Any tips for gcse

So I’m doing my gcse in 3 to 2 years and I was wondering are there any tips that students wish they should have known before doing there GCSEs

Reply 1

E_Marty

Actually revise!!! Hahaha I wish I had started making my revision notes at the beginning of my courses (Yr 10 for me). Instead I left it to last minute and instead of revising from flash cards/mindmaps I made them which was not effective as it didn’t go into my long term memory. Just do a little and often from the beginning (as they all say) because it will honestly help. I only really started making effective revision resources and understanding my revision style now and I am in my last year of 6th form! So all I can say is when you start the course, start the revision. Good luck!

Reply 2

Ben Mc

Original post by E_Marty

Thanks 😊

Reply 3

lizloe

Original post by Ben Mc

So I’m doing my gcse in 3 to 2 years and I was wondering are there any tips that students wish they should have known before doing there GCSEs

Erm..
Well it really depends on what subjects you are good at. But if there is something you struggle with, try and practice it more. Like I was quite dumb and with math's, I didn't revised the topics I would constantly get wrong or not understand like vectors (example), and I only watched videos about it in the last 2 months of year 11 and understood it then. Use videos/online sites definetely! Seneca, mathwatch, memrise, yt videos (which is specific to the subject). Practice papers and questions, get your teachers to mark them, wish i did this with business. Honestly, talk to your teachers when you have a question (whether it's during class or after). I would always ask my teachers a bunch of questions usually after class when everyone left, just to clarify my understanding. Honestly I didn't make too many flashcards, I did a few for history and business which worked, but of course i did them in the last 2 months which was dumb. I would recommend starting revising as soon as possible. I remember reading someone saying that, but i was really stupid, and decided to proper start in like January.

What subjects did you specifically take? I can give specific tips for any if you like. For science, math's and English. This is what I would say for each one.
With science, my teacher would set practice questions. Do them, mark them or get them to mark it. Use Seneca. You can find each science on Seneca (pretty sure if your school doesn't use it, you can make an account). I didn't use it too much but it might work for you. Honestly my teachers sent us a power point with a load of info and everything we really needed to know. (remember your school might learn things differently or with a different exam board, so just make sure whatever you use to revise is relevant to what you are studying). I also made notes and read over them. Oh also, know how to convert units. Damn did i wish i did this. I still have no clue how to do it. Converting mm to micrometers and that kind of stuff, also equations in physics, etc.

With Maths, as i said, i didn't really do as well as i could have earlier in the year. But what i would say, is use Mathswatch to practice questions on whatever topic you struggle with. (you can search the grade that topic is worth, like sine/cosine rule is like grade 7 I think). This just helps you to see what you need to be able to do to get the grade you want. Mathswatch also has 1 minute/full video on that topic to help/giving examples. Pretty sure mathswatch also has questions/worksheets on that topic, and to find the answer sheet (put online : mathswatch answers). Mathsgenie is actually better than i thought also. It has questions and answers for whatever you want. With maths its about practice and memorizing partly. I only did flashcards for equations and stuff i needed to memorize for the test. But for everything else, I would usually just practice them (practice tests online/tests your teacher gives/any practice books you have, etc). If you don't understand, talk to your teacher. Another good thing is a youtube channel called "Corbettmaths". They are quite good so yeah.

With English Lang/lit. This is a hard one to explain, since because of the virus I didn't have the proper exams but I had like one question as a test. So like i did one question on A Christmas Carol, one on an Inspector calls, 2 questions on poetry, etc. But for my mocks, I did a full language exam. Honestly I hated it, but I'd recommend practicing them. Like practice structuring your answers, and just how you explain and analyse each thing. Usually the language paper is about language/structure/form of a piece of text/story, so perhaps look at grade whatever examples of answers, maybe try a question and show your teacher, ask them to mark it or give you feedback. What i would say, with the Q5 at the end, there is a way to practise it. Since there are 2 papers, the Q5 at the end can either be: (Describing a photo/writing a short story linking to a photo given to you- paper 1 I think) or paper 2 (i think) (Writing an article or email or letter, (depends on the question) based on a statement or question) For example, "Homework has no value" write an article based on your point of view. I'm sure you'll learn how to answer these in class but one good help is "Mr Bruff" On youtube. His videos are great. He has poetry videos also (also with poetry, I had an exam literally a few months ago, and I mostly rambled on about language (similes/alliteration), structure (narrative structure) and form (Balad) I'd look into different types of forms and structures by the way.

In terms of English literature, what is really good is SOPHISTICATED vocabulary (smarter words pretty much). Learning more sophisticated language like perfunctory, perilous, substantiates, just synonyms for simpler words, can make your work so much better. REMEMBER QUOTES! You need to remember quotes, and it doesn't even have to be big or lengthy quotes. For example, Scrooge was a "solitary" man, who cared little about the rising poverty in Victorian England, and only valorized wealth and would rather the poor die to "decrease the surplus population". There's the use of two quotes and it flows so much better than saying, 'Scrooge is selfish. This can be seen in the quote where he says"..."'. You see what I'm saying. Make sure to analyse your point. This depends on whatever structure your school uses.. I had to use SEED most of the time (Statement, Evidence, Explain, Development), some schools use PEE, PETER, whatever... Make sure to show your teachers your work that you've practiced, trust me I know it can be really tiring or just like not motivational to practise questions but I reckon you'd think it's worth it in the end.

Let me know if these helped and if you need any tips for your other subjects let me know. Good luck! :biggrin: