offer their support with this.

There isn't a right or wrong way to revise it's about finding a schedule and technique that works for you and will help you in the long term retain the information. Few tips from me...

- A visual or electronic timetable that you can see will help you remember the subjects you have planned in for that day/week
- Some people find that using things like cue cards, quizzes, practice papers and even music helpful
- Try to remember to take some time for yourself, regular breaks and rest days are important
- Find out if your school will run homework clubs or after school revision classes that you can join in with
- On average most people can only hold their concentration for around 20-30 minutes so some do find small chunks of revision a better way to digest the information

Good luck with everything moving into year 11.

Sophie.

5am is really early, you still can get a lot of revision done if you wake up at 9/10am in the summer holidays etc do little and often- you can start to do some revision in the summer holidays but don't overdo it and make sure you have days off and are taking breaks in between periods of study. revision for your mocks will likely lessen the workload for the real thing. there's no right time to start revising, but obviously the earlier the better.

Thank you this was really helpful!